DS3 mux recommendation

Thu Sep 9 16:09:30 UTC 2010

I've run into the same situations w/ the Widebanks.  Controllers like to die
in the middle of the night.  I also ran into a situation where a tech went
to replace a Widebank w/ an Adtran and jammed the Amphenol connectors onto
the Adtran the wrong way.  That was an interesting night...

My supply of DS3 attenuators have dwindled thanks to the MCT3 issue, too.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Lewis [mailto:jlewis at lewis.org] 
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 12:03 PM
To: Jay Nakamura
Cc: NANOG
Subject: Re: DS3 mux recommendation

On Thu, 9 Sep 2010, Jay Nakamura wrote:

> I haven't researched stand alone DS3 mux in a long time and was
> wondering if anyone can recommend a DS3 Mux.  I have used Adtran
> before. (Long ago)  The products back then worked fine on line level
> but management interface was awful and if you threw too much SNMP at
> it and the management interface locked up.

We've used a lot of the Carrier Access Widebank28.  They work, but you 
have to figure on the controller cards dying every roughly 5 years.  I've 
lost track of how many times we've had to send a tech on a long drive to 
an unmanned POP to swap cards.

AFAICT, they're insufficiently cooled (ineffective heat sink / no active 
ventilation unless you spring for the front cover with built-in fans, 
which IMO should have been standard).  The few Adtrans I've used have had 
issues with putting out too hot a signal for cisco MCT3 interfaces, 
requiring either an attenuator or long service loop.  The orientation of 
the T1 cable connectors on the backs of the Widebank28 and Adtrans differ, 
making swapping one for the other post-deployment a royal PITA.

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