Why a one-room West Virginia library runs a $20,000 Cisco router

Quote from highfloydelity : I don't necessarily agree. I don't believe the project was a total waste of money. The state, however, bungled the project and could have gotten a lot more benefit out of the funding.

Yeah, government wasted another opportunity...don't you see a theme here?

Quote from shhaggy : This router does not add ANYTHING to the user experience. I'd have bought these places a few Asus RT-N16s and dropped Tomato in them.

I kind of disagree... I see where you're coming from that the user experience is not improved but who is supporting this router? Maybe they have shared spare parts meaning any downtime is minimal. Maybe they have a backup infrastructure that is only set up for that particular IOS. Maybe they get free support from Cisco if they spend xxx per year. So many variables to consider.

Quote from vivahate : I kind of disagree... I see where you're coming from that the user experience is not improved but who is supporting this router? Maybe they have shared spare parts meaning any downtime is minimal. Maybe they have a backup infrastructure that is only set up for that particular IOS. Maybe they get free support from Cisco if they spend xxx per year. So many variables to consider.

I thought of that, and it would make sense if the cheaper router was marginally cheaper. But we're talking about a router that's $19,500 more than a router that would STILL be overkill. It's awfully hard to justify that expense being reasonable simply for streamlining purposes.

I've overseen project and purchases like this before, and I've made the decision to overspend to minimize potential issues. I may even spend 2x or 3x the cost of something, hundreds of dollars extra at times, to keep things streamlined. This, however, is exorbitant.

Quote from vivahate : I kind of disagree... I see where you're coming from that the user experience is not improved but who is supporting this router? Maybe they have shared spare parts meaning any downtime is minimal. Maybe they have a backup infrastructure that is only set up for that particular IOS. Maybe they get free support from Cisco if they spend xxx per year. So many variables to consider.

Do you know what a router is? They needed a router that cost under $100 and instead put in a $20,000 router, do you really want to try to find justification? Because of this obscure reason, I guess it was ok that you spent over 200 times what you needed to spend.

I don't think so.

Quote from highfloydelity : I remember hearing about this a while ago and I thought there was a thread here but I didn't find one.

Might've been this:
"State paid $22K each for Internet routers"
http://slickdeals.net/f/3549974-C...st50337650

Quote from jplayland : Do you know what a router is? They needed a router that cost under $100 and instead put in a $20,000 router, do you really want to try to find justification? Because of this obscure reason, I guess it was ok that you spent over 200 times what you needed to spend. I don't think so.

I still think you're not looking at the bigger picture. I'm sure some free after rebate 4 port router would have done the trick for a while until it went wrong, but like I said, you have to fit in to the existing support infrastructure (SNMP/backup/spares/reports/proper logging/redundancy). Maybe it didn't need to be a $20k one but going to Staples and buying a $100 router is totally unrealistic IMO.

Quote from vivahate : I still think you're not looking at the bigger picture. I'm sure some free after rebate 4 port router would have done the trick for a while until it went wrong, but like I said, you have to fit in to the existing support infrastructure (SNMP/backup/spares/reports/proper logging/redundancy). Maybe it didn't need to be a $20k one but going to Staples and buying a $100 router is totally unrealistic IMO.

Look at the picture of the library. I would bet they have less than 5 computers and the only special need they would have is to tunnel back to the main library system for the area. A well selected $100 or less router from Staples is totally realistic. Hell, I wouldn't have a problem if they bought two or three to be safe and have a backup.

Quote from Deusxmachina : Might've been this: "State paid $22K each for Internet routers" http://slickdeals.net/f/3549974-C...st50337650

That would be it, thanks! I knew I saw it somewhere.

Quote from jplayland : Look at the picture of the library. I would bet they have less than 5 computers and the only special need they would have is to tunnel back to the main library system for the area. A well selected $100 or less router from Staples is totally realistic. Hell, I wouldn't have a problem if they bought two or three to be safe and have a backup.

And what if they're doing VoIP or plan to in the future? Will your well selected $100 router from Staples support CALEA? Will it support SIP fixup?

Quote from jplayland : Look at the picture of the library.

Don't judge a book by its cover...lol

Quote from vivahate : And what if they're doing VoIP or plan to in the future? Will your well selected $100 router from Staples support CALEA? Will it support SIP fixup?

Does it look like they are? I wouldn't be surprised if they were still running Windows 2000.

At some point someone in the procurement section should question the need for a $20k router in a singlewide trailer.

Quote from Beartrkkr : Does it look like they are? I wouldn't be surprised if they were still running Windows 2000.

They look like they'd struggle to use dial-up... I just think there is more to this than the surface story of "$20k router for one library that looks like a trailer." Not saying I'm definitely right.

I actually handle contracts, contractors, and purchase orders on behalf of the government. AMA.

Also, it's an egregious case, thereby confirming everything I believe about all government everywhere, because that makes perfect sense. Don't ask me when the last time I sat in on a budget meeting at my city council was though!

Hope they got a lifetime warranty and instant on-site support for that price.