IBM 8228 Token Ring Hub
System Type: 8228

The IBM 8228 was a very long lived Token Ring hub which consisted of 8 ports and and a ring in and out for stacking multiple units together. From what I can tell, this device was sold for a decade making it fairly common among token ring gear. What's not common are the special dongles (setup aid) used to prime the relays after they've been bumped around. All of the 8228s I've seen listed always omit this (necessary) piece. Fortunately it wouldn't be too hard to make your own but of course less convenient. After purchasing a new-in-box 8228 I was able to get the setup aid along with a few extra goodies.

What's unusual about it, is that it operates without power (passive). That's why the relays need to be primed with the setup aid because they don't have any power or intelligence to speak of. Also, the IBM data connectors are hermaphroditic, similar to what's being achieved now with USB C, except IBM had this way back before anyone else even had the intuition for it.

Downloads

• 8228 User's Guide
• Toking Ring Networks Intro Planning Guide

• Local Area Network Concepts and Products: Adapters, Hubs and ATM
• Token Ring Solutions
• Token Ring: Why buy from IBM?

Ancient Papyrus

My 8228 actually arrived "new old stock" still in box. I won it on ebay for 99 cents many years ago. Hilariously because obviously 99 cents wasn't worth anything, the shipper sent it in the OG IBM box which was practically disintegrating when it arrived to me with a huge gaping hole! Fortunately nothing escaped out of the box, so I didn't really care. The setup aid was completely corroded from the 9v battery sitting there since 1994, I had remove the corrosion and the terminal that broke off and got stuck to the board. It did come with the original printed pages that all 8228s did, which is what I used to convert into PDFs. While they were converted to pure white, the original pages are actually a very deep yellow and look older than they actually are; my coworker jokingly remarked that it was ancient IBM papyrus. Before the era of working from home, I would regularly ship a lot of this IBM stuff to the office.