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From: michael@fgh.fgh.oz.au (Michael Coyne)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp,aus.comms
Subject: Using UUCP over international phone lines
Keywords: satellite packet-size acknowledgment delays
Message-ID: <267@fgh.fgh.oz.au>
Date: 23 Jan 91 12:47:13 GMT
Reply-To: michael@fgh.fgh.oz.au (Michael Coyne)
Followup-To: comp.mail.uucp
Organization: FGH Decision Support Systems Pty Ltd
Lines: 30

I am using UUCP between two 4800 baud MNP4 modems - one in Holland, and
the other in Sydney, Australia.  My effective throughput is only about
2400 baud.  I suspect that this is due mainly to UUCP using a small
packet size, with relatively frequent pauses to wait for
acknowledgments which have to travel halfway around the world.
Examination of the TD/RD lights on my modem seems to confirm this -
with a short burst on TD, followed by a longish pause, then a flicker
of RD.  The remote machine is a mostly idle Tower 650, but even it
should be able to respond to UUCP fairly quickly :-).

Has anyone had a similar experience, and able to offer me any advice
about how to improve my throughput?  At $1.60/minute, and with Megabytes
to ship, every little bit helps.

The sort of areas where I am hoping I might be able to do something are:

1. Tell UUCP to increase its packet size.  With a reliable modem connection,
acknowledgements could be sent much less frequently.  I know there are
e, f and g protocols for UUCP, but I am not which is good for what - or
even how to activate them.

2. Use a completely different file transfer protocol.  Does GNU have a
UUCP look-alike?

Thanks in advance.
-- 
Michael Coyne                              FGH Decision Support Systems P. L.
ACSnet:   michael@fgh.fgh.oz               Suite 101, 77 Pacific Hwy,
Internet: michael@fgh.fgh.oz.au            Nth. Sydney.  2060.  Australia.
UUCP:  uunet!fgh.fgh.oz.au!michael         PHONE: +61 2 957 4224