noraa@mentor.com (Nora Auseklis) (12/14/89)
We are facing a decision here regarding Appletalk connectors. Up until recently, we have been using Farallon PhoneNet connectors, Farallon Star controllers, and Kinetics Fastpath 4's. We have 19 Appletalk zones, with 450+ Macs total on the campus. Wishing to get quantity price breaks on connectors, we decided to explore our options on what was out there. We found that for the price that the Nuvotech TurboNet ST suited our needs. The LED's allowed us to test signal strength on new Appletalk drops, the allowable distances were greater than with PhoneNet, which we proved with installing a TurboNet for a user approximately 3500'. He has been real happy. Another plus was the self- terminating capability. After some pilot tests on our network for reliablity, we decided to purchase 50. Our problem?? Apparently, there were concerns raised based on a Farallon Tech Note #2 published on Applelink stating possible problems with these devices. We have a mixed Farallon and Nuvotech environment and we have not experienced any of the problems mentioned in the article. In fact, I have replaced Farallon connectors with Nuvotech when we determined the user's problem was a bad connector, and the problem has gone away. What I need from the user community is some information and opinions. We are going to run some tests and from those results decide on what connector to use. I am flexbile, but I want the decsion to be based on cold, hard facts, not heresay. Thanks in advance. Any technical information or testimonials for those of you using both connectors or have switched from one to the other based on problems would be greatly appreciated. Nora Auseklis Macintosh System Administrator Mentor Graphics Corporation