Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!hybrid!scifi!bywater!uunet!world!levin
From: levin@world.std.com (Levin F Magruder)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.novell
Subject: Re: Best remote workstation setup
Message-ID: <1991Jan14.184750.25900@world.std.com>
Date: 14 Jan 91 18:47:50 GMT
References: <1991Jan10.231535.27254@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Lines: 47

First I asked:
>>We want to set up a call in system that lets users call up and
>>use the network at home. . . preferably just a remote terminal
>>type deal.   Our dealer recommended something called a W-nim
>>board over PCanywhere-type software, since we'll want to allow
>
William Sandler said:
>I just purchased a package called Net Remote Plus that uses
>co/session for remote dial-ins.  
>Rather than get a single machine with a
>multi-port card in it like the system you describe I opted
>to go with Net Remote since it allows any machine on the
>network to act as a host or a remote.  This means that I can buy
>everyone who wants to use it a modem so that they can use
>the phone line in their office for dial in purposes.  

And,
In article <1991Jan10.231535.27254@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> louie@cellar.bae.bellcore.com (Paul Louie) writes:

>Will,
>
>Levin's dealer recommendation has a higher initial HW cost, but yours
>has a higher ongoing cost (unless your user can share their voice line
>with the dial-up task.  Some installations have funny PBX that would cause
>trouble with your method.  Also, co/session programs are not good for
>privacy.  People can see exactly what you are doing.  And what happen if
>a user forgot to invoke the comm program when he was leaving?
>
>The bottom line is both methods have merit.  One just have to analyze the
>needs.  The important one, of course, is how many concurrent dial-ups you
>must have (must means that a user absolutely cannot wait to get in) and
>how many users require this function.
>

We only need a few concurrent dial-ups, and privacy isn't a big
deal.  Simplicity for the users, and for me, the technically-illiterate
administrator, is.  What I want is one phone number that anyone can
call and get a "login:" prompt, and have it all work as if they were
at work.  

We couldn't use the dialtone off our phones' wiring, because it's a 
meridian system, and it's digitized.  If I understand W. Sandler's
set-up, each office has to have it's own phone line, right?  There
wouldn't be any way of setting that up as a shared pool of, say, 
three lines.  

So no one has any objection to me placing an order for the w-nim board?