Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!amdcad!ames!ucsd!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!cae780!leadsv!laic!nova!wilson
From: wilson@nova.laic.uucp (Robin Wilson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Re: My recent flame about Ungermann-Bass
Message-ID: <336@laic.UUCP>
Date: 13 Sep 88 04:58:56 GMT
References: <3445@phri.UUCP> <3472@phri.UUCP>
Sender: news@laic.UUCP
Lines: 37


In a previous article U - B was first defamed and then let off the hook
in terms of their treatment of customers.  I hope not everyone is so
forgiving.  Let me share our experience (these are my opinions only):

1.  Our U-B NIU-180s drop off the network on the average of 1 per week.
We have ~100 NIU-180s.  (That's 1% soft failure rate per week.)

2.  Our (very old) NIU-150s (which are no longer even considered a
product by U-B software development) drop off at a rate of 1 soft
failure and 1 hard failure per week.  We have about 45 NIU-150s. 
(A soft failure means we have to reboot it to get it back on line, a 
hard failure means we have to swap it for a spare and send it to our 
repair shop.)

3.  U-B requires us to pay a huge amount for software upgrades which
include "BUG FIXES" for our current U-B equipment, and "of course"
brilliantly written code for their "NEW LINE OF PRODUCTS" (which we
neither need or desire to purchase).  So in effect all of their old
customers pay for the development of their software for all of their new
customers.

4.  U-B has refused to work with the third party vendors who are trying
to allow users to connect to a host without using an NIU on both sides
of the connection.  (ie.  2 NIUs are required for every connection.)  We
have purchased 2 products that will allow us to eliminate our VAX side
NIUs, but unfortunately neither product works with NIU-150s, so they
vendors have tried to get the neccessary information from U-B to make
them work, BUT U-B refused to help them.  (Personnally I think either
one of these products could sell alot of NIUs [to other people who don't
know better] but U-B doesn't look at it that way.)

My fingers are too tired to go on...

R.D. Wilson  "The network guy.  These are my opinions only!! LMSC has no
knowledge that I even have opinions, much less that I can type well
enough to offend someone."