Mastecom MTRUNK Network

[ivahri]

That goes with anything- like radio networks with dodgy links. I'm an RF guy so IP takes some head readjustment & doesn't come naturally as it does some others, but the principles are the same. Design it properly & you have nothing to worry about. Getting back to the Mastercom system- one of the things I know is the owner of Mastercom tends to like to build things bulletproof if he can so this network is extremely robust. Now we can talk about an agency that maintains roads & how they use RoIP to link PMR sites via NextG... now that is extremely dodgy! That is because they are only looking at the cost savings without considering performance- some people never learn.

Cheers,


Richard

[centralcoastscanman]

I'd have to agree, coming from an IT background understanding RF stuff has taken me a while but i'm still learning when opportunity's come up.

That certainly does sound dodgy what the road maintaining agency does....

I feel that management in any company will not learn how to have their system setup properly until it is either jammed or the gear they are using breaks and they cannot get it replaced.

Think of where would the nsw police comms be if the bankstown boys hadn't tx'd on channel golf way back, and the idiots in the cronulla riots hadn't txd on channel lima etc.

Its unfortunate but its upto the people that know what they are doing to try and convince management to get things setup properly before they get their asses burnt or worse.

[thenocc]

The IP network is microwave radio, plus fiber backup
need not say anymore

[cartman]

IP suitability really depends on the sort of business role being conducted on the network
You will find that agencies that use safety critical control systems won't use IP at all .... all dedicated "internal" telstra links that cost mega-bucks.


Grant

[ivahri]

Hi Grant,

You want a bet! Pretty much everything is going IP including most modern radio systems. The new systems we are designing are all IP based, ethernet links with very little old 4 wire E&M signalling to be found. It makes my old head hurt but that is the direction technology is heading in. "Mission critical" comes down to design and not whether it is IP or not. We've also decided to use Telstra for our new long haul links but that is more a case of (a) that they have the infrastructure already there, and (b) it makes no sense for us to duplicate it with something less robust. Quality is never cheap. You will find the three major emergency services either have or are in the process of buying a heap of IP configured full duplex digital links, mostly in the 900MHz band.

Cheers,

Richard

[cartman]

As I said it depends on your business needs

Safety critical Railway Signalling control (ATRICS) will never ever go near IP
And the places it does appears outside a signal box can be counted on 1 hand and are "read only" terminals - no control function.
It is dedicated links to those few locations who are allowed access to the live data

Grant