fiber to ethernet media converter

[NetworkNinja]

Just a question ,

 

who uses or owns one of these.

 

do people still buy them.

[synaesthesia]

Got a few lying around, wouldn't use them any more though. They run FAR too hot, use up a power supply, and any bought switches come with gbic functionality.

[zag]

Moved to switches with fiber converters years ago.

[adhutton]

We have one or two here and there.

 

You can still buy them:

TP-Link MC220LMedia converter | Ebuyer.com

 

Andrew

[Boredguy]

We have 10 pairs of fibre converters as part of our network infrastructure, all of them Allied Telesyn

 

Our core cabinet has a rack chassis which can take 12 converters at a time and only needs a single power socket.

If we were redesigning our network from scratch, I'd most likely use modules directly into the switch.

[rich_tech]

we have a couple in place, used for our VC stuff at both ends, switched everything else over to GBICs when we bought out netgears, as they had an offer on at the time for free GBICs when we bought the switches.

 

Have a neat stack of a few of them sitting on a shelf in our server room other than that.

[PotNoodleTech]

Like boredguy had AT rackmount 12 slot version filled with 100 or 1000. Phasing them out for Mini GBICs. There's no need for them any more, unless your using really REALLY old switches.

[FN-GM]

You won't get them for 10GB connections. Have a look at G-BIC or SFP's. Even the really old Cisco 2950 switches have G-BIC

[cpjitservices]

I have one... its about to go in the bin. Fully working with box etc.

 

No one wants it.

[Oaktech]

Our primary uses them as all their fibre is SC - ST and the switches are RJ45 or LC-SFP.

 

The upgrade to gig backbone from 100mb was done on the cheap using our cast offs!

[detjo]

I had 6 until I swapped 3 out for GBIC when new switches were installed. The other 3 still remain because the retards that installed the fiber to the server room .. didnt run it all the way to the server room!

They terminated it early in a CAB with no switch and converted to to Cat5 instead. How cool is that?

[GeekyPete]

These are probably the least reliable peice of solid state hardware I have ever come across. I think the industry know it too. And to my mind it's why GBICs are modular and hot swappable (although not strictly the same device). Media converters do run hot, which is maybe the root of the issue. But they do work until one day, maybe years later when you have forgotten it's even there, it doesn't. GBICs do a similar job in your switch, but they still can fail. On a reasonably large cisco network (3000+ active data points, fibre to over 20 CABs, Fibre channel SAN, and Fibre up links between the swiches) we kept spares, ordered them five at a time. We'd lose a few a year. I'm working on small scale HP infrastructure now, but more sites. I can only remember losing a couple in the last few years across all sites. Which is a much larger deployment when taken as a whole.

[Chris_Jones]

We have a few here, installed by our BSF Cabling company. They are used for CCTV Cameras that were too far from the comms room for a CAT.6 Run.

Personally I would have just put a small Comms cab on that side of the building with an 8 port switch, but I am not a Leading ICT solutions provider.

[PotNoodleTech]

I had 6 until I swapped 3 out for GBIC when new switches were installed. The other 3 still remain because the retards that installed the fiber to the server room .. didnt run it all the way to the server room!

They terminated it early in a CAB with no switch and converted to to Cat5 instead. How cool is that?

 

Can't you buy some 20m LC to ST fibre cables and run them in the attic back to the server room? That's what I've done - we had the same thing only with 12 conections!! :S

[Trapper]

Got a few knocking about in drawers. They were part of the core infrastructure. Now use fibre modules in switches.

 

All CISCO of course, the LEA pushed them onto the school before I started, and all nicely locked together so you can't replace them.

[dave.81]

We have one link on site. Our leased line comes into the building on the other side of site so have a dedicated fibre pair for it back to the server room. Used to have more but they all went about 6/7 years ago.