New Cisco 890 routers

[CiscoGuy33]

Seems like the latest, greatest from Cisco is the Cisco 890 series routers. Word is they will be available in the US starting in May.

They have been talking about this router over at the Cisco forum at

http://www.dslreports.com

for a while - seems one of the guys there is a CCIE and has been a beta tester for these units and he has lots of good things to say about them!!

He said the "real fun" with these will come with the 12.5 IOS "down the road" !!! Not sure all he "means" but he knows his stuff when he posts

From Cisco -

Cisco 890 Series Integrated Services Routers are fixed-configuration routers that are designed for secure broadband, Metro Ethernet, and wireless deployments. They offer comprehensive security and threat defense, advanced Cisco IOS routing, Metro Ethernet and network management. The routers provide business connectivity and high availability with integrated ISDN and v.92 WAN backup.

Here is a FAQ about them -

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/col...a_c67-520756_ps380_Products_Q_and_A_Item.html

Here is some more information on the Cisco 890-

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps380/data_sheet_c78-519930.html

Biggest question is WHY it has a GIG WAN Ethernet port but the 8 port built in switch is ONLY 10/100 ??????

Hey Cisco, why not 10/100/1000 on the LAN ports ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[silverhairb]

Gene,

How many have you ordered?

[the other] Bill

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Bill,

I wish I could - I think my next purchase will be a laptop

HOWEVER, I do have 12 Cisco 1841's and 12 Cisco 2960's coming in at work to upgrade the Cisco Academy pods. The current CCNA pod is 3 1841 routers and 3 2960 switches as well as 2 Linksys AP's soooooo in the next 2-3 weeks I will have a bunch of BRAND-NEW toys to play with!!!

I just don't get Cisco R&D, almost EVERY new desktop computer and server has GIG Ethernet - they have a NEW product that has a GIG Etherent WAN connection but NOT on the 8 LAN ports ?????????????????

What are they thinking :-( :-( It just does not make any sense at all!!!!

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[silverhairb]

Good question. Seems backward to me that they focus on gig speeds on the side where that speed doesn't exist and slower speeds on the side where it does exist.

I'm using gig switches because I need the higher computer-to-computer file transfer speeds. We're hitting big files on our internal server and the higher speed helps a lot. But we're only getting about 6mbs on DSL so our WAN connect doesn't really need to be more than 10mbs. Even if we were using very high 60mbs speeds currently available locally, we would only need to connect using a 100mbs port. And to get that speed, we'd have to use a really robust router with a LOT of throughput. Not cheap.

To release a new product with that configuration doesn't make sense.

So the short answer is: Yes, I agree.

[the other] Bill

 

[pcasi]

At the Software Features of the Q and A they mention a "Cisco software activation feature" Does it mean that in the future we´ll need to obtain a license from Cisco to run IOS on our routers, even if we are using them just for lab and training?

 

[maczen]

pcasi,
That is a possibility but many of us have been posting over at the CLN site requesting that IOS's be made avilable for study. Hopefully Cisco is listening!! You should hop on over when you have a chance and post your opinion as well...

Here is the link to the "opinion" section of the forums.. Cisco wants advice regarding training tools to be posted there..

https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/thread/3519?tstart=0

B Haines
CCNA Security, CCNA R&S, ETA FOI

 

[burtsbees]

The WAN is GB and the LAN 100 because the GB will be shared among 8 100Mbps users, so the LAN users would ALWAYS get 100, all 8 at the same time, if the GB interface was throttled all the way.

Burt

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Burt,

That makes sense .... to Cisco :-(

But in this day of almost every motherboard is now 10/100/1000, almost every desk top and server is now coming with 10/100/1000 and I even have seen them complaining that the 2 lb "netbooks" have 10/100 but should have 10/100/1000

LANs are going to be GIG even though harddrives and other computer parts can't keep up !!!!

Why is it that Cisco is ALWAYS the last, even when they came out with the 2610/11's and the early 800's with 10baseT, Fast Ethernet was pretty standard on most SOHO equipment being sold as well as computers and servers.

Cisco should be leading the pack, not sniffing at their backsides

Just my thoughts!

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[burtsbees]

True---and there are definitely SAS hard drives and quad core procs with 32MB L2/L3 cache that can most definitely keep up with 10Gbps speeds, no problem!

Burt

 

[silverhairb]

There are plenty of hard drives with 32meg cache which can sustain > 100megaBYTES/sec write speeds (approx. 1gbs). In RAID0, that's 64meg cache and about 2GBs. As a reference, check the Western Digital Caviar Black series hard drives. For even fast access, the WD Veloci-Raptor drives are also pretty quick.

[the other] Bill

 

[burtsbees]

I'm talking server hard drives, like Ultra 320 SAS 15K, and processors with 32MB cache...

Burt

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Burt and Bill,

You both are right - we are at 1 GIG, we should be thinking 10 GIG LANs

I am sure we will see a Netgear or D-Link 10 Gig switch for $39.99 at Best Buy very soon Sooooooooo, why is Cisco, with this latest, greatest router that is directed at SOHO/small biz and high end home users still messing with Fast Ethernet.

Of course I don't even know why I am asking after my last dealing with Cisco Academy Tech support in India, if they have the same brains in R&D as they do in tech support then I wouldn't be surprised if the "next" Cisco 899XM-XL router isn't Token Ring or FDDI

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[burtsbees]

Of course I see your point, Gene, and I agree. But (you knew there was a "but"), look at all the features a Cisco has vs the Netgear/DLink, etc. Can all that processing occur and STILL give you gig/10gig speeds?

Burt

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Burt,

You are right - it is always a trade-off and I know a $39.99 D-Link or Netgear is not ANYWHERE near anything that Cisco puts out

HOWEVER, it is public perception they are dealing with. The general public does not know the difference, that is why you see people writing in about why their D-Link or Netgear router can't keep up in the 50 person office

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[silverhairb]

I'm doing everything to restrain myself on this thread regarding consumer grade $#!^.

Cisco may take more on set-up. They don't make it nearly as easy to use Cisco equipment as do Netgear, D-Link, Trendnet, 3Com (OfficeConnect sries) and others. If Cisco came out with a "home user" package with easy-to-use GUI setup packages and default router configs that would work in 95% of home installations (like the cheapo's), they would completely dominate the market.

OK, I'll behave and go back to my room now.

[the other] Bill

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Bill,

I agree on regarding consumer grade $#!^........

I had a student bring me a "router" that Best Buy had been selling for $15, very cheap POS Someone had given it to him, I hooked it up, played with it for about 5 min. downloaded the users guide and then showed him in the product guide WHY someone gave it to him - a light was "on" all the time - indicating a failure. I told the student - "you get what you pay for". He wanted to have it fixed - I said they are $15 "new" - we opened it - 1 little circuit board - nothing to fix!!!!

I also agree about Cisco, I figured they would have done that when they bought Linksys!!!!

However, after spending some time with the "useless" Cisco Network Academy support in India over the past week, I can see that I don't think Cisco wants to "deal with" that home consumer market yet

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[silverhairb]

I've seen the same hardware build quality in new Linksys routers. I don't think Cisco is taking a very active role in Linksys management. Its probably a high-profit business unit of Cisco that will function as is as long as they produce good profits.

That said, I'd like to see Cisco (not one of their subsidiaries) come out with a $150 - $200 range home version of the 851/857 or similar. Use an easy-to-use GUI-based set-up utility (NOT SDM!!!) and convert 10 million home users to that product line.

Just anything to get rid of that 6-month lifespan junk from BestBuy and WallaceMart. I think BestBuy sells that stuff to keep the GeekSquad in the network support business.

[the other] Bill

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Bill,

You said -

"Its probably a high-profit business unit of Cisco that will function as is as long as they produce good profits."

I think that was the orginal idea with Linksys and they "played out" the Linksys name for as long as possible, but they seem to be "renaming" everything "Cisco" in the Linksys upper end stuff and some others were speculating that they will make a stronger move into the home/soho market.

And Cisco does have a new GUI out to replace SDM, I have not played with it but I have heard good things about it!!

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[silverhairb]

Musta missed the new Cisco GUI. Any idea where I might get an evaluation copy?

[the other] Bill

 

[maczen]

Bill, You do not need an eval.. It's free!

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9422/

Regarding the Indian tech support! I almost quit buying Dell computers over that same issue. A lady actually hung up on me! Twice! Take into account that it takes like 20 minutes to get a live person and my kind demeanor and you will understand just how infuriating that is! That was not the first day that I had called over this issue. However, the last time I had to call them I will admit that the experience was much better and I talked to an American when I called both the Customer Care as well as the Dell Outlet! GOOD JOB DELL!

As far as Cisco goes it is my understanding that they have only outsourced a small amount of support to India at the moment! Seems like the Network Academy may be the test bed! LinkSys was doing it before Cisco acquired them and THAT DID MAKE ME QUIT BUYING LINKSYS! I knew much less about networking at the time than I do now but I still think I knew more than the three or four people/departments that I kept getting passed off to. However, my Uncle has a LinkSys router now and he said that he called them rather recently and had a very positive experience. He also said that he got an American when he called! Please take into account that my experience was at least 5 years ago!!!

If I were you Gene.. I would recommend following a solid path and letting Cisco know just how bad that tech support from India really is for the network academy! Try the CLN since a lot of people read that! Constructive criticism is always a good thing!

Synopsis! Outsourcing to India is BAD! American jobs are good! I grasp the concept of competition but that is why there should be incentives (perhaps in the form of tax breaks) to entice corporations to utilize domestic resources! That's just my two and-a-half cents!

By the way, hi guys! Has been a few! School and lots of homework lately! LoL



B Haines
CCNA Security, CCNA R&S, ETA FOI