Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!isis!nyx!bscott From: bscott@nyx.UUCP (Ben Scott) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: telecommunications Summary: Baud Bandit Keywords: modem, terminal software Message-ID: <1749@nyx.UUCP> Date: 1 Aug 90 16:07:22 GMT References: <7905@lynx.UUCP> Reply-To: bscott@nyx.UUCP (Ben Scott) Distribution: na Organization: Public Access Unix - University of Denver Lines: 74 In article <7905@lynx.UUCP> vik@lynx.UUCP (Vikram Sohal) writes: >Lately I have been looking around for a good 2400 baud modem and some >good communications software to use with my Amiga 500. I saw a review >in one of the Amiga rags about something called the "Baud Bandit". It Baud Bandit is at this time a line of two modems and a term program. >is some kind of 2400 baud modem that also supports data compression, There is an MNP5 version and the normal 2400 baud. A 9600 baud version is in the works. >the review mentioned that the data compression is not very useful (in >fact it makes transmissions longer!) when used with transfer protocals >that already do some data compression. I do not know if this is a very This is more complicated than that - it is the FILES you transfer that are compressed, not the protocols, and in my experience it NEVER actually slows down, though it may not help AS MUCH. I regularly got in excess of 270 CPS transfering all manner of files, mostly LHarced programs. However, the potential is there. It works best on text - you get an effective 4800 baud in many cases with messages, menus, etc. >useful feature or even if other modems (like the telebit trailblazer) >support the protocal that the Baud Bandit supports (something called >MNP level 5). Anyways, what do you guys think? should I just go for a I am told Supra is coming out with an MNP 5 modem that also supports v.42bis for a theoretical maximum effective throughput of nearly 8800 CPS. While this is probably a bit of an exaggeration it is certainly reasonable to expect it to be much faster than MNP 5 alone, and I am looking forward to it. My current Supra 2400 is probably the only 100% perfect piece of consumer electronics I've ever purchased, and that's even counting the simple stuff like joysticks... it is trouble-free and perfect in every way (IMO). >Hayes 2400 baud modem, or should I take a chance on one of these things? >How about terminal software for the A500? any good choices? I bought a Baud Bandit MNP 5 modem and returned it after 3 days. It performed as advertised, but I had many troubles with it. The speaker was of very poor quality, the case was very large, the LEDs hard to see from an angle, the default settings rather inconvenient, and it put out RF interference like it was designed for the task (though my setup is quite sensitive to that - my TV antenna is a piece of flat wire cable snaking through the power lines of my computers...). I don't mean to really flame it totally - it did to what it was supposed to do and worked well, but to me, the speed increase wasn't worth giving up my Supra. I plan to wait until the new Supra modem is shipping and get one of those, as the projected price (as seen in the mail-order ads that are already being run) is less than the BaudBandit. As for terminal software, the best shareware is at this time JRComm 1.0, which has a thread of it's own here... The BaudBandit software has some nice features but is also, to me, substandard overall. (note: I've had some even worse experiences with the regular BaudBandit modem, which is owned by a frequent client of mine. He got it primarily so I could send him intermediate results of contract work over the phone, and a lot of the time we have trouble just connecting... I have heard his modem send tones down the line that no modem should even be able to make! But most of the time it, too, performs as advertised, except for recently when it stopped working - we're not sure if it's the cable or what, but the problem is probably not in the modem) . <<<>>> -- .---------------------------------------------------------------------------. |Ben Scott, professional goof-off and consultant at The Raster Image, Denver| |Amiga UUCP node domain: bscott@vila.denver.co.us Else: bscott@nyx.cs.du.edu| |FIDO point address 1:104/421.2, or call the Arvada 68K BBS at (303)424-9831| |"Don't embarrass us..." "Have I ever?" - Buckaroo Banzai | *AMIGA POWER* | `---------------------------------------------------------------------------'