From owner-freebsd-questions Wed Sep 6 23:04:38 1995 Return-Path: questions-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.6.11/8.6.6) id XAA25902 for questions-outgoing; Wed, 6 Sep 1995 23:04:38 -0700 Received: from lirmm.lirmm.fr (lirmm.lirmm.fr [193.49.104.10]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id XAA25880 for ; Wed, 6 Sep 1995 23:04:34 -0700 Received: from lirmm.fr (baobab.lirmm.fr [193.49.106.14]) by lirmm.lirmm.fr (8.6.10/8.6.4) with ESMTP id IAA04496 for ; Thu, 7 Sep 1995 08:04:29 +0200 Message-Id: <199509070604.IAA04496@lirmm.lirmm.fr> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: modem (results) Date: Thu, 07 Sep 1995 08:04:27 +0200 From: "Christophe Fiorio, LIRMM 67-41-85-78" Sender: questions-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Some time ago I asked a question about what 28.8K external fax modem use for a PPP connection with FreeBSD. Her are a resume of the responses I receive : The most used (no doubt, many more responses as the others) is : USRobotics 28.8 sportster behind we have : USR Courier Microcom DeskPorte FAST 28.8kbps I was suprised to not receive any response about the suprafaxmodem. I forward you a post found in comp.dcom.modems about it. What do you think. Really nobody use it ? Subject: SupraFaxModem 28.8 Best all-around modem - comp.dcom.modems #58578 In article , dkakanov@midway.uchicago.edu (Dana Akanova) writes: |> I am sure that I will get a lot of opposite answers to this post, but |> I must say that after trying out several modems, I have come to the |> conclusion that the Supra is the best all-around modem. The things |> that I was looking for were the following: |> |> 1. Connect Display (LCD or LED-as in Supra) showing current connect |> speed and protocol |> 2. Caller ID |> 3. Flash ROM |> 4. Asymmetric Rates |> 4. Good Technical Support |> 5. Wide User Base |> 6. Reliable fax compatibility |> |> |> The modems that I tested were: |> |> 1. USR Courier V.34 External with 7/5/95 rom (the latest) |> 2. Supra 28.8 V.34 External with 1.202 rom (the latest) |> 3. Practical Peripherals PC288LCD with the 2.62 rom (the latest) |> 4. Microcom DeskPorte Fast V.34 External with 3.3 rom (the latest) |> |> As for the modems, the USR was nice, especially with the 33.6 speed |> (which I actually got at times) but I found my self missing some kind |> of Display on the modem and Caller ID. Sure the modem has a HS led |> but that's for all connections >2400 bps. Now come on, nowadays only |> anthing greater than or equal to 14.4 should be considered high speed. |> Sure you could do an ATI6 command, but you can't do this if you are |> using a slip/ppp connection in Win95. Win95 only reports the initial |> receive speed, which of course could change later on and you wouldn't |> know it. Also, I've heard on FIDOnet that the USR's with the 7/5/95 |> rom has some problems connecting with some fax machines. I am sure |> though that this will be fixed with another flash rom version. But |> until then, what are people supposed to do? I tried looking for old |> flash files, but couldn't find them. |> |> As for the PPI modem, it's greatest asset was the hugh LCD screen. |> However, on Compuserve, tons of people are having problems with using |> WinFAX Pro 4.0 and other fax programs with the 2.62 bios. PPI says |> that they will have a fix soon, but until then, people can't fax |> reliably. Also, since the PPI modem does not have flash rom, you have |> to contact PPI, tell them everything about your modem, wait for them |> to send it out to you, then you have to open your modem ... I think |> flash rom would be beneficial here even if it would raise the cost of |> the modem. Another thing is that the PPI modems do not support |> asymmetric rates (If there are PPI people out there, both Calvin and |> Stan on Compuserve have confirmed this). One last thing, what's |> going to happen to PPI/Hayes? That lifetime warranty won't do you any |> good if the company doesn't exist anymore. |> |> As for the Microcom modem, I was just overall unimpressed with the |> modem. It doesn't tell you on the LCD whether your connection is |> V.34 (although I guess you could guess that by the connect sounds) and |> after you're connected, how do you know what the asymmetric speeds are |> (assuming the modem does support this feature). The at\s command only |> shows one speed -- I assume the receive speed. Also, this modem does |> not support Caller ID just like the USR. I guess you could get the |> DeskPorte Fast+ and pay all that extra money for that feature if you |> really wanted it, but no thanks. The modem is expensive enough as it |> is. |> |> Which brings us to the Supra modem. It supports all those features |> that I listed, although people here will of course note that the flash |> rom does not change the DSP. Well, ok. Other than that, it does do |> pretty well as a modem overall. It has the LED display which does |> tell asymmetric rates, the protocol used, and even when there are |> errors in transmission or receive. Also, their support here on the |> net is good and tons of people have them (which kind of adds force to |> getting Supra to do something if there is something wrong). The modem |> of course has Caller ID and even has the ability to answer the phone |> and tell if there is a fax machine on the other side (I'm not talking |> about adaptive answer here but Silent answer). I think the only other |> modem with this ability is the Zyxel (which I haven't tried yet, but |> their upcoming Supreme model looks good but I expect that to cost |> $$$--even more than a Courier. Heck the Elite 2864 already costs more |> than the Courier). The only down side FOR ME (you of course may want |> to add things here) are that when testing these other modems, it was |> noticeable that they all had higher throughput rates than the Supra on |> 28.8 connects. Things did seem to go faster. I am sure that there |> will be many who say that this is the most important feature, and |> that's okay. But for me, I wanted to have those other features as |> well. |> |> Well, your comments are welcome. Please don't flame me as I am only |> expressing my humble opinion. Yours will differ and that doesn't mean |> either one of us is wrong. One last thing, I didn't try the Motorola |> Power modem just because it doesn't have a display. The display to me |> is very important (why? I guess I am just a visual person who likes |> to know what speed I am connected at). |> |> Thanks for your attention. |> |> David Jenks |> |> Christophe. \\|// \\|// @ o o @ (v o) +--------oOO--( )--OOo--------+--------------oOO--( )--OOo----------------+ | There are two major products that come Christophe Fiorio | out of Berkeley: LSD and BSD UNIX. email: fiorio@lirmm.fr | We don't believe this to be a coincidence. http://www.lirmm.fr/~fiorio | - Andrew Bulhak (acb@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au)