Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!uunet!hayes!tnixon From: tnixon@hayes.uucp Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems Subject: Re: Hayes Smartmodem 9600 troubles Message-ID: <3827.27d24b3a@hayes.uucp> Date: 4 Mar 91 13:27:22 GMT References: <1991Mar4.025731.21550@ping.chi.il.us> Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA Lines: 75 In article <1991Mar4.025731.21550@ping.chi.il.us>, gorpong@ping.chi.il.us (Gordon C. Galligher) writes: > I have been evaluating Hayes Smartmodem 9600 V.42 modems, and have had some > interesting results. Going UUCP, the modems connect at 9600, and have their > distinctive connect tones, but the best throughput on the line has been 311 > characters per second (for a 121 K file). Is there a special UUCP setup that > these modems require in order to get speeds comparable of a 9600 modem? I > may be wrong, but I was under the impression that 9600 baud means 960 cps. > I realize that 960cps is a total dream-world, but I am only getting 1/3 of > that, and 2/3 overhead for uucico communication is hardly what I would > expect. Like any other error-control modem, the VSM9600 performs best with a protocol that doesn't stop and wait for acknowledgements after every frame. I'm not familiar enough with UUCP to suggest what settings or alternatives you might have to consider to make it work better. The VSM9600 generally works better than PEP with stop-and-wait protocols because its turnaround time is so much faster, but there will nevertheless be some degradation from optimum. > Next question: Am I correct in thinking that there is no way to get the > modem to connect 9600 to anything but another Hayes? Yes. > How can modem companies > get away with this proprietary-ism when so many people are screaming for > open systems? When the VSM9600 was developed, V.32 modems were selling for $2,500+. People were screaming for _speed_ more than they were screaming for _compatibility_ or _compliance_. Hayes, USRobotics, Microcom, Telebit, Racal-Vadic, and a bunch of other companies responded by (1) continuing to work hard on technology that would bring down the cost of V.32 modems, and (2) introducing, as an interim solution, proprietary, non-standard modulation schemes that could be implemented at a lower cost. These were assumed to be viable for some period of time (a couple of years maybe?) until technology got to the point where standardized schemes could be implemented and sold for an acceptable price (less than the cost of the PC, for example). > We want open systems, but we settle for proprietary connections > between them? Not everybody WANTS open systems! There are many people who specifically choose proprietary, non-standard modems because it limits the number of modems that can connect with their systems, and therefore limits the number of possible security violations. Others like the lower cost of the non-standard schemes, and are willing to give up compatibility for that. But it's a mistake to buy a non-standard product in hope that it will become a widespread standard. One buys non-standard high-speed modems because one has a relatively closed environment with control over both ends of the connection, has an immediate need for high-speed data, and believes that the benefits of the higher speed will pay back the investment in the non-standard modem fast enough that the incompatibility with the standard is not important. Many, many people made these calculations, and bought non-standard high-speed modems as a result. Would I do it today? Probably not, unless I had a significant installed base of a particular type of modem for which I wanted to retain _internal_ compatibility, but even then I'd opt for a modem that provided both the non-standard modulation and V.32 (which most vendors have on the market today). I can't imagine, with the low cost of V.32 modems today, buying a new non-standard high-speed modem that has no installed base at all. -- Toby -- Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer | Voice +1-404-840-9200 Telex 151243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 USA | Internet hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net