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JoelC707
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Lanett, AL

JoelC707

Premium Member

Use for old hardware?

I have several pieces of old hardware that I've collected over the years (decades really lol). I've tried giving them away (buyer pays shipping of course) here on DSLR but got no takers. Is there any use for stuff this old or should I just scrap it out?

2x 2611 (non-XM)
2x 2514
1x AS2511-RJ
1x 1760
1x Cat 1924
1x Pix 520

I didn't list the Pix in the initial list because I honestly forgot about it but all the others I did. I've used the 2611 and the Pix as my home router/firewall before (started with the 2611 but then got the Pix from ebay) and have played around with making different subnets and letting a router be between them. And of course the AS2511 is a good console server.

All that said, I get as much or more functionality with a L3 switch and pfSense now so I really have no use for these. I don't even know if they would be recent enough to learn CLI on and there's plenty of simulators I think to do the same anyway?

tubbynet
reminds me of the danse russe
MVM
join:2008-01-16
Gilbert, AZ

tubbynet

MVM

where are you located. the 2511rj is intruiging to me.

q.

TomS_
Git-r-done
MVM
join:2002-07-19
London, UK

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My thoughts:

2511-RJ - youve got a console server right there. The RJ45 ports are really the trump card for that box, since you can make your own cables exact to length, rather than dealing with octal cables and their inevitable mess.

Scrapping the above, the 2611 could be coupled with a NM-32A for an even more dense console server solution. Otherwise it could be used as a C/CE device in a lab. Otherwise it would still have a small amount (really small) of utility as a broadband router, provided the WAN speed didnt exceed 10mbit I guess.

2514 I would be inclined to simply throw in the bin. The fact it needs AUI transceivers to use the ethernet ports makes it more clunky. Otherwise with the two serial ports it could be used as a small frame relay switch. Alternatively, there was a tiny Linux distro that could be run on 2500 series routers, so if youre really feeling adventurous and just want something to do for shits and giggles...? ucLinux I think it was called.

Cat 1924... bin or use it as a dumb switch, but with 10mbit ports only, its usefulness is limited. Alternatively, I'd seen someone hack up a Cisco switch in the past, using small loopback plugs on each port they would then wire up the port LEDs to control external relays. Using SNMP to enable and disable ports you could then control relays remotely. They used it to operate a feeder for their cats while away. Again, adventure and shits and giggles.

Pix 520 usually come with Intel 1 or 4 port ethernet cards dont they? May be worth raiding for parts (those Intel cards work in just about everything, provided you have PCI slots I guess), but otherwise they are quite big, probably noisy, and not that powerful any more, so -> bin.

1760 I think could make an OK CE device in a lab, a frame relay switch with the right WICs, or given its voice capabilities, could be used as a PSTN simulator or plain voice switch of varying degrees for a voice lab. Im in the process of building a PSTN simulator for my lab at home, but using the 2800 series. The aim is to support POTS, BRI and PRI. So far Im having some small difficulties with the BRI portion, but otherwise its turning out pretty good. The advantage is that it can be re-used for other things in my lab, which a dedicated PSTN simulator wouldnt be able to do (also very hard to find a dedicated PSTN sim with all of POTS, BRI and PRI interfaces - for cheap anyway. The parts for my 2800 have cost less than £200 so far.)
JoelC707
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Lanett, AL

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said by tubbynet:

where are you located. the 2511rj is intruiging to me.

I'm in Lanett, Alabama - right on the GA/AL border on I-85. It's yours if you want it. I don't have ears for it, though I'm sure I could find some if I dig deep enough and they are likely pretty universal. I do have some green, blue and black console cables or you can make your own. The one thing I don't have for it (I did, no clue where it is now) is the AUI Ethernet transceiver for it.
JoelC707

JoelC707 to TomS_

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said by TomS_:

2511-RJ - youve got a console server right there. The RJ45 ports are really the trump card for that box, since you can make your own cables exact to length, rather than dealing with octal cables and their inevitable mess.

Yep, that's honestly all it got used for when I had it in use. I forgot about being able to make your own cables for it (they're just rollover cables aren't they?). I always had a bunch of cable slack tied up somewhere lol.
said by TomS_:

Scrapping the above, the 2611 could be coupled with a NM-32A for an even more dense console server solution. Otherwise it could be used as a C/CE device in a lab. Otherwise it would still have a small amount (really small) of utility as a broadband router, provided the WAN speed didnt exceed 10mbit I guess.

I didn't know they made an async module to fit in there, that's cool. One of the 2611's was used as my network's main router for a while until Comcast pushed speeds past 10 Mbps and it was a bottleneck. Not long after that is when the Pix 520 came in. I got it for a total of $400 from ebay, $200 for the main Pix and another $200 for the ISA boot flash card with a UR license on it lol. It's got three Intel 10/100 PCI nics in it but honestly I've gotten rid of most of them I had already as I have no need for 10/100 stuff anymore.
said by TomS_:

1760 I think could make an OK CE device in a lab, a frame relay switch with the right WICs, or given its voice capabilities, could be used as a PSTN simulator or plain voice switch of varying degrees for a voice lab. Im in the process of building a PSTN simulator for my lab at home, but using the 2800 series. The aim is to support POTS, BRI and PRI. So far Im having some small difficulties with the BRI portion, but otherwise its turning out pretty good. The advantage is that it can be re-used for other things in my lab, which a dedicated PSTN simulator wouldnt be able to do (also very hard to find a dedicated PSTN sim with all of POTS, BRI and PRI interfaces - for cheap anyway. The parts for my 2800 have cost less than £200 so far.)

Nice idea on the 1760. Can do the same with the 2611 as one of them has an NM-2V in it but no VIC cards (had an FXO or FXS card at one time but no idea where it is now). That same 2611 has a 2-port async serial in one of the WIC slots. Not sure what that's useful for? The 1760 has a wic-1dsu-t1 card in it, could possibly be used for a PRI? Those things are pretty cheap though.

Basically except for a console server or 10/100 (or even low end 10 only) router, or maybe a voice simulator, what I have isn't really useful for anything. That's about what I thought. I do have someone that's an aspiring techie person that I'm donating a bunch of other old stuff to so maybe he will want this stuff.

TomS_
Git-r-done
MVM
join:2002-07-19
London, UK

TomS_

MVM

A WIC will only do data. To do voice PRI you'll need either a VIC or VWIC. VWIC has the added advantage of being able to do voice and data, simultaneously if you so wish. Allocate a few timeslots for voice and the rest for frame relay for example, or do one or the other depending on what you're doing.

Otherwise yeah, donate to someone who's trying to get in to this kind of work. I'm sure they'd appreciate having something to start off with.
JoelC707
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Lanett, AL

JoelC707

Premium Member

Never knew there were VWIC cards, that's cool. So far, only the AS2511 has someone that's interested in it, the rest are going to be donated to this guy my dad knows. He's like I was back in HS (when I got most of this stuff myself lol), just breaking into computer stuff and networking. I'll let him catch that bug

battleop
join:2005-09-28
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I still see 1924s in Central Offices in use. They appear to be part of management networks and not customer networks.
aryoba
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join:2002-08-22

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said by JoelC707:

I have several pieces of old hardware that I've collected over the years (decades really lol). I've tried giving them away (buyer pays shipping of course) here on DSLR but got no takers.

Did you try local CCNA academy?
JoelC707
Premium Member
join:2002-07-09
Lanett, AL

JoelC707

Premium Member

I honestly didn't know any such existed (though I guess it's a given lol). I just did a quick search and found that the closest one is in Columbus so not too far away.