TOLLY No April Com Corporation

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1 T H E TOLLY G R O U P No April Com Corporation OfficeConnect LAN Modem ISDN Router Competitive Evaluation Test Summary Premise: Buyers of dial-on-demand ISDN routers for small office/home office (SOHO) environments need to be concerned with four key issues when making a purchasing decision. An ISDN router must offer support for a variety of applications through Network Address Translation (NAT) so that multiple clients can share a single ISP account and IP address from one location. An ISDN router should provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to assure quick and easy device configuration since SOHO users are unlikely to have professional network managers available. It should further allow connectivity to multiple network destinations simultaneously to exploit the potential of ISDN s two B channels. Finally, high-performance levels of application throughput should be considered to guarantee the best business productivity. Test Highlights m Provides a powerful and sophisticated implementation of Network Address Translation m Allows for easy configuration through a standard Web browser interface m Offers multiple network destination support and "data call bumping" m Achieves high performance with text and pre-compressed data 3Com Corp. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate its OfficeConnect LAN Modem against four other SOHO ISDN routers: Ascend Communication Representative Application Functionality of ISDN Routers via Network Address Translation Application Type Application 3Com OfficeConnect LAN Modem Ascend Communications Pipeline 75 Cisco Systems 776 ISDN Access Router Nortel Networks NETGEAR RT328 ISDN Router Ramp Networks WebRamp 410i Core FTP Virtual Collaboration/ Multimedia Microsoft Chat Microsoft NetMeeting (using two simultaneous clients) X X X X RealNetworks RealPlayer White Pine Cu-SeeMe (using two simultaneous clients) X X X X Secure Access/VPNs One PPTP Tunnel X X Two PPTP Tunnels X X Diagnostic Support Traceroute X = Pass, X = Fail Source: The Tolly Group, April 1999 Figure The Tolly Group Page 1

2 Features Available Through GUI Vendor/Product Under Test Bandwidth on Demand Current & Last Call Information Enable/ Disable NAT Service Provider Profile View Workstation Settings Data Call Parameter Password Setting Manual Calling 3Com OfficeConnect LAN Modem Ascend Communications Pipeline 75 Cisco Systems 776 ISDN Access Router Nortel Networks NETGEAR RT328 ISDN Router Ramp Networks WebRamp 410i X X X X X X X = Pass, X = Fail Source: The Tolly Group, April 1999 Figure 2 Inc. s Pipeline 75; Cisco Systems, Inc. s 776 ISDN Access Router; Nortel Networks NETGEAR RT328 ISDN Router; and Ramp Networks, Inc. s WebRamp 410i. Although ISDN routers are used for both data and voice connections, testing focused exclusively on benchmarks using data traffic only. Testing was performed in February Results show the 3Com LAN Modem supports a wide range of applications via Network Address Translation (NAT). It was the only ISDN router that featured support for both multiple destination networks and data call bumping, or the ability to reallocate an ISDN B channel. Additionally, 3Com s LAN Modem was one of only two products that offered support for all the GUI features evaluated in this project, but unlike other products, the 3Com LAN Modem did not require extra management software. Its Webbased GUI required the least Multiple Destination Features number of steps for the initial out-of-the-box configuration. Finally, benchmarks of data compression throughput showed that the 3Com LAN Modem s implementation delivered effective application throughput at a level higher than the rated link speed. Results Applications Supported Via NAT NAT functionality is essential when placing ISDN routers in a Feature 3Com ISDN LAN Modem Ascend Communications Pipeline 75 Cisco Systems 776 ISDN Access Router Nortel Networks Netgear RT328 ISDN Router Ramp Networks WebRamp 410i Multiple Destination Support X X Data Call Bumping X X X X = Pass, X = Fail Source: The Tolly Group, April 1999 Figure The Tolly Group Page 2

3 SOHO environment because ISPs typically assign a single IP address for each location when dialing in for service. NAT allows each station attached to the ISDN router to share the same IP address for communication with the outside world. The source address of any packet forwarded out from a small office LAN is mapped to the temporary IP address assigned to the ISDN router by the ISP. Likewise, any packets directed inward to the small office LAN will have the temporary IP address assigned to the router as the destination address. The router then needs to determine which station should receive the packet. The quality of NAT implementations differs, which could cause certain applications not to work. Beyond support for core applications, like FTP downloads, an ISDN router should offer support for up and coming applications such as virtual collaboration/ multimedia and secure access/ VPN applications. Furthermore, for troubleshooting purposes, an ISDN router should offer diagnostics support. The Tolly Group verified the 3Com LAN Modem s capability of forwarding traffic across all Internet applications tested with Intelligent NAT enabled. The 3Com LAN Modem was tested using a battery of nine Internet applications in order to demonstrate the device s ability to properly map packets back to the correct address. See figure 1. Client stations located behind the 3Com LAN Modem were able to exchange data with stations on a private corporate network or log onto the Internet without any additional configuration of the 3Com LAN Modem. Rival ISDN routers evaluated required either additional configuration, or, did not support the Internet application used during testing. The Pipeline 75 offered support for all applications tested except NetMeeting, CU-SeeMe, and one and two PPTP tunnels. It supported the RealPlayer application, but only when configured to use TCP packets (UDP is the default for RealPlayer). The Cisco 776 ISDN Access Router also offered support for all applications tested except NetMeeting, CU-SeeMe, and one and two PPTP tunnels. Clients behind the Cisco 776 ISDN Access Router were unable to receive video from their partners and no audio signals were exchanged between the clients. Incoming NetMeeting and CU-SeeMe calls were not accepted. Furthermore, Cisco says NetMeeting is supported when NAT is turned off and static addresses are used and that CU-SeeMe is also supported using static addresses. Cisco has no plans to support PPTP for the Cisco 776 ISDN Access Router at this time. The NETGEAR RT328 ISDN Router supported all applications tested except NetMeeting and CU-SeeMe. With NetMeeting and CU- SeeMe, only one client 3Com Corp. OfficeConnect LAN Modem Functionality and Performance 3Com Corp. OfficeConnect LAN Modem Product Specifications* m Internet and corporate remote access for SOHO users m Up to 25 users can share a single ISDN line for simultaneous shared access to the Internet or remote corporate network m Intelligent Network Address Translation (NAT) allows users to economically and securely share a single ISP account while maintaining full interoperability with Internet applications m Multiple Destination Support allows users to access two separate destinations simultaneously such as an ISP and a private corporate network m Browser-based installation and configuration using a standard Web browser and built-in Web wizard m Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) creates secure, cost-effective virtual private network connections over the Internet m Multilink PPP combines the bandwidth of two ISDN B channels for speeds of 128 Kbit/s m Call Bumping adds or drops ISDN B channels dynamically to allow additional data or voice calls m Supplementary voice features offer full support for caller ID, call waiting, call transfer, etc. For more information contact: 3Com Corporation 5400 Bayfront Plaza Santa Clara, CA Phone: NET-3COM URL: *Vendor-supplied information not verified by The Tolly Group 1999 The Tolly Group Page 3

4 successfully exchanged video with an outside client. No audio signals were exchanged. With NetMeeting, the operation of the client was intermittent. Using CU-SeeMe, incoming calls were not accepted. Once a default workstation s IP address was configured on the NET- GEAR RT328 ISDN Router, an incoming call was accepted; however, the client behind the router did not receive a video signal. Ramp Networks says the WebRamp 410i currently supports CU-SeeMe versions up to 3.0. When using CU- SeeMe, clients behind the WebRamp 410i were unable to receive video from their remote partners. No audio signals were exchanged and incoming calls were not accepted. The WebRamp 410i currently supports CU-SeeMe versions up to 3.0. Graphical User Interface (GUI) Evaluation When compared to competing ISDN routers, 3Com s LAN Modem required the fewest steps when configuring a basic Internet connection using the GUI. Configuration of the 3Com LAN Modem was facilitated by a built-in HTML Web server, embedded in firmware, which allows the device to be managed in-band from any network station equipped with a standard Web browser. Test results show that the 3Com LAN Modem s browser-based GUI can be used to configure all of the features tested. See figure 2. Throughput (Kbit/s) Aggregate TCP/IP Batch Throughput, Compressible Text Data with NAT Enabled 3Com LAN Modem Connected to a Central Office Ascend MAX 1800 via Two 64 Kbit/s ISDN B Channels The Pipeline 75, Cisco 776 ISDN Access Router and NET- GEAR RT328 ISDN Router required the installation of proprietary GUI software on the management station. These products do not offer GUI support for all features tested. Ascend did not offer technical support for the Pipeline 75 s GUI; Ascend recommends connecting the unit to a PC with either a serial or crossover Ethernet cable and running a command line interface (e.g. Hyper Terminal, Telnet). The Pipeline 75 GUI consists of separate setup and monitor utilities. Data call parameters for the Pipeline 75 are available through the Monitor GUI. Manual calling for the Pipeline 75 is supported through the Upload Download Bidirectional Compression Disabled Compression Enabled Source: The Tolly Group, April 1999 Figure 4 command line only. The Cisco 776 ISDN Access Router has two GUI interfaces: FastStep and ConfigMaker. Both offer support for setup, configuration and monitoring. The Tolly Group tested the FastStep utility. Configuration of NAT is supported on the Cisco 776 ISDN Access Router but the user must step through the FastStep utility in order to enable or disable it. FastStep does not allow a user to view workstation settings; however, subsequent to the completion of testing, Cisco said that such functionality is available in CiscoView and Resource Manager Essentials. The Web Ramp 410i supported all the features tested through its HTML browser interface The Tolly Group Page 4

5 Throughput (Kbit/s) TCP/IP Application Throughput, Pre-Compressed Data with NAT Enabled 3Com LAN Modem Connected to a Central Office Ascend MAX 1800 via Two 64 Kbit/s ISDN B Channels Multiple Destination Networks An ISDN router that supports multiple destination networks has the ability to connect to separate remote destinations simultaneously by monitoring LAN traffic and bringing up channels to remote networks based on the destination addresses of the packets. 3Com s LAN Modem, Cisco s 776 and NETGEAR RT328 offer support for multiple destination networks (see figure 1); however, the 3Com LAN Modem and RT328 are the only routers that provide configuration for multiple destinations through the GUI. The 3Com LAN Modem was the only device that supports data call bumping, which is the Upload Download Bidirectional Compression Disabled Compression Enabled Source: The Tolly Group, April 1999 Figure 5 ability to tear down one of two ISDN B channels that are connected to a single destination for re-direction. See figure 3. Application Throughput (3Com LAN Modem) The Tolly Group benchmarked application throughput only on the 3Com LAN Modem in order to measure performance from the user s experience. Due to time constraints, rival products were not benchmarked for performance. Test results show that, regardless of data type, the 3Com LAN Modem delivers aggregate application throughput of over 120 Kbit/s for unidirectional traffic and over 200 Kbit/s for bidirectional traffic. Application throughput was measured with NAT enabled, suggesting that 3Com s NAT implementation does not impose a processing penalty. With compression enabled, the 3Com LAN Modem s effective throughput for data traffic increased up to 80%. Using pre-compressed data and compression enabled, the 3Com LAN Modem delivered throughput that was within 3% of the throughput achieved with compression disabled. For compressible text data, the 3Com LAN Modem delivered a maximum throughput of 184 Kbit/s for uploads, 224 Kbit/s for downloads and 329 Kbit/s for bidirectional traffic. For pre-compressed data, the 3Com LAN Modem delivered a maximum throughput of 121 Kbit/s for uploads, 122 Kbit/s for downloads and 207 Kbit/s for bidirectional traffic. See figures 4 and 5. Analysis Applications Supported Via NAT A router that uses NAT effectively hides all internal IP addresses from the Internet and re-maps them to a single IP address dynamically assigned to it by the ISP. All packets forwarded by the ISDN router to the external network appear to come from a single IP address (even though there may be multiple stations behind the router). NAT is a cost-saving feature because all 1999 The Tolly Group Page 5

6 of the devices in the small office network share a single, public IP address. With NAT, customers can avoid paying their ISP for multiple addresses. In addition, NAT provides security by disguising the true IP addresses of each internal station, making it harder for hackers to break into the network. The 3Com LAN Modem supported all of the Internet applications tested showing its cost saving and security benefits in a small office LAN. When supporting applications that utilize certain protocols, NAT can pose significant problems. If the router is unable to translate packets from a particular application or protocol, it simply discards the data. This can be especially problematic with newer applications that use UDP or uncommon IP protocols such as PPTP. The 3Com LAN Modem was the only device tested that provided support for all the applications types tested showing it s suitable for use in business and home environments. The 3Com LAN Modem was also able to transfer the application traffic from its out-of-the-box state meaning it required no additional configuration to support any of the applications tested. When multiple stations behind the NAT router use multimedia streaming applications, all incoming connections including those destined for multiple internal stations are directed at a single IP address. The router must map the inbound traffic to its appropriate destination. In this scenario, outbound connections initiated by stations inside the router often may succeed; however, inbound connections often fail. The 3Com LAN Modem supported applications when multiple sessions ran simultaneously between several workstations. The 3Com LAN Modem was the only ISDN router tested that supported multiple, simultaneous video conferencing sessions using applications such as Net- Meeting and CU-SeeMe. Out of all the products tested, the 3Com LAN Modem was the only ISDN router that supported videoconferencing initiated from an external network. Furthermore, results showed that the 3Com LAN Modem was the only ISDN router that used the UDP protocol by default for RealPlayer traffic, a more efficient way for streaming media transmissions than TCP. All of the other devices tested transferred Real Player traffic with TCP or required extra configuration to the ISDN router to support UDP. GUI Evaluation Typically, SOHO users have minimal experience in configuring and managing ISDN routers. They require a GUI that will enable them to quickly configure the device from an out-of-the-box state. These users want to manage and monitor the ISDN router from the same GUI without having to access the command line interface, a procedure usually reserved for more experienced consumers. It also helps users to learn just one GUI, instead of several. 3Com LAN Modem s GUI a Web server embedded in firmware can be accessed through any standard Web browser. Other products force you to install a special management utility on a single workstation, which limits access. The 3Com LAN Modem s embedded GUI is also OS-independent and can be accessed from Windows, Macintosh or Unix platforms. Additionally, the 3Com LAN Modem GUI supports all product features and functions while competitive products only allow a small subset of features to be implemented through the GUI. Results also show that competitive products require switching between the GUI and command line interface to successfully implement applications. Technical support groups from competitive vendors explicitly state that only the command line interface is fully supported. Multiple Destination Network Support Testing revealed that, unlike competitive products tested, 3Com s LAN Modem offers support for multiple destination networks, as well as data call bumping. The significance of this capability is that the 3Com LAN Modem can manage simultaneous connections to multiple networks such as 1999 The Tolly Group Page 6

7 the Internet and private networks while other competing products can only connect to one network. Problems often arise when multiple users attempt to access multiple destinations simultaneously across a router. Many LAN routers allow a single connection to use both ISDN B channels for improved performance but if another user attempts to connect to a different location through the router at that time, the connection attempt will fail. One solution to this problem is data call bumping, which reallocates one of the two active B channels to a new connection. Essentially, the 3Com LAN Modem can split apart a 128 Kbit/s connection going to one location into two 64 Kbit/s connections heading to separate locations. This feature is not only transparent to the users, it increases the productivity of the SOHO users by optimizing the use of all available ISDN lines. Application Throughput Application throughput is an important measurement of an ISDN router s performance because it identifies the actual throughput experience of the user. Test results show that the 3Com LAN Modem provides high-throughput levels in all scenarios. This indicates its high-performance capabilities in a SOHO environment. When compression was enabled, the 3Com LAN Modem s performance improved up to 80% when forwarding text traffic. Testing was conducted to see what effect compressing precompressed data had on throughput performance. Traditionally, throughput often decreases when the device attempts to compress noncompressible data; however, the 3Com LAN Modem maintained virtually the same throughput with pre-compressed data whether compression was turned on or off. Test Configuration and Methodology The Tolly Group tested the ISDN routers at the following code levels: 3Com s Office Connect LAN Modem (system software version 5.2.0B2Jb, boot software version 5.0.2); Ascend s Pipeline 75 (software version 6.1.7, access router version b2a.p75); Cisco s 776 ISDN Access Router (software version c760-i.b US 4.2(3); ISDN Stock revision US 2.10 (5ESS/DMS/NI-1); Nortel s NETGEAR RT328 ISDN Router (software version V1.50(c.00); boot driver version P426), Ramp s WebRamp 410i (build 118). For a complete understanding of the Test Methodology visit The Tolly Group s Web site and access document Due to space constraints in this report, the entire Test Methodology is available online to preserve the full extent of testing details. See figure 6 for a test bed diagram. Equipment Acquisition and Support The Ascend, Cisco and Nortel products were acquired through normal distribution channels. The Ramp product was provided to The Tolly Group by Ramp Networks as an evaluation unit. The Tolly Group contacted executives at all companies and invited them to provide a higher level of support than available to customers through normal channels. All vendors accepted The Tolly Group s invitation. The Tolly Group verified product release levels and shared test methodologies with the vendors in order to give them an opportunity to properly configure their devices. All vendors assisted The Tolly Group with device and GUI setup. The results were shared with the competitive vendors and the vendors acknowledged their accuracy. For a more complete understanding of the interaction between The Tolly Group and the competitive vendors, check out the Technical Support Diary for Competitive Products Tested posted on The Tolly Group s World Wide Web site at See document The Tolly Group Page 7

8 Application Throughput Test Bed ISDN BRI Ascend MAX Com LAN Modem Small Office LAN Carrier Switch ISDN PRI Private Corporate Network Ethernet Ethernet Chariot Console and Endpoint Stations Chariot Endpoint Source: The Tolly Group, April 1999 Figure 6 The Tolly Group gratefully acknowledges the providers of test equipment used in this project. Vendor Product Web address Ganymede Software, Inc. Chariot ver Network Associates, Inc. NetXRay ver Since its inception, The Tolly Group has produced highquality tests that meet three overarching criteria: All tests are objective, fully documented and repeatable. We endeavor to provide complete disclosure of information concerning individual product tests, and multiparty competitive product evaluations. As an independent organization, The Tolly Group does not accept retainer contracts from vendors, nor does it endorse products or suppliers. This open and honest environment assures vendors they are treated fairly, and with the necessary care to guarantee all parties that the results of these tests are accurate and valid. The Tolly Group has codified this into the Fair Testing Charter, which may be viewed at Project Profile Sponsor: 3Com Corp. Document number: Product Class: ISDN Router Testing window: February 1999 Product/Software versions tested: l 3Com OfficeConnect LAN Modem software version 5.2.0B2JB, Boot Software version l Ascend Pipeline 75 software version 6.1.7, Access Router version b2a.p75 l Cisco 776 ISDN Access Router software version c760-i.b. US 4.2(3), ISDN Stock revision US 2.10 (5ESS/DMS/NI-1) l Nortel NETGEAR RT328 ISDN Router software version V1.50(c.00), Boot driver version P426 l Ramp Networks WebRamp 410i, Build 118 Software status: l All software except for Ramp is generally available. For more information on this document, or other services offered by The Tolly Group, visit our World Wide Web site at send to info@tolly.com, call (800) or (732) Internetworking technology is an area of rapid growth and constant change. The Tolly Group conducts engineering-caliber testing in an effort to provide the internetworking industry with valuable information on current products and technology. While great care is taken to assure utmost accuracy, mistakes can occur. In no event shall The Tolly Group be liable for damages of any kind including direct, indirect, special, incidental, and consequential damages which may result from the use of information contained in this document. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The Tolly Group doc rev. clk 13 Apr The Tolly Group Page 8