edwards@bgsuvax.UUCP (Ken Jenkins) (01/05/89)
I am about to convert two localtalk networks with 30 Macs (no PC's,
like 7-up ... never had um never will :-) ), two LW's and an L300
into one net. We are installing a new phone system and thought now
would be as good a time as any to go to a configuration which we
could run through the phone cabling (we're installing 3pair cable,
two for phone, 1 for localtalk).
Currently we have only standard Apple cable and connectors (which
is why we had to split the networks up).
QUESTIONS:
There seems to be an increasing number of localtalk products to choose
from out there now (used to be only Apple or PhoneNet for the most part).
What are you people using and how do you like it?
I've seen references to some of the newer "souped" up nets, ie. FlashTalk,
DynaTalk, etc. are these worth the addition expense per node (say when
running AppleShare) and will they work well with the 3rd pair standard
phone cable scheme?
As far as I know Farallon's star controller is the only one out there.
Are there any others I should consider? Also anybody running off a
Farallon star have any "war stories" for me?
I would sincerely appreciated any advice about the above conversion
and I'm going to be making the decision fairly soon. Thanks in advance.
I'll try to summarize comments if I receive a good spread of product
suggestions.
Disclaimer: My name is Ken Jenkins and I am here as a guest of Bruce Edwards
to whom this account belongs. Although he may be interested or even
amused by my ramblings, he should not be held accountable for them
in any way.
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"Politics is ,in the ultimate analysis, religion applied to economics"
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Ken Jenkins (as a guest of Bruce Edwards) CSNET: edwards@bgsu.edu
ARPANET: edwards@andy.bgsu.edu
UUCP: ..!osu-cis!bgsuvax!edwards
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- kenw@noah.arc.CDN (Ken Wallewein) (01/05/89)
I'm not sure about 3-pair cable, but I recently had an interesting
experience with both electrical and safety characteristics of the 2-pair
stuff.
We've been stringing 'temporary' Phonenet wiring through the ceiling. We
used standard phone wire (JKTN, or 'Jake'). I has asked the supplier for
fire-safe cable, and through misunderstanding, he gave me wire with a (I
believe) T-1 rating. This is _not_ plenum rating; it is not legal for
ceilings which are used for return air.
It also turns out that JKTN wiring is not two twisted pairs; all 4 wires
are wrapped together, and twist is not really specified as far as I can see.
I now have T-4 (teflon) plenum-rated 2 twisted pair cable. It's called
'intercom' cable, and costs about 50% more that the telephone cable: still
cheap. To me, it's worth it; I'm considering specifying such cable for all
future Phonenet wiring. I've had cases while running two Appletalk networks
using both pairs of JKTN wiring, where I suspected crosstalk between them.
Using this 'intercom' cable would just about rule that out. It is the same
guage as the JKTN stuff, but the outside diameter is slightly greater.
/kenw
A L B E R T A
Ken Wallewein R E S E A R C H
kenw@noah.arc.cdn C O U N C I Lsigurd@pyr1.acs.udel.EDU (Sigurd Andersen) (01/05/89)
I have used Apple LocalTalk and Farallon PhoneNet cable. Both seem to work fine. PhoneNet permits more flexibility and is cheaper, assuming you're making your own cables (which I'm doing with cables, ends, and tool to put ends on cables all purchased at Radio Shack - works fine). Although I haven't used the PhoneNet clones, the impression I have from reading various nets is that the quality is poorer than Farallon's products, so that any savings are not worth the trouble they can cause. As for faster products - I talked to someone at Dayna a few weeks ago. He said that neither their products (DaynaTALK for Mac & for PC) nor the competition's (FlashTalk, etc.) are shipping nor will they be for another month or more. Once they are out, I'll be curious to find out how the max speed increase (3-6x LocalTalk's 230K bps) affects actual performance - for single transfers, and in multi-user networks.