183 lines
8.1 KiB
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183 lines
8.1 KiB
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<TITLE>The Answer Guy 31: 115K Baud from a Modem: In your dreams!</TITLE>
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#A000A0"
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ALINK="#FF0000">
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<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H1 align="center"><A NAME="answer">
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<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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<a href="./index.html">The Answer Guy</a>
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<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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</A></H1> <BR>
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<H4 align="center">By James T. Dennis,
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<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a><BR>
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Starshine Technical Services,
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<A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A> </H4>
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<p><hr><p>
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<H3><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" alt="(?)" width="50" height="28"
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align="left" border="0">115K Baud from a Modem: In your dreams!</H3>
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<p><strong>From WEMehl on Fri, 03 Jul 1998
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<br><br>
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I purchased an <a href="http://www.ibm.com/">IBM</a> Aptiva last fall.
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It came with a LTwin modem installed. It tells me that its max speed is
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115K, but I never seem to be able to run at more than 34K. Is it the
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modem (if so can I upgrade) or is it something to do with
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<a href="http://www.aol.com/">AOL</a>? Thanks.
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</strong></p>
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<blockquote><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" alt="(?)" width="50" height="28"
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align="left" border="0">
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I think that this is a shameful bit of marketeering on the part of
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whatever docs tell you this. They probably mean "115K if you get
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better than average compression under ideal phone line conditions."
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<br><br>
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Currently the highest speeds attainable by modems over traditional
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telephone lines is about 56Kbps --- and that is asymetric. In other
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words you can download stuff at close to 56K under ideal line
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conditions --- but your upload speed will not approach that (a
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non-issue for most Internet "web surfers" --- but it would have been
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a major issue for the old BBS users who used to run their Fido boards
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and use QWK messaging.
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<br><br>
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I have no idea what AOL is currently doing. It is likely that they
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haven't upgraded all of their modems (Points of Presence) to 56K
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at this point --- and it's even more unlikely that they would have
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upgraded their entire infrastructure to ensure that their hosts and
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LAN's would have the capacity and bandwidth to feed those thousands
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of high speed modems <em>at full speed</em>.
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<br><br>
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As for upgrading --- you can almost certainly upgrade your modem.
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I've been working with PC clones for over a decade and I've never seen
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one that had a *modem* hardwired into the motherboard. I've seen some
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with inferior serial ports --- serial ports with buggy and slow 16450
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UART chips that couldn't be replaced or disabled. However, this is
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probably a typical internal modem --- just rip it out and throw it
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away. I personally recommend external modems.
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<br><br>
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For real speed upgrades you can get ISDN and FRAD (frame relay access
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devices) for PC's that are supported by Linux and can take you past
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modem speeds all the way up do T1. You can also pop in an ethernet
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card (10Mbps) and get an ADSL or a cablemodem (router). Naturally
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you can't use this over your existing telco lines --- and you'd probably
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really hate to see how much a leased line (frame relay) or ISDN (metered
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service in most areas --- a penny a minute adds up pretty quick!)
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would cost. As for ADSL and cablemodem services --- the coverage
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and availability are pretty spotty and the pricing isn't what an
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AOL user is likely to be interested in spending.
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<br><br>
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What really makes me curious about your message are two things:
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<blockquote>
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Are you running Linux? Is that a "Winmodem"? (The model
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designation certainly sounds like one).
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<br><br>
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If you're running Linux to access AOL --- what are you using
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to do it? The AOL reps I've talked to have shown <em>no</em> interest
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in making Linux, Unix, Java, or other portable versions of their
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interfaces avaialable --- and hostility at the notion of
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documenting their protocols and API's to the point where anyone
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else could do a free implementation.
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<br><br>
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<em>[ Actually, their Instant Messenger is available in Java, and
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a recent note I sent their web staff asking after a Linux version of
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the main client got a friendly "we've forwarded that suggestion"
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note back, from two different people. So, times change? Meanwhile
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<a href="http://www.winehq.com/">WINE</a> is
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rumored to have some success with AOL. But if you're using something
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Linux native, I'd really like to know what it is. -- Heather ]</em>
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<br><br>
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If you're not running Linux, and you're not asking about
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anything that's even vaguely Linux or Unix related... why are
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you posting a message to the
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<em><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/">Linux Gazette</a></em> "Answer Guy"?
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(No, I didn't pick the title --- my editors did that).
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</blockquote>
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As a final comment, I usually don't care much about questions like
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this one. People read a bit of marketing fluff on the box or in the
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ads for a product --- they draw an unrealistic conclusion based on an
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interpretation that's best described with the phrase "wishful thinking"
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then they perform highly unscientific metrics and benchmarks on which
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the fail to perform the most elementary critical analysis (of their
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experimental design, their results or their conclusions) --- and then,
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unsatisfied with their results they write to some unrelated support
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guy hoping for a magical incantation that will make the product work
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as they <em>thought it would</em> from what they <em>thought</em> the marketers
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meant in the <em>advertising</em> that they read.
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<br><br>
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If you're getting unsatisfactory results from this product --- talk
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to your vendor. You paid them for it. If you're just trying to see
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if your "missing out" (that some other people might actually be getting
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consistent 115K throughput on these) --- don't worry, it's not happening.
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</blockquote>
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<!--================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
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>Copyright ©</a> 1998, James T. Dennis <BR>
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Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 31 August 1998</H5>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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