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What is the Best ISDN Solution? 19

Posted by Cliff from the suggestions-anyone dept.
Brian Conneen asks: "I've recently found out that both DSL and Cable Modem access is at least 9 months away for my area. But I can get ISDN. I am giving serious consideration to ISDN, but wanted to know what users thought of it, and maybe get some suggestions on the best setups. (Internal Modem, External Router, etc..)"
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What is the Best ISDN Solution? More

What is the Best ISDN Solution?

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  • I don't know how well Linux supports the various ISDN modems out there. I do know that I didn't want to find out.

    Even in this day and age of ISDN maturity, it is still pretty darn complicated compared to POTS and a well-supported 56kbps modem.

    Having said that, four months ago, I got ISDN to my home. The smartest move I made was getting a 3Com OfficeConnect ISDN LAN Modem [3com.com].

    The 3Com box has an ISDN input, four ethernet ports, two analog phone jacks (so you can use the ISDN for voice, too), a DHCP server and is configured using a web browser. And more!

    The box plugged in, did a self-diagnostic and was ready to go. It took fewer than 15 minutes to configure it to dial my office and my ISP. The web interface is great.

    It dials on demand. Since it interfaces with your Linux box over the net, there is nothing to configure (I assume you already have TCP/IP working). I've got two linux boxes and an NT box hooked into mine. If you are dialing into a 3Com system (or something compatible), it'll do hardware data compression and a few other nifty features (light traffic over the D channel (DNS, etc.) so as to connect time (ie: money) on the B channels).

    The list price is just under $400 which may seem a bit high compared to a $250 ISDN modem. I assure you, however, it's the quickest, easiest and most reliable way to get ISDN up and working.

    Disclaimer: I don't have anything to do with 3Com, I just really like this product.

    InitZero

  • I am using a NetGear RH348 Router simply because a friend of my switched to a fraction T1 and didn't need it anymore. It works wonderfully. You telnet into it and can configure everything. DHCP, NAT/NAT+, IP Masquarardaing, Port Forwarding, Dial-in, Bandwidth on Demand, It even has a built in Packet Level Firewall. I set it up so my home network is pretty tight. This adds another layer between the baddies and me. :-)

    I did have some problems with the original unit, but that was because it's Rom got corrupted. Before I knew this I called up the Support Line and they were VERY helpful. When we finally determined that the ROM was bad, a new box arrived within 3 days. Their Tech Support Rocks.

    A wealthy eccentric who marches to the beat of a different drum. But you may call me "Noodle Noggin."
  • I'm planning on getting a 3Com ISDN Lan Router as soon as USWest pulls their head out and gets my line installed.

    Does anyone know if the 3Com has many options for inbound connections? Ie. setting up a mail server inside and having port 25 fwd to the inside box?

    How about UDP?
  • i would stick with the router. i have an isdn card that has no support for the NI-1 protocol in my area (michigan, USA). the europeans have better support through i4l.
    the netgear router also has a built in hub, so NIC card is the only thing taking up space and irq number in your computer.
    it would be nice to have faster bandwith, but the isdn sure is faster than the old analog way!
  • I use an external 3comImpact ISDN modem. I have it hooked up to an old pentium 75 via a fast serial card. The serial port on the modem runs at 230400 bps and connects to a pacificcomware fast serial card (921600 bps max) so there isn't any bottleneck and i get the full 128 kbps. The pentium 75 has mandrake 6.1 on it with the ip-masquerading (aka NAT) modules loaded up and also serves as dhcp and nameserver for my home network. Having an isdn modem hooked up to a linux box provides much more flexibily than would a router configured via a web interface (IMOP of course :-) ). Diald brings up the isdn link on demand in matter of seconds, so the whole setup is basically transperant to users.
  • I forgot to mention that linux sees this modem the same as anyother modem and controls it using AT commands. Only special thing was to use setserial to configure the serial port to a 16750 UART and set the baud_base to 921600 and divisor to 4 so that setting the spd_cust flag would give programs that use the serial port at the 38400 setting, 230400 bps of bandwidth.

  • If you need interoperability then you should get an external unit that connects to the pc via ethernet. Otherwise internal card + ISDN4Linux may work for you. Keep in mind the dispute between the ISDN4linux people and Linus. Also, since Germany seems to be primarily ISDN, check out the SuSE distro and any tools SuSE offers.

    If you don't need options then a lowend 3COM OfficeConnect terminal adapter (I don't know why they call them modems) will work for you. My OfficeConnct only had a Winblows configuration utility. They seem to have a web interface now (How does it get its IP addr? Rarp, bootp, DHCP, eh?).

    If you want features and configurability then get a Pipeline 75 ISDN router. It isn't for your typical FOR-DUMMIES reading computer user. You must be able to read and understand a manual and have a clue about networking (protocol stacks, RFCs, etc). It has lovely serial and telnet interfaces. (I'm sure there is luser gui interface for it by now.) I liked the Pipeline better than the 3COM.

    You should find out what type of switch you will be connecting to and make sure the device you buy supports it. You probably want the device to support multilink ppp plus as well.

  • You need to keep in mind one very important thing: Time=BIGMoney. Many years ago I had ISDN. Matter of fact, rumor had it we were the first residential ISDN customers in the state of Alabama. Pain in the ass, really. But anyway, at the time we got ISDN for $72/month, flat rate. And as I did the odd hour-or-two per month of helping out with my favorite ISP, they gave me a dedicated line, many IPs, etc. Very nice. At least one channel was always connected. Total cost: $72/month. And we used the other channel for voice! The modem of choice was the Motorola Bitsurfr Pro. I know... obsolete now and all, but at the time it was about all their was. External. Reliable. Eventually I moved away, and about 2 years ago decided to get ISDN again in Georgia. If you're going to really use it, get yourself an external modem or one of those 3coms. I had to set diald to disconnect after 1 minute just to keep my per-minute Bellsouth bills reasonable. Like the 3coms, a diald setup can be made to dial and connect within seconds, so you don't really notice much lag. Overall, I still have friends around that can't join the wonderful world of 1.5/256 ADSL like I now have. They ask about ISDN.... Trust me, unless you're in great financial shape it's just better to wait on DSL. ISDN hookup fees can be large, an "unlimited" 128k account with an ISP is likely to be at least $50/month, your ISDN bill (if you surf like me) will be over $100/month on a regular basis. Plus the hardware.... Compare to a 56k modem... $19/month ISP plus whatever you can spare for a phone line plus a cheap modem. Suck it up... deal with the WAIT. When you get DSL it'll all be better and you'll have saved the $$$ for installation.
  • I work in an ISP, and we have had good experience with the NetJet ISDN cards.

    Linux box + ISDN card + serial card + modems = small ISP pop in a box.

    At about 280 bucks (australian - www.everythinglinux.com.au), they are a lot cheaper than a router.

    I am unsure as to whether the netjet cards are available or work well outside of australia, but in australia, they work well :)

    Another advantage is that all of your linux firewalling experience can be put to use with it, rather than having to learn how to configure a router as well.

    Admittedly for heavy load, expandability, etc, nothing beats a dedicated router, but for home use, or even a small business I would definately recommend the netjet.

    smash (also.. for anything else linux related in australia.. check www.everythinglinux.com.au its a nice local site :)
  • I will vouch for this comment as well. I have been a proud user of a 3c892 for 2 years. A few more nifty features he forgot to mention are:
    Network Address Translation aka natd.
    Netbios Filtering to keep your windows boxes from initiating unwanted calls
    Built in DNS Server. You can program in a group of hosts in its local table to resolve off of.
    One feature that had been missing until the latest firmware was "Dial -IN" support. Now for any of you who want to set up a B channel for someone to dial into your network it can be done now as well.
    All in all its a great ISDN Router with few to no flaws. The price is well worth it in the long run.
    and at 1 foot long and with a 4 port hub you can't beat the footprint.

    MaShaun
  • One more thing I forgot to mention
    There ARE international versions of this router as well.
  • I have a spellcaster ISA ISDN modem that I used until I got my DSL. It's ok, haven't tried it on a newer 2.2 kernel. I had some problems with it, but nothing major. Be forewarned, though, it doesn't use ISDN4Linux interface. The interface is proprietary (the code is available, though)

    Matt
  • I'd add that you can also go with a simple Netgear XM128. It configures just like a modem with 'AT' commands and you can have all the functionality that you get from the RH348 DHCP NAT IP Masq etc on the Linux box. I used FreeBSD, the XM128 and pppd 2.3.10 to put this together and it worked great. The biggest advantage was that I had a lot less work to do when the Cable company came and offered me a Cable Modem. With an RH348 I would have to configure up another router.

  • Besided the suggestions for the ISDN router, which are good suggestions I think some mention should be made for the external terminal adapter option. The two best IMO are the 3com impact and the zyxel omni.net plus.

    This option is really appealing if you are used to POTS modems because they behave just like them. They hook up to your serial port and they have dial out commands just like modems. They work seemlessly with ppp and do not require that one get involved in any isdn4linux stuff. It isn't that the isdn4linux stuff is bad it is a little hard to work with if you don't live in europe. And the isdn4linux debate on it's regular inclusion in the linux kernel is still not completely resolved.

    The reason I like both the 3com and the zyxel product is because they both have the capability to do 230kbps or more across the serial port. This is important if you want to use all 128kbps of ISDN. USB would make the whole serial port discussion a null issue but it is not quite ready in linux. The 3com impact does 230kbps and the zyxel does 460kbps. Don't let the zyxel fool you 460kbps is better then 230kbps but only marginally. Instead, let the zyxel price lure you. The zyxel is generally cheaper then 3com but has just as high customer satisfaction (I own a zyxel myself and am very happy with it).

    This brings up an important point. Most serial ports have the 16550A UART which does a smashing good job of 115kbps. This is more then enough for 56K modems. But for ISDN even at 115kbps one will find that the best throughput is really only 95kbps due to overhead on the UART. And if one can make a 128kbps connection the throughput is even worse. So if you go the route I describe I suggest picking up a serial port board with a 16750 or 16950 UART. These UARTs are supported in linux kernel 2.2.x or newer. A good manufacturer is pacific commware. Their turboexpress 920 board is isa pnp which will require isapnptools and a little elbow grease. I need to stress that the newer UARTs are not supported in the older 2.0.x kernels.

    And now the URLs:

  • I'm surprised no-one's mentioned this...

    I use it to connect at 128kbps, rarely have a problem (well, never) - has GUI step-by-step config as well as telnet, ethernet port can either be straight-thru (to a hub) or by a toggle switch crossover (directly into the back of your PC without needing a crossover cable - why don't more network tools do this?)

  • I have had ISDN for quite some time now (3 yrs) and I will never go back. At first I had a simple serial port external ISDN modem but I had to live with a drop in speed (didn't want to pay 90$ for a 16750 uart). Then I found the Toshiba ISDN router. It is an all in one router that supports NAT translation and all the goodies and the best part, it doesn't come with software. Yes that's right, all software setup is done through HTTP straight from your web browser, making it the perfect choice for Linux. The second best thing about this router is that it costs around 140$ for the non POTS version and only 180$ for the POTS version (very cheap compared to most routers). You can get it mail ordered from www.cdw.com [cdw.com]

    -redmo

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