2801 versus 2811

geek4god

Noticed the 2811 seems to kind of be the default for the voice track and I was just curious why it was preferred over the 2801?

shodown

You can do it with the 2801, its just that the 2801 has only slots for 2 DSPs and if you need to go larger than that you have to buy the real expensive modules, also no larger expansion slots for the larger Unity express module or more DSP's if you need them. If you are just labbing you can get by with 2801's. It all depends on what you are going to do with them. The big thing is the code of the IOS which for the current IE is

12.4(22)T. If you are looking at the newer CCNA VOice, CCNP voice i'm sure the tested IOS is in the 15x range.

geek4god

Cool, I have a few 2801s and so they would be fine for a branch in a lab. Then maybe I can grab 1 2811 for the home office.. Still a ways away from voice so just trying to get educated and ***** eBay for deals until then..

shodown

if you are just starting a 2801 with DSP's and a 3550 switch will work just fine. You may want to build out a PSTN router also.

deth1k

you need PVDMs for your 2801 where's 2811 has them built in, other than that they are almost identical.

pitviper

A 2801 can do everything that a 2811 can do in the lab. Both the 2811 and 2801 routers have 2 DSP slots – the 2821/2851s have 3. As mentioned, expansion is limited with the 2801 as it lacks an NM/NME slot – also the Interface slots are a little weird = the 2811 will accept an HWIC/WIC/VIC or VWIC in any of the 4 slots, whereas there are some minor restrictions on the 2801 (not like you’ll be using HWICs in the lab anyways). The 2811 is considerably faster and a different animal hardware wise. The 2811/2821/2851 share similar architecture and use the same IOS file – the 2801has its own IOS. Again, not really going to make a difference in the lab.

I went with 2811s…because the fans in the 2801s are LOUD AS HELL!

shodown

I did 2801s cause I found them broke and fixed them. If I had to buy I would get 2811's also.

pitviper

shodown wrote: »

I did 2801s cause I found them broke and fixed them. If I had to buy I would get 2811's also.

Yeah, I'm not surprised. They don’t seem to hold up like the "other" 2800s. The only one we ever purchased at work was fixed twice (RAM the first time, PSU the second) and has since been replaced with a 2811. It’s a work lab router now! Will probably last forever as a lab router though!

geek4god

Interesting that you said that as I actually posted on here because I thought they were jacked up they were so loud! I put them on a shelf to worry about when I get to voice..

I have 3 2801's, 5 1760, 2 3725s, 5 2620XMs and some 1841's.. So I will probably sell some things as I have way too much.. Of the 1760s & 2620XMs what would you keep for a PSTN cloud and should I hold some back for other needs? Going to use the 3725s for frame, access and to hold my NME-16ES-1G-P (I know they won’t support IEEE802.3af).

shodown

you can use the 3725 as your frame and PSTN, it only takes one of them to do that.

stlsmoore

I'm lucky and we had some left over 2821's at work that I'm using, I'm using a 1760 for my PSTN and gets the job done without any problems. I think had some issues with the older FXS cards on the 1760 not working on the 2821's (or vice versa) when I was playing with different topologies but besides that all is well.

I don't know if it's just something specific to my area but I learned from someone that works at my local Cisco shop that you can actually borrow equipment that they have laying around that's been decommissioned from businesses that replaced them with newer stuff. I plan on taking advantage of this if I ever need too but I don't want to abuse it lol. It may be worth asking your local Cisco shop if they offer the same thing.

skinsFan202

Just wanted to add although the 2801 can't do NM-CUE for voicemail you can still do your Unity express with an AIM-CUE that you'll install onto the motherboard. They usually go for $275-300 on ebay / 1GB flash card