Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!bridge2!txd
From: txd@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM (Tom Dietrich)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Re: 3COM bridge resets
Keywords: 3COM
Message-ID: <3000@bridge2.ESD.3Com.COM>
Date: 7 Jan 91 16:47:34 GMT
References: <1991Jan3.173757.8314@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> <1991Jan4.140428.10849@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu>
Organization: 3Com Corp., Mt. View, CA
Lines: 79

In article <1991Jan4.140428.10849@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu> skaggs@nsslsun.gcn.uoknor.edu (Gary Skaggs) writes:
>Let's take off on a bit of a tangent here...
>
>In article <1991Jan3.173757.8314@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> rjlang@falcon.lerc.nasa.gov (Ray Lang) writes:
>[...stuff deleted about problem with a 3COM (Bridge Comm) bridge...]
>>                                                            We have contacted
>>3COM two different times about 4 or 5 weeks ago and they hadn't heard of this
>>happening before and were supposed to get back in touch with us. We are still
>>waiting.
>>
>>Has anyone else had any similar experiences? Hopefully Bridge Communications
>>(3COM) is subscribed to this.
>>
>Wow!  You actually TALKED with someone at 3COM about at BC product?  What a
>miracle worker.  We've got two remote IB-3s on either end of a short T1 and
>have had intermittent trouble with them, as in once every 2 or 3 months, it
>doesn't work at all for about 2 weeks, then it miraculously heals itself.
>
>The bridges were purchased and controlled by another agency (yeah, I know,
>dependent on the crap but don't have control of it, bummer) and I got fed up
>with them, IMHO, not doing anything about the problem.
>
>I bitched enough that they said, OK, you call 'em.
>
>And I did.
>
>For the uninitiated, you call this 800 number and start entering touch tone
>codes to get to the right department.  A choice comes down, "enter 4 if you
>would like to speak to a technician regarding a Bridge Communications product
>now..." or some such.  Visions of "NO!  I spoke with the last person about
>it!" "No, I had the last call!" "No you didn't.  I had to put up with the
>complaints last time!" etc. ad nausem.
>
I work at 3Com's Technical Support center, but this is an UNOFFICIAL,
personal response to your article.

In response to you, do you have an service account with 3Com? Your
visions of how it works here are not anywhere near reality. We *do*
ask that the Network Manager (hopefully someone who has an idea of the
overall network topology) is the person who calls. The automated phone
system does ask you for a service account number. Once that is
entered, you are prompted to enter a number, coinciding to what device
is giving you a problem. If there is an engineer who is not handling
another problem, said engineer's phone will ring. In the event that
all of the engineers are busy, you will be sent to the Duty Engineer's
queue, and be prompted to leave a message, with a brief description of
the problem, so that the case may be handled by an avaliable engineer.
The response time is generally less than an hour, even in the worst
cases.

If you don't have a service account, (as I suspect is the case) you
will go to another group, and the response time may be considerably
longer.

>Well, after having been on hold for 45 minutes, I gave up.  Called the 
>original agency back and said, it's your babe.  Have fun.
>
>Right now?  4000+ CRC errors and 4000+ framing errors per day on both ends of
>a squeaky clean T1 circuit.

How did you check the error rate? Better yet, how did you determine
that your T1 line is "squeaky clean"?

>
>Gonna replace them with anything but 3COM.
>
If so, good luck to you.

>Sorry, had to unload this on someone.  You drew the short straw.
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Gary Skaggs - WB5ULK	skaggs@nssl.gcn.uoknor.edu	DOC/NOAA/ERL/NSSL
>
>	"I don't mind surprises, as long as I know about them in advance."
>			- Yogi Berra.

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The above is a personal response from Tom Dietrich, and *NOT* an
official response from 3Com Corporation.
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