Re: Best WAN Adaper?

[Toni Mueller <openbsd-misc_(_at_)_oeko_(_dot_)_net>]

Hello,

On Wed, 19.04.2006 at 12:57:16 +0100, tony sarendal <dualcyclone_(_at_)_gmail_(_dot_)_com> wrote:
> On 19/04/06, Toni Mueller <openbsd-misc_(_at_)_oeko_(_dot_)_net> wrote:
> > Anyway, if someone of you comes across good E3 cards, please drop me a
> > note.  Otherwise, try to persuade your carrier to give you Ethernet.
> 
> What about using Ethernet to T3/E3 converters instead ?
> That way you don't need funky cards in the openbsd box.

unfortunately, there appears to be no standard line encoding for E3
lines, so if you want to have E3-Ethernet converters, you must use them
in pairs, on both ends of the line. This rules out having eg your E3
terminating somewhere inside an STM1/4/... trunk on the other side, but
many carriers only offer this kind of setup. So you're almost
guaranteed to have a non-working line if they have, say, a Cisco 12000
on their end where your line terminates inside a trunk, and you have
the simple fiber with only that one E3 incorporated. I've been told
that the situation improves quite a bit when you have STM1 instead:
There, a standard exists, but it doesn't appear to be widely tested if
it actually works.


Best,
--Toni++