Re: 56k termination
Slightly off thread, but helpful to some.
On Thu, Feb 10, 2000 at 09:28:53PM -0500, Chris Wagner wrote:
> Yes, 56k is in fact a trick played on us all by the telcos to convince us
> that the days of modems and phone lines is over. I am currently cursed to
> use a 56k connection and it hangs up on me whenever it darn well feels like it.
I'm shocked modems made it to 53k. Methods such digital loop carriers, used
in many areas, and the age of most phone lines make connections difficult
at best. However, a good rule of thumb is to drop your carrier speed by
two notches on whichever protocol yours uses, especially if it's above
48k. That ought to be the real limit of the technology.
> >Remember, 56k is very picky about phone line conditions, simply supporting
> >it on your end in no way guarantees a 56k connection. Even under the best
>
> Under the best of conditions you'll get 40-45k. The highest rate I've ever
> even *heard* of was 53k.
Actually, I see an average connection rate of 48k, with some up to 51k
(unstable) and as low as 44k that have a reliable carrier. You'll
usually see faster transfer rates, which are more important than carrier
speed, if you can eliminate most of the transmission errors. You'll
always have errors and retrains in an analog technology. Another way
to reduce those errors is to disable MNP5/v.42bis compression, but be
sure to keep v.42 error correction.
The greatest modem ever was the Supra v.fast/v.34 modems. They had a
cycling display that showed RT when it was retraining, and your current
carrier rate, great for seeing how much it has been dropping. Whenever
your connection was being weird, just take a glance. Couriers too, with
the ARQ light. A good monitor for an internal modem similar to this would
be a hit for geeks and newbs alike.
Rant.
--
Kevin Blackham 801-539-0852
Senior Tech, XMission Internet
Salt Lake City, Utah 877-XMISSION
k@xmission.com 877-964-7746
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