Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ames!dftsrv!hq!illgen
From: illgen@hq.af.mil (Keneth..Illgen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Re: Ethernet 4-repeater limit
Message-ID: <619@hq.af.mil>
Date: 25 Oct 89 13:33:41 GMT
References: <2549@aecom.yu.edu>
Reply-To: illgen@hq.UUCP (Kenneth..Illgen)
Organization: Air Force HQ Air Staff LAN, The Pentagon
Lines: 26

In article <2549@aecom.yu.edu> glen@aecom.yu.edu (Glen M. Marianko) writes:

>What if I had a maxed out network - repeater-wise - and I just wanted
>to make sure that the farthest workstations could collide with eachother
>properly within the spec.  Is there a device that I can put on the
>beginning of segment 1 and the end of segment 5 that will test this?

     There are a couple of devices that come to mind. On the expensive 
side there is The Sniffer by Network General. You can have it max out your
network and measure the results, in collisions, and also determine your
problem areas. Additionally you can get a better feel for where you can 
place add nodes and how large you can let your network get.

     The other device that comes to mind is Cabletron's Node Emulator/LAN
Specialist. The LAN Specialist does many of the same things as the Sniffer
but is designed for the technician to lug around as a troubleshooting tool
for the integrity of the cable plant. The Sniffer is more for the software 
types that are interested in system analysis and counting packets.

     I have much more information on these and other pieces of equipment. 
We use the Sniffer, the Node Emulator and the LAN Specialist here. I've 
been satisfied with all of them. I'm sure I only touched on one area of
your inquiry but if you have other questions about test equipment I'd be happy 
to try to help.

ken