Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site im4u.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!gatech!ut-sally!im4u!jsq From: jsq@im4u.UUCP (John Quarterman) Newsgroups: net.periphs,net.news,net.lan Subject: Re: 2400 (or higher) baud modems (3 of 4) Message-ID: <669@im4u.UUCP> Date: Sun, 24-Nov-85 15:09:12 EST Article-I.D.: im4u.669 Posted: Sun Nov 24 15:09:12 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 5-Dec-85 04:24:19 EST References: <632@im4u.UUCP> <667@im4u.UUCP> <668@im4u.UUCP> Reply-To: jsq@im4u.UUCP (John Quarterman) Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas Lines: 329 Keywords: 2400 baud, modem, USR Courier Xref: watmath net.periphs:920 net.news:4461 net.lan:1176 Summary: Many have tried the 2400 baud USR Courier 2400, with differing results. In response to this survey there were many comments on the USR Courier 2400 modem, which are summarized below: >From ut-sally!seismo!gould9!sdcc3!ucbvax!calma!radzy Sun Nov 17 07:54:54 1985 USR: manufacturer: US Robotics 8100 North McCormick Blvd. Skokie, IL 60076 distributor: We used: Electro-Data Marketing 552A Valley Way Milpitas, CA 95036 (408) 945-1300 available: currently model number: Courier 2400 autodial: yes speeds: 300/1200/2400 synch/asynch: asynchronous housing: standalone price: approx $600 on 3/85 discounts: unknown compatibility: I can't find any protocols in the manual, however, it talks with the CDS modem (and I presume Hayes 2400). use: These modems are used for people to log in on. They are only used for interactive use from home. comments: 1. Some early models had non-working ROMs in them. We got one of these. The fix is simple. 2. We're reasonably happy with these. ************************************************************ Tim (radzy) Radzykewycz, The Incredible Radical Cabbage calma!radzy@ucbvax.ARPA {ucbvax,sun,csd-gould}!calma!radzy >From: W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA (Keith Petersen) The following review was not written by me. It was downloaded from a Remote CP/M system. Unfortunately there is no way to reach the author because it is unsigned. It is presented here for its possible informational value. Please address discussions/comments to the mailing list, not me. I don't own a 2400 baud modem. --Keith 10 Mar 85 ... 2. USR COURIER 2400 The USR Courier seems to be the first smart low-priced modem to be released, probably due to the fact that, unlike many manufacturers, it does not use the Rockwell chip set. It features Hayes 2400 compatibility. I will briefly summarize the positive aspects of the modem: - externally accessible, well-labeled configuration switches - external switch to reverse pins 2 & 3, thus eliminating the need for a null modem - result codes can be completely turned off via switch - volume control for internal speaker After setting the configuration switches (an easy task for anyone who has ever set up a modem) the Courier is ready for operation. With the appropriate switch setting, it can be used both in originate and answer mode without any hardware changes. Originating a call can be accomplished with the now-famous ATDT sequence, except that command letters no longer have to be in caps. As with other smart modems, any character typed while dialing or waiting for carrier aborts the action and hangs up the line. The "escape" character can be used to either return the modem to command mode (like the Hayes) or to hang up (like other USR modems) depending on a configuration switch setting. The Courier was used to successfully connect to the local TYMNET number. A later model also was able to talk to a VADIC 2400 baud unit over long distance (Wayne Masters' RCPM). The Courier was also able to call and be called by a Penril 2024 and another Courier. As to autoanswer mode, the modem was a complete washout to put it mildly. Surely, hard- and software are partly to blame but the fact that other modems (including USR Password and AD212A) work with the same setup indicates a serious flaw in the Courier. The hardware used, for whatever reason, drops DTR while changing baud rates. The duration is so short that all other modems tested on the hardware, EXCEPT the Courier, are totally unaffected. The Courier will, upon carrier lock and receipt of the first character typed, drop the carrier 3 out of 4 times at 1200 and 2400 baud. While no considerations were given to 300 baud performance, it was noted that those problems only exist at 1200 and 2400 baud. Placing a 5MFD capacitor from the DTR line to ground totally fixed this problem. In autoanswer mode, the modems were used as follows: - all result codes are inhibited - on carrier loss, computer reboots, cycles DTR, then waits for a character typed by constantly polling the data input port - on receipt of character, baud rate is tested and, if necessary, changed I must again stress that this method works with all modems tested. The USR Courier, however, would simply refuse to answer any more phone calls after answering a few. No set pattern was discovered. Sometimes, the modem would work properly for 5-10 calls then refuse to answer, at other times it would only allow 1 or 2 calls. When it refused to answer, no outside indication was given as to the problem. The appropriate LEDs on the front panel were lit yet the modem did not respond to the ring. Surely, this is a most serious deficiency and I have decided that the Courier is unfit for use in this particular application. I am convinced the problem lies solely with the Courier, particularly sonce both the Auto Dial 212A and the Password 1200 work in the exact same environment (except for the much-needed 2400 capability, of course). In closing I must again stress that the USR certainly is a superb modem and very well suited to originate applications. Considering that 99 out of 100 modems sold will never be used for pure autoanswer purposes, the Courier is not at all a failure. One modem was tested in late November, two in late February (both were preproduction units) and thre PRODUCTION units were tested in March. All five units exhibited the same problems. ...may those who have the power to change things do so, may those whose toes I stepped on test for themselves before stepping on mine, may those who want to buy a Courier not be discouraged. If YOU intend to use a USR Courier in an autoanswer-only environment, please by all means give it a try, it may sure work for you. If it doesn't, you have been warned, and if it does, either "they" fixed it or the problem is installation-dependent... >From ut-sally!topaz!packard!cbosgd!rice!neuro1!sob Mon Nov 18 14:17:05 1985 I have sent you all I have, hope it is helpful. >For each modem model: >Manufacturor's name, telephone number, and address. USR ROBOTICS, 8100 North Mc Cormick, Skokie,IL 60076 They have an 800 number, but I don't have it handy. >Same for distributor, if different from manufacturor. See enclosed text to follow >Date available, model number, autodial, speeds, synchronous/asynchronous. They are currently available, Courier 2400, Hayes command set auto dial, 300 (103), 1200 (212A), 2400 (CCITT V.22bis), asynchronous only >Rack mount or other. stand alone only >Price, and discounts (bulk, academic, other). We got ours for $399 from a particular distributor that seismo recommended. >What other modems they are compatible with: They work with the Hayes 2400 and all the 1200's I have do uucp with. (RIXON R212A, Hayes 1200, Cemetek Info-mate) Please let me know your thoughts if any about this topic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >From USENET, by Rick Adams : I have spent the last 2 weeks evaluating a US Robotics Courier 2400 modem. I have beat on it pretty severely and can't find anything wrong with it. We are buying several. I like it well enough that I will probably buy myself one for home use. The modem was used for uucp traffic on seismo for 2 weeks. It was used for both dialins and dialing out. The ONLY problem I could find with it is that if you try and call another site at 2400 baud and it can only sync up at 1200, the modem prints "CONNECTED 1200" and then resets the baudrate to the host to 1200 baud. I added 5 lines of code to the dialer in uucp and have had no problems since. I consider this to be minor. Anyway, on to details. The GSA cost is $399 quantity 1. If you are not on the GSA scale (i.e. if you don't buy as a US government agency), you can still get it at this price by mentioning you heard about this price from The Center for Seismic Studies (i.e. where I work). The list price on this model is $895 and the regular non-GSA price is $479 (other dealers may charge more). The modem operates at 300/1200/2400 baud (Bell 103/Bell212A/CCITT V22.bis) in both originate and answer mode. It will fall back to 1200 from 2400, but not from 1200 to 300 in orignate mode and correctly autobaud in answer mode. A nice (and undocumented feature) is that the modem will detect what baudrate the computer is sending at and use that as the dialout speed. This means you can just list the same modem in your L-devices file 3 times with different speeds and not change anything else. [it's simpler than it sounds if you are confused] In orignate mode, it will detect (with a serate message for each) ringing, busy, dialtone, and voice (and hang up on a voice). It uses a superset of the HAYES SMARTMODEM command set. I used the unmodified Hayes driver for a while before changing it to also handle the USR extensions. It also claims to be able to be used with CrossTalk, SmartCom and PC-Talk communications software, but I was unable to test this. (I presume it will work, as it looks like a hayes) It does pulse or tone dialing and if tone dialing doesn't get rid of the dialtone, it will try pulse dialing. The warranty is 2 years from US Robotics. The dealer will also handle warranty repairs (by sending you a working one and sending yours off to the factory.) The 1200 baud performance was much, much better than our Racal-Vadic MACS dialers. We were able to connect to sites with the USR modem that we could not get to with the Vadic modem. There was very little noise at 2400 baud and virtually none at 1200. I successfully connected at 2400 baud to ATT, Concord Data Systems, Vadic and USR 2400 baud modems, so there is no interoperability problem. This also worked at 2400 baud on our ITT WATS lines which are much, much noiser than ATT WATS (then again, they are also much cheaper, you get what you pay for). I expected it to have problems with the noisy ITT lines, but it worked perfectly. I wasn't able to give it the acid test of trying to use Sprint, but then nothing works on Sprint reliably... Physically, it's 6" x 10" x 1". It's a very nice, low profile modem. The dealer is the major east cost distributer for US Robotics and has many units in stock. We received ours within days of placing the order. The $399 price is ONLY available from the following dealer. Any other dealer will probably charge you more. The dealer is: Advanced Data Products, Inc. 18974 Bonanza Way (B-3) Gaithersburg, MD 20879 (301) 424-9490 The salesmans name is: Don Parnell You can probably pay for the cost of the modem in the savings in a few months phone charges. It sounds too good to be true, but I've got a couple in the computer room proving they are real. rick@siesmo.uucp >I resently posted an inquiry about "inexpensive" modems, because we wanted to purchase several. These are the responses I received from the inquiry. I want to thank all the folks who responded. It helped us a great deal in making our selection. Thanks, David C. Bennett SCI Systems, Inc. {decvax, akgua}!mcnc!rti-sel!scirtp!dcb From: rti-sel!mcnc!ulysses!t12tst!chip (Chip Rosenthal) I've got a pair of USR 2400 modems, I'm pretty happy with. I've been using them for a lot of talking with another site about 120 miles away. They have worked very well when the other site uses USR 2400's. However, when the other place had Hayes 2400 I couldn't get a 2400 baud connection. I suspect the Hayes, but I don't have one in-house to play with. Complaints: 1) the DIP switches are underneath. Real pain when you have six modems stacked up in the bowels of a VAX like I do. You can't see or set switches without pulling the whole fricking thing apart. 2) the volume control is a slide control with a press-on knob. i've knocked it off before. 3) i can't figure out any reasonable way of dealing with a lot of them due to their packaging and those %*^$@$# power supply transformers all modem manufacturers seem to use. about all i can see is that you stack them, dangle cords all over the place, and hope that you've got enought AC outlets for the transformers. 4) One of our two modems arrived DOA. Repair went OK. Took about two weeks, which I suppose is reasonable, but I would have been much happier if the distributor appologized profusely and gave me a brand new one immediately. In spite of all these things, I would have no qualms buying them again. This might suprise you, but the problem which irks me the most is #3. If I could find a good way of storing these turkeys it would keep #1 and #2 from being intolerable. I'm willing to chalk #4 up as bad luck and catagorize it as reasonable response. What is good about them is that they seem pretty noise tolerant, they seem to establish connection and baud rate reliably. It has two commands I really like. The ATX6 tells me what is going on with the modem. BUSY, RINGING, etc. The answer I like best is VOICE. That's always good for a moment's panic. (Especially when I'm doing my dialing at 1:30am.) Also it has a command to display the current settings, which is obviously useful. (It impressed me, but then again I'm used to working with Hayes 1200's). Is there a reason why you aren't considering Hayes 2400, besides cost? Do you know something I don't? (PS. I wouldn't mind being forwarded a copy any interesting messages you might receive.) -- Chip Rosenthal, Intel/Santa Clara, (408) 496-7651 {intelca,idi,qubix,cbosgd}!t4test!chip -------- Stan uucp:{ihnp4!shell,rice}!neuro1!sob Opinions expressed Olan ARPA:sob@rice.arpa here are ONLY mine & Barber CIS:71565,623 BBS:(713)660-9262 noone else's. -- John Quarterman, UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,harvard,gatech}!ut-sally!im4u!jsq ARPA Internet and CSNET: jsq@im4u.UTEXAS.EDU, formerly jsq@im4u.ARPA