Re: Thoughts On Cheap Chinese xDSL Testers

[Joshua Zukerman <lists () snowpondtech com>]

There are some downsides with the Colt-250+ units (as I have one almost
daily to do installs for a CLEC).

1. The Colts require 4 high amperage AA batteries. I used to purchase
Duracell Ultra batteries which worked, but life span was a couple of weeks
to maybe a month and now I cannot seem to find them in stores. I now use
Lithium batteries and they seem to last a few months now.
2. They will only sync up for 100 Seconds max. Not helpful when you're
trying to diagnose a flapping circuit.
3. They won't stay sync'd up on circuits with Occam DSLAMs. They randomly
drop after a few seconds. Not a condition of the circuit. Some type of
incompatibility with Occams.
4. As others said, not a Layer 3 or 2 (I think).
5. Does not provide any additional details like Far end errors, Near end
Errors, FEC/HEC, etc.

On the plus side:
1. They boot up really quick, as quick as you can press 2 buttons you can
start a test. (my understanding is Sunrise units take a couple of minutes
to bootup)
2. Relatively lightweight.
3. Can use regular 6p4c line cords in case you lose the nice
Angled-Bed-of-Nails/6p4c test cable it comes with (like I accidentally did).
4. Can be purchased for cheap on eBay. I got mine years ago for less than
$150.00

On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 9:23 PM, Robert Glover <robertg () garlic com> wrote:

> The local ILEC (Verizon) use Colt 250+.  They are pretty cool.  They do
> not do layer 3 like the meter you referenced.
> I'm actually looking for a cost-effective meter that does ADSL+ / VDSL2 /
> e.SHDSL.  it's easy to find one that does the first two, but not all three.
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Lyndon Nerenberg <lyndon () orthanc ca>
> Date: 06/29/2015  5:50 PM  (GMT-08:00)
> To: North American Network Operators' Group <nanog () nanog org>
> Subject: Thoughts On Cheap Chinese xDSL Testers
>
> I've been poking around looking for an inexpensive xDSL circuit tester to
> do some measurements on my home DSL line, in opposition to the telco. $2K+
> is not in the budget, so I'm curious about the accuracy of the $300 Chinese
> units kicking around eBay (e.g. the ST332B).  Anyone out there have
> experience with them?  Are they even remotely close to accurate?
>
> --lyndon
>
> ​​​​​



-- 
Joshua Zukerman
President
Snow Pond Technology Group Inc.
www.snowpondtech.com