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From: denbeste@bbn.com (Steven Den Beste)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: "baud" == "bits"/"second"
Message-ID: <42300@bbn.COM>
Date: 6 Jul 89 13:10:55 GMT
Sender: news@bbn.COM
Reply-To: denbeste@BBN.COM (Steven Den Beste)
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Lines: 18

The term "baud" DOES mean "bits per second", not "characters per second".
We use it just like we use "herz" as a synonym for "cycles per second".

The person who reported that "baud" means "characters per second" is simply
wrong.

As a laboratory demonstration, I have a 2400 baud modem, and I run DNET.
(Great stuff, Matt!) For those of you who do not know, DNET uses the line fully
during downloads - no pauses waiting for acknowledgements. WHen downloading I
get about 10K per minute transfer rate. (And, as the old joke goes, I'm
THANKFUL for it. Just wait'll I have kids and they complain about how slow
their T1 line is.)

10240 bytes per 60 seconds = 171 bytes per second
                           = 1710 bits per second

The rest is DNET's blocking and protocol and escaping. I'm not getting anything
like 2400 BYTES per second.