Path: utzoo!attcan!lsuc!maccs!cs4g6ag From: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Modems and Telephone Lines Message-ID: <2569B8CE.589@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> Date: 21 Nov 89 21:06:22 GMT References: <13410@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> <12219@merrimack.edu> Reply-To: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn) Distribution: na Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Lines: 28 In article <12219@merrimack.edu> AIN14922@merrimack.edu (Doug Linder) writes: $ I have a question in a similar vein: what kind of solutions have people come $up with for using a modem when you only have 1 phone line? Do you just use it $late at night when no one's likely to call? Do you just let people think $you're on the phone for 3 hours at a time? Can an answering machine be put in $the loop? Is there special equipment for this? Thanks in advance. When I'm here at university, I'm in a single room so I don't have a roommate to worry about, so I have no problems with tying up the phone line for hours on end. When I'm at home with Mom and Dad, I basically a) check to make sure they're not planning to originate or receive a phone call for a while or b) use the modem when they're out of the house. Most or all of the people who are likely to call me know I spend a lot of time on the modem and therefore aren't surprised if they get a busy signal. I know of fellow students who have two lines in their apartments, one for phone/answering machine and the other for the modem. If you're going to be using your modem a _lot_ and have others living with you or are doing business out of your home or whatever, I'd recommend getting a second phone line if it's at all possible. -- Stephen M. Dunn cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca = "\nI'm only an undergraduate!!!\n"; **************************************************************************** They say the best in life is free // but if you don't pay then you don't eat