56k modem bank

[Milenko]

I'm looking to install a modem bank to provide net access for faculty and staff when at home. Anyone out there in tech land have any exerience with this?

I've already got RRAS setup and working, the phone company is gonna put in some digital lines for us, so the only thing left is the modem bank. I'm just looking for some info on brands, models, what sucks, what doesn't. I've never looked into buying one before, so I'm kinda lost.

We only need about 5 modems initially. After a short break-in period we'll prbably double that number, so it needs to be expandable. I don't see us every needing more than 20 modems.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[SubZero]

US Robotics external modems cost more, but we haven't had problems with them here. We have an 8 modem bank here, and 1 local dialup for the IT staff.

[Milenko]

Do you have digital lines hooked up to em? Do you get a decent 56K connection when you call in?

[SubZero]

Ours is coming thru a T-1 on an 888 number. The PBX system we have really kills our data speed.

[Stalemate]

We use a Digi PORTS/16 em to interface our USR modems into a WinNT RAS/SafeWord server.

Authentication is handled through DES cards with a query-response mode.

[Milenko]

Thanks for all the input guys. My only question that still remains is this:

All of the USR modems I've looked at are analog and as such are limited to 33600 upload. So users calling in will be limited to 33600 even under perfect line conditions. Am I right here or am I misunderstanding things?

If I'm right, how does one go about offering a 56k connection to callers? I'm assuming I'd need a digital modem of some sort.......