Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!EE.ECN.PURDUE.EDU!siphon From: siphon@EE.ECN.PURDUE.EDU (Cyrus P Dadgar) Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm Subject: Q-Link Message-ID: <8812191904.AA14278@en.ecn.purdue.edu> Date: 19 Dec 88 19:04:18 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Lines: 96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted for a friend: RE: Frank Prindle's Q-Link Problems Sorry to hear that it isn't working out for you. I have been a Q-Link member for about two years and I have about a 95% success rating getting logged in. In all that time, I have had two spurious disconnects, BOTH within an hour of each other. FYI, my modem runs 300 baud and is one of the $19.95 specials that came with the Q-Link package (or is it the other way around :-) ). It says "taihaho" on it, but even as cheap as it is it is very reliable. Reading your article 2238 leads me to believe that you have either a phone problem or a local connect problem. Locally we have had two different access numbers; if one isn't functioning we just call the other one. Once connection is established, *Q-Link* has been quite reliable. I don't know who you got as a service rep. for Q-Link: nor do I know how relatively qualified they are to discuss HARDWARE problems. I DO know that the one occasion where I had problems, not only were they helpful but polite. Being involved as a Computer Technician for Purdue's Engineering Computer Network and formerly at the Purdue University Computing Center (disclaimer: this DOES NOT in any way indicate any University involvement in this discussion) I have had certain experiences with the interaction of software and hardware. One of these interactions is that sometimes certain revisions of software DON'T WORK with certain revisions of hardware. If you have the experience with the C64/C128 that I think you do, you should know that this is just as true with a Commodore XYZ as it is with an IBM PC, a VAX, a Gould NP series or even something like a CDC Cyber 205 or CRAY mega-super-duper computer! There are several game and entertainment programs available forthe C64 that do, in fact, REQUIRE the removal of the printer from the computer and they TELL you this right in the instuctions! OK, Q-Link is NOT one of them. I routinely run Q-Link with EVERYTHING connected. If you were told to do this, it was probably because Q-Link's Customer Reps. have to deal with all levels of Computer competance from Engineers and Software gurus all the way down to 16 year old kids who qualify as nighttime hackers AND they generally have no way of knowing this when you call (being in the service end of the computer business myself, I KNOW all too well what can happen when you mix a non-engineer, a broken computer/peripheral and a telephone call - you might as well take the name and address and GO, because trying to explain anything over the phone is a TRUE waste of time - yes, even how to findthe on/off switch). I would suggest that you try to evaluate the quality of your middleman, i.e., the phone lines and/or your local tymnet connection before you slam Q-Link. I digitally converse with an awful lot of satisfied Q-Linkers out there who don't seem to have the problems you are. By the way, RE your comments about the C64 and ports and kernal ROMs, etc. In this case you are probably right. And no, I don't think anybody at Q-Link believes that the C64/C128 is a "substandard" machine. That is a cheap shot - only the truly snotty techno-nerds who trade in the newest flavor of PC whenever another slightly faster one comes out would ever be guilty of such snobbery. Without the C64, Q-Link would belly up so fast it would make your head spin (or maybe just seek the /dev/null track :-) ). One of the people I work with who has an AT clone with several gee-whiz attachments is fond of calling my C64 the "life support system for a video game". Of course it really sticks in his craw that my C64 can run circles around his AT clone in the area of sound reproduction. He'd have to spend more for an add-in card to do this than I spent on my whole system! Summation: I think your Quantum-Slam is most likely VERY unwarranted. Check with other Commodore users in your area on Q-Link and see how they are doing. You didn't seem to mention doing this. It is possible you have a crappy disk. You didn't seem to mention that possibility either. Oh, by the way, for somebody who claims to have a lot of knowledge about such stuff, it seems ignorant to me that you are ignoring the concept of load averaging on shared systems. "...long idle delays occur (10-20 seconds typical) during reception...". Geez, what do you want? By the time that Q-Link has to interface with a phone line that interfaces to Tymnet/Telnet that interfaces to you locally through God only knows WHAT quality equipment in transit, it is totally unrealistic to NOT expect periodic pauses. In addition, when you have people from all over the country logging in, it is unrealistic to expect INSTANT response from ANY computer. Each user has to be responded to separately; even a CRAY supercomputer will slow down if it gets loaded enough. Be Real!!! Duane Mantick Computer Technician/Satisfied Q-Linker ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Since wanting to post this, I have noticed other letters on the subject. As you have now dropped your subscription to Q-Link it is a moot point - just wanted to get in my 10 cents worth anyway (inflation) :-) .