henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (05/08/88)
> As one of the Trailblazer supporters, frankly, for reading news remotely > I think I'd prefer the Courier HST - for most interactive applications, > the Trailblazer is great, but for things like rn and vi where a single > character is supposed to promote action, the packet delay is noticable > and irritating... Are your Trailblazers running rev-4.00 firmware? The upgrade from rev 3 to rev 4 makes a *spectacular* difference in interactive response. Before we upgraded, I'd have been tempted to agree with you. Not now. One of the other local sites just got Trailblazed after running for some time with one of the other 9600-baud modems (don't recall which). They aren't running uucp connections via Trailblazer yet due to some throughput problems in their system. However, after they tried the Trailblazer out for interactive use, they put their older 9600-baud modems up for sale. -- NASA is to spaceflight as | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology the Post Office is to mail. | {ihnp4,decvax,uunet!mnetor}!utzoo!henry
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (05/08/88)
In article <1988May8.000738.16103@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: > > As one of the Trailblazer supporters, frankly, for reading news remotely > > I think I'd prefer the Courier HST - for most interactive applications, > > the Trailblazer is great, but for things like rn and vi where a single > > character is supposed to promote action, the packet delay is noticable > > and irritating... > > Are your Trailblazers running rev-4.00 firmware? The upgrade from rev 3 > to rev 4 makes a *spectacular* difference in interactive response. Before > we upgraded, I'd have been tempted to agree with you. Not now. Yep, running 4.0 roms. I don't want to think about what the earlier verisons were like. Probably like accessing BIX via Tymenet. 8-( My version of the "Turing test" for high speed modems is whether you do the same sort of things while dialed up over the modem as when you're directly connected, or whether you put things off until you get back to work/whatever. Admittedly, I read a lot more news with the Trailblazer than with my olde 1200 baud modem, but the "feel" still falls somewhat short of a direct connection. Maybe what I really need to do is figure out a way to get one of these nice office style swivel chairs home... strapped to the back of my bicycle, no less... 8-) -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|ihnp4|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
dave@onfcanim.UUCP (Dave Martindale) (05/09/88)
In article <3749@cbmvax.UUCP> grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) writes: > >My version of the "Turing test" for high speed modems is whether you do >the same sort of things while dialed up over the modem as when you're >directly connected, or whether you put things off until you get back to >work/whatever. I have a Trailblazer (rev 4.00 ROMs) at home, and I find it almost equivalent to being at work. Sure, the output is a bit bursty, but the echo delay (even in vi) no longer bothers me. It's about the same as working via rlogin across an Ethernet. I find that when I feel I *have* to go into the office, it's never because the Trailblazer is too slow - it's because I need to look at an image, or mount a tape, or in general use hardware I don't have at home. The major remaining annoyance is that when I type my interrupt character, there may be 30kb of stuff already buffered up in the two modems, and I don't want to see it. If I hit BREAK, the Trailblazer flushes the buffers on *both* ends (kudos to Telebit for this option), but I haven't used the BREAK key in years and I'm out of the habit. This is a pretty insignificant complaint. (By the way, the Trailblazer has about as much bandwidth as I need (and as much as my terminal can handle) for text, but it would still be completely inadequate for looking at raster images at home. For that, one megabit/sec would be about the minimum for comfortable work. I don't expect to see that anytime soon.)
romain@pyrnj.uucp (Romain Kang) (05/09/88)
My empirical observation is that the 4.00 firmware makes a difference for interactive use when the instantaneous transmit/receive rates are above about 15000 bps. Below that, it seems to be about as mushy the same as the old TB. (I live 25 miles from my office and use a company Sprint account to dial up to pyrnj; I typically get about 12000/12000. Maybe I should try moving to Chile...) Even locally with 18031/18031, though, the TB+ has a different feel -- I think the packetization makes the screen updates slightly jerkier. I imagine there's the same sort of difference between seeing one film at 15 frames per second and another at 33 fps.
howardl@wb3ffv.UUCP (Howard Leadmon ) (05/10/88)
In article <3749@cbmvax.UUCP>, grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) writes: > > Yep, running 4.0 roms. I don't want to think about what the earlier > verisons were like. Probably like accessing BIX via Tymenet. 8-( Also one quick thing I wanted to point out, YOU MUST HAVE 4.0 firmware in both modems for the interactive mode to function. When I talk to another modem that still runs the older firmware I see no difference, yet when the other end has 4.0 firmware the whole story changes.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UUCP/SMTP : howardl@wb3ffv | Howard D. Leadmon PACKET : wb3ffv@w3itm-9 | Fast Computer Service, Inc. IP Address: 44.60.0.1 | P.O. Box 171 Telephone : (301)-335-2206 | Chase, MD 21027-0171
wtm@neoucom.UUCP (05/12/88)
At work I am stuck on a Bridge ethernet lan server on a pretty busy baseband network to our Vax, thus thoughput in ye olde offise averages about 120 char/sec eventhough my termianl speed is set to 9600 buad. Working via dial-up on the Telebit feels like taking a ride in a rocket by comparison. Unlike George, I tend to put things off until I'm home using the Telebit! Now, if I could get my boss to buy another Telebit, I could dial into the Vax from my office :-). --Bill
wtm@neoucom.UUCP (05/12/88)
If I am planning a lengthy vi session, and the only dialup left is the one with the rev 3 Telebit, I just call it at 2400 baud. There isn't any turn around delay, and I don't do all that many full screen repaints, so I don't notice that I'm not running at 9600. --Bill
rick@pcrat.UUCP (Rick Richardson) (05/18/88)
In article <1169@neoucom.UUCP> wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) writes: >baseband network to our Vax, thus thoughput in ye olde offise >averages about 120 char/sec eventhough my termianl speed is set to >9600 buad. ... Now, if I could get >my boss to buy another Telebit, I could dial into the Vax from my office If this were the case, I'd just pack up the Telebit every morning and take it with me to the office. -- Rick Richardson, President, PC Research, Inc. (201) 542-3734 (voice, nights) OR (201) 834-1378 (voice, days) uunet!pcrat!rick (UUCP) rick%pcrat.uucp@uunet.uu.net (INTERNET)
piet@cwi.nl (Piet Beertema) (05/18/88)
Now, if I could get my boss to buy another Telebit, I could dial into the Vax from my office If this were the case, I'd just pack up the Telebit every morning and take it with me to the office. Rick Richardson, President, PC Research, Inc. You're the President... But what's your Telebit/employee ratio? -- Piet Beertema, CWI, Amsterdam (piet@cwi.nl)