[Lvlug] Internal vs. External modems

[Tom Walsh]

Randy Kramer wrote:
> 
> I might have one piece of the puzzle, but not the entire solution.
> 
> When 56 kbps modems came out, they were not standardized and there were
> two competing "protocols".  At that time, ISPs often supported one or
> the other.  FastNet eventually supported both, but you had to dial into
> different modem banks depending on which "protocol" your modem used.
> (Protocol is not the right word.  I think the standard that was finally
> agreed on is called V.90.)
> 
> Aside: My dad has a 56 K modem.  As the telephone wires run, he lives
> within 1000 feet of me (but he is further from the central office).
> When I bring his machine to my house, I get connection speeds that vary
> with each connection, and often less than he gets at his house.
> 


I had a similar problem when I moved into this place, I would get noisy
9600 connections (forget about anything higher).  I had a plain-vanilla
modem and when I tried a friend's USR modem, it would work at only
14.4.  Eventually I called Bell-Atlantic and tried to complain about the
poor modem connnection, this was five years ago, guess what, they asked
me "what's a modem"!!!  (These are the same people selling DSL today). 
Soooo,  I called repair department and complained about the "other
converstaions I can hear faintly", "hearing faint touchtones" and
"people remarking on HUM on my phone".  <hehheh>  The tech that showed
up knew what a modem was, swapped out the bad line and put me on one
that runs at 53K.

Moral?  You just have to bitch at them the right way to get them to fix
their equipment.

TomW


-- 
Tom Walsh - WN3L - Embedded Systems Consultant
'www.openhardware.net', 'www.cyberiansoftware.com'
"Windows? No thanks, I have work to do..."