dfm@sagepub.UUCP (David F. McCune) (05/01/89)
I recently took a Zenith SUpersport 286 portable (purchased in the
US) to London. I had an internal US Hayes-compatible modem.
I was able to dial my machine in the US with only moderate success.
First, I bought a British Telecom 431a male plug and wired it
(using just the red and white wires) to a female RJ11. Then
I plugged the BT plug into the UK phone system and plugged the
computer into the RJ11 jack. Using normal AT commands, I was
able to dial a US number. But I noticed the following problems:
1. I had to use ATDP instead of ATDT. Pulse dialing seemed
to work, but tone dialing did not.
2. On occasion, the modem would freeze up just after dialing
the first digit in the phone number. The modem would not
respond at all. I had to power down before I could get the
modem back.
Is there some trick to all this that makes UK -> US connections
easier? Can one by a BT431a <-> RJ11 adapter? (I tried in London,
to no avail.) Is there some way to make a US modem recognize
UK dialtones and touchtones?
Thanks for any help!
David
--
David McCune, Sage Publications, Inc.
2111 West Hillcrest Drive, Newbury Park, CA 91320
dfm@sagepub.UUCP uucp: ...srhqla!sagepub!dfm
voice: (805) 499-0721 fax: (805) 499-0871piet@cwi.nl (Piet Beertema) (05/01/89)
>1. I had to use ATDP instead of ATDT. Pulse dialing seemed > to work, but tone dialing did not. > >2. On occasion, the modem would freeze up just after dialing > the first digit in the phone number. The modem would not > respond at all. I had to power down before I could get the > modem back. > >Is there some way to make a US modem recognize UK dialtones and >touchtones? I'm not from Britain, but in other European countries you might well meet similar problems: - touchtones are standardized, but not all PBXen are electronic; lots of them still work with pulse dialing only; - PTT requirements differ from country to country; wait-for-dialtone is often required in a number of positions in a number; - some PBXen produce a dialtone that has the meaning "busy" in other places; - and at least in Sweden even pulse dialing is different from that in other countries. Yes, this is Europe... And in Britain you might have to dial the number the way they write their domains: backward. :-) -- Opinions expressed above reflect those of my employer, except when they don't. Piet Beertema, CWI, Amsterdam (piet@cwi.nl)
dalm@warwick.UUCP (D A L Michael) (05/02/89)
In article <1319@sagepub.UUCP> dfm@sagepub.UUCP (David F. McCune) writes: >Is there some trick to all this that makes UK -> US connections >easier? Can one by a BT431a <-> RJ11 adapter? (I tried in London, >to no avail.) Is there some way to make a US modem recognize >UK dialtones and touchtones? > Well, if you did plug a US modem into a British Telecom line then you are breaking the law and can face a fine of upto 5000 pounds (though in practice no one could care less). The reason for this is that BT like to check out all modems that can be used here, so that your modem does not send 2000 volts down the wire and eletricutes a poor telephone repair man. So this is why you were unable to by a convert plug and socket, they are illegal. But if you try hard enough, you can get hold of them. I bought one from Totenham Court Road in London from a small shop there. Also most BT exchanges only work with pulse dialling, though this is changeing very quickly. BT are changing most exchanges over to system-X which will also accept tones as well as pulses. David --------------------------[ dalm@uk.ac.warwick ]----------------------------- ARPA: dalm%warwick.uucp%emerald.warwick.ac.uk@ucl-cs.arpa UUCP: ... seismo!mcvax!ukc!warwick!daisy!emerald!dalm JANET: dalm%warwick.uucp@uk.ac.warwick.emerald PHONE: (+44) 203 692320 TELEX: 837831 EMCO G, 837831 VIA OR G FAX: (+44) 865 726753 ----------------------------[ David Michael ]--------------------------------
newbery@rata.vuw.ac.nz (Michael Newbery) (05/04/89)
In article <894@sering.cwi.nl> piet@cwi.nl (Piet Beertema) writes: >Yes, this is Europe... And in Britain you might have to dial the number >the way they write their domains: backward. :-) Note that in New Zealand this is what you DO have to do, or more precisely, if using pulse dialling you have to dial the 10's complement of the number (if you have an o'seas modem) since we number our telephone dials clockwise 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. More logical user interface, yes? Who cares that it means that a "1" generates 9 pulses and a "9" generates 1 :-) The good news is that DTMF is almost universal here.
pete@tcom.stc.co.uk (Peter Kendell) (05/04/89)
From article <1801@ubu.warwick.UUCP>, by dalm@warwick.UUCP (D A L Michael): } } Also most BT exchanges only work with pulse dialling, though this is changeing } very quickly. BT are changing most exchanges over to system-X which will also } accept tones as well as pulses. } Ten years ago I was installing TXE4 exchanges which had tone dialling capability. BT (or the Post Office as they were then) didn't use it. I suppose they thought there was no demand for it so they didn't provide it. Usual thing - "You're the tenth person I've told today, there's no call for it so we don't stock it" -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Peter Kendell <pete@tcom.stc.co.uk> | | ...{uunet!}mcvax!ukc!stc!pete | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------