Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!apple!bionet!agate!ucbvax!SKIDMORE.BITNET!MANAGER From: MANAGER@SKIDMORE.BITNET (Leo Geoffrion) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.appletalk Subject: RE: Phonenet Message-ID: Date: 5 Nov 88 23:29:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 61 >Anybody out there used PhoneNet? It's a third party (Farallon, >Berkeley, CA) alternative to apple's LocalTalk. Instead of >Apple's expensive cables, it uses regular old cheap 4-conductor >phone wire. The little box that connects your machines to the >network is also sold by phonenet, and is also cheaper. >We're installing a network in our new offices. Any reason why >we shouldn't use the cheaper PhoneNet? A couple retailers tell >me it's just fine, they use it. Apple does claim there cables are >"85%" shielded. So, what's the tradeoff, if any? We've used both for two years, and can find no difference in performance. Where differences exist, Phonenet is superior. 1. The RJ-11 connectors never disconnect accidentally (Unlike Apple's) 2. Phone cable is abundantly available in most institutions, and there are plenty of people who know how to handle it. 3. Phonenet's length limits are more generous. As for the comment that TOPS on Phonenet is slow... It's no slower on Phonenet than on Apple's Localtalk. We launch applications from it regularly. We've run some benchmarks using the launch of MacDraw as a standard. On TOPS the time is variable, depending on the network traffic. At best,(all other machines idle), it's almost as fast as a local hard disk. At worst (several machines all trying to load applications simultaneously) it is about as slow as a floppy disk. Since our students are used to floppy disks, they don't complain about slowness. On the other hand, if you're used to a local hard disk (especially the newer models with fast seek times, it is slow. A couple of Phonenet cautions... 1. Telephone technicians don't realize that Phonenet uses the yellow/black pair (voice phones use red/green) If a new line doesn't work, check that the technician didn't omit the yellow/black pair. Many do since it's useless on most phone systems. 2. Some phone techs like to install many spare lines. for example, if you ask for 4 lines into a room, they give you 25 (a standard cable size). If all are conected to the Phonenet, your phonenet will die. While a phone system can tolerate many dead-ended lines, Appletalk (all flavors) dislikes lines with no equipment attached (probvably a source of cable reflections). We suffered through a couple of months of unreliable network performance until we traced that problem down. Incidentally, the local Apple Reps. recommend Phonenet over their own product and actually use it in their offices. How's that for a good recommendation :-) PS. I don't work for Farallon, nor do I get paid for endorsing them =================================================================== Leo D. Geoffrion Associate Director for NYNEX: (518) 584-5000 Ext. 2628 Academic Computing BITNET: Skidmore College MANAGER@SKIDMORE (for personal mail) Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 LDG@SKIDMORE (for newsletters)