3Com Total Control documentation

Alex Rubenstein alex at corp.nac.net
Thu Jul 28 16:15:47 UTC 2011


We recently dumped about 40 into a dumpster. 

I shed a tear. 


Sent via Blackberry while presumably driving with one hand

----- Original Message -----
From: Matthew Black <black at csulb.edu>
To: hectorh at pobox.com <hectorh at pobox.com>; NANOG list <nanog at nanog.org>
Sent: Thu Jul 28 11:19:11 2011
Subject: Re: 3Com Total Control documentation

My sympathies to your unfortunate situation. The last tech probably doesn't 
want to be bothered...that's a management issue. A PortMaster 3 may solve 
your problems.

I looked at 3Com Total Control about 15 years ago but know nothing about it. 
We employed US Robotics rack-mount chassis paired with Xyplex terminal 
servers. That was replaced with the Livingston PortMaster 3 (later bought by 
Lucent). Each PortMaster 3 connects to two T1 lines and a 10BaseT Ethernet, 
supporting 48 users. Use RADIUS authentication and you're all set.

You can probably pick up some of those for a hundred dollars.

You will need to learn about T1 phone lines and RADIUS.

Best regards,

matthew black
california state university, long beach


On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:35:35 -0700
  Hector Herrera <hectorh at pobox.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have "inherited" several 3Com Total Control racks that are used to
> provide dial-up service to rural areas.
> 
> The racks have been running in auto-pilot for several years now and
> the last tech's comments with regard to the racks was along the lines
> of "I don't know".
> 
> I would like to regain control over the network as recently the
> outages are becoming more frequent and extended and we don't usually
> know about it until customers call the support line a week later.
> 
> Decommissioning the racks is not currently an option as there are no
> other reasonable alternatives for internet service (other than
> satellite).  The ISP being an marginal area provider is also short in
> funds.
> 
> I'm having a hard time finding documentation, firmware updates or
> support for these racks.
> 
> As far as I can tell, the current owner of the product line is
> UTStarCom in China, but their website does not make any reference to
> the product.
> 
> I also found a company that sells the equipment and provides support
> contracts, WRCA, but their pricing is out of the budget range for the
> ISP.
> 
> I am hoping that some of you who used to work with this equipment may
> still have documentation CDs or firmware updates stored away
> somewhere.
> 
> I'm looking for any documentation, firmware updates and some help
> figuring out which NAC goes with which NIC.
> 
> Or perhaps you can suggest other companies that provide support for
> the equipment at more reasonable rates.
> 
> I would be willing to setup a public repository to help other admins.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -- 
> Hector Herrera
> 
> 


More information about the NANOG mailing list