[c-nsp] Media converters - experiences?

[James Bensley]

On 22 April 2016 at 15:31, James Bensley <jwbensley at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 22 April 2016 at 09:18, Artem Viklenko <artem at viklenko.net> wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>>
>> Not to recommend, but be aware that some media converters
>> can't pass jumbo frames.
>
> And some devices don't support link loss forwarding too.
>
> Media converters are "ok" and sometime necessary but my general
> opinion of them is that they are a gateway drug to darker times, I'd
> try to only use them if I have to (and there are scenarios in which
> that  is fine) but I would try to avoid them as being part of my
> mainstream deployment model.
>
> Cheers,
> James.


I missed off the end, others have mentioned NIDs like the ME1200s,
something which offers telemetry would be my choice. Even if the
device doesn't support "IP" for the customer, media converters are
generally "dumb" and not "monitorable".

This is an issue I have raised before about "virtual" CPEs, just a
fibre that goes into the customers LAN and we provide a virtual CPE
"in the cloud" that is their default gateway and managed via a web
interface - having no on-site device with some amount of logic or
intellect isn't ideal.

Cheers,
James.