[c-nsp] out-of-band management - modems?

[Furnish, Trever G]

This is probably a repeatedly asked question, even if not a frequently
asked question.

What is everyone doing for out-of-band management of WAN routers that
don't have redundant data connections (or do)?  Modems?  Something else?
I would appreciate suggestions for specific modems and/or methods.

We currently use Courier v.Everything modems and pots lines connected to
the console ports of the routers, but reliability of the OOB connection
is not very good, and it's a struggle to keep the remote site phone
lines connected, since dial-up POTS lines seem to be something phone
system admins these days just can't be convinced to keep working and the
modems themselves frequently don't negotiate correctly.

I am about to order more modems and phone lines, so if your experiences
would be most appreciated.
 
--
Trever Furnish, tgfurnish at herffjones.com

PS: I've also set aside some time to script up some method to
periodically verify that each site's modem is still connected and
working.  Any suggestions there on what tool to use?  At the moment
it'll probably be tip or kermit or minicom on Linux.