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Cisco WAN router & module recommendations
A customer is asking for recommendations in replacing their WAN equipment w/ Cisco gear. One of them is a Qwest T1 circuit currently terminating on an Adtran 3430 router. Our initial information led me to believe that this was a data-only T1, so I was preparing to scope a 1921 ISR w/ a T1 card in it (or even a lower end SR-520 router), either of which could've handled a single data T1 w/o a problem.
I've now been told that this T1 is actually being used as "a flexpipe for voice and data", which tells me that it's also providing PSTN access to the location in addition to Internet. I've not as familiar w/ these types of setups, so I'm looking for help in how to build a router to handle this connection and replace the Adtran, which specific module(s) I might need, or what types of questions I should be asking before this can be determined.
I've now been told that this T1 is actually being used as "a flexpipe for voice and data", which tells me that it's also providing PSTN access to the location in addition to Internet. I've not as familiar w/ these types of setups, so I'm looking for help in how to build a router to handle this connection and replace the Adtran, which specific module(s) I might need, or what types of questions I should be asking before this can be determined.
TelecommunicationsRoutersNetwork Architecture
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cfan73
ASKER
Hi - thank you for the input. Few follow-up questions, if I may:
They have an existing Nortel phone system - it's one location, so no VoIP traffic to other locations, just PSTN. I don't know how many voice channels the circuit is currently configured for/up to. (The current onsite administrator is pretty new, and couldn't offer up much detail, either.) Let's assume they have no analog device requirements.
1) So is that what a "flex pipe for both data means - that they've allocated some percent of the 24 channels for voice and the others for data? Does the "flex" imply that this ratio can be balanced based on demand? (for example, if there are only 5 voice circuits currently being used, the other 19 can be used for Internet data)?
2) Regardless, is the Cisco T1/E1 MFT VWIC capable of serving both functions via a single port? (You can tell it to allocate # channels for digital voice trunks, and the others for normal data)?
I think the 1700-series is End-of-Life...
They have an existing Nortel phone system - it's one location, so no VoIP traffic to other locations, just PSTN. I don't know how many voice channels the circuit is currently configured for/up to. (The current onsite administrator is pretty new, and couldn't offer up much detail, either.) Let's assume they have no analog device requirements.
1) So is that what a "flex pipe for both data means - that they've allocated some percent of the 24 channels for voice and the others for data? Does the "flex" imply that this ratio can be balanced based on demand? (for example, if there are only 5 voice circuits currently being used, the other 19 can be used for Internet data)?
2) Regardless, is the Cisco T1/E1 MFT VWIC capable of serving both functions via a single port? (You can tell it to allocate # channels for digital voice trunks, and the others for normal data)?
I think the 1700-series is End-of-Life...
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ASKER
Thank you!
Do the employees still use analog phones? Will they use analog phones after the change or is the company moving to VoIP?
If the idea is to keep things the same and just replace the equipment, a cisco 1700 series router would suffice (they're not very expensive either), and the card you're looking for is the "Cisco T1/E1 Multiflex Voice/WAN Interface Card"
Here's a list of part numbers that you need to look at to figure out which one exactly you need:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps221/products_data_sheet09186a0080088715.html
All these can be used on a cisco 1700