eric@picard.sbi.com (Eric Ho) (05/14/91)
Just wondering if there're ethernet/modem vendors out there that are planning to make boxes that would take ip packets off a regular phone line - e.g. it'll be nice if telebit modem have thick ethernet connectors in addition to RS232 connectors. This also means that the modem will need to handle SLIP/PPP well between what is flowing on the phone line and what is going on in its builtin ethernet card. Alternatively, a Cabletron box for instance can take RJ11's in addition to regular thick ethernet connectors. This also means that the cabletron will have modem cards built into the box and they'll be able to handle SLIP/PPP. If this is possible, this'll really make wide-area networking easy and hopefully more affordable (e.g. you just buy this modem and hook it to your Sun's ethernet connector at home or your X terminal at home and when your home's phone line eventually turns fiber-optic one day, all you need to change is 1 or 2 cards in your modem). It'll be nice if these new modems can also handle signals on cable-tv in addition to regular phone line signals - this means that you can subscribe to an "ethernet" channel with your local cable-tv company and you'll have a high-bandwidth local area network at some $20 a month - i.e. instead of getting signals of your favorite movie on HBO, you get signals for your IP packets from your neighbors. I guess that this latter feature will be a bit far off for current modem vendors. Oh well... -- ========================================== + Eric Ho Email: eric@sbi.com + Salomon Brothers, Inc. [SISS] Phone: (201) 896-4356 ==========================================
barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) (05/15/91)
In article <ERIC.91May14091541@picard.sbi.com> eric@picard.sbi.com (Eric Ho) writes: >Just wondering if there're ethernet/modem vendors out there that are >planning to make boxes that would take ip packets off a regular phone line - >e.g. it'll be nice if telebit modem have thick ethernet connectors in >addition to RS232 connectors. This also means that the modem will need to >handle SLIP/PPP well between what is flowing on the phone line and what is >going on in its builtin ethernet card. I've never seen a device with an ethernet port that doesn't also have a serial port, so why do you need the modem to do this when the workstation can do it by itself? >Alternatively, a Cabletron box for instance can take RJ11's in addition >to regular thick ethernet connectors. This also means that the cabletron >will have modem cards built into the box and they'll be able to handle >SLIP/PPP. That's asking alot of a 3x3-inch box, when a modem (e.g. my T1600) normally takes up a 12x6-inch box. -- Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
ken@pluto.dss.com (Ken Adler) (05/15/91)
In article <ERIC.91May14091541@picard.sbi.com>, eric@picard.sbi.com (Eric Ho) writes: > Just wondering if there're ethernet/modem vendors out there that are > planning to make boxes that would take ip packets off a regular phone line - > > If this is possible, this'll really make wide-area networking easy and > hopefully more affordable.========================================= At the risk of sounding commercial..... Datability has been selling the VCP-1000 Communications Platform for over 2 years. One of the cards that slides into this modular communications server is the "Modem Card". This card has 8 built in modems. Users can connect to/from these modems via LAT or TCP/IP. You can set up a slip interface on these modems also. PPP will be supported in the near future. The pricing is quite attractive. For more info, email to info@dss.com.
phil@shl.com (Phil Trubey) (05/15/91)
In article <ERIC.91May14091541@picard.sbi.com> eric@picard.sbi.com (Eric Ho) writes: >Just wondering if there're ethernet/modem vendors out there that are >planning to make boxes that would take ip packets off a regular phone line - >e.g. it'll be nice if telebit modem have thick ethernet connectors in >addition to RS232 connectors. This also means that the modem will need to >handle SLIP/PPP well between what is flowing on the phone line and what is >going on in its builtin ethernet card. Telebit already has a product that will do this - it is called the NetBlazer. Check it out... -- Phil Trubey | Internet: phil@shl.com SHL Systemhouse Inc. | UUCP: ...!uunet!shl!phil 50 O'Connor St., Suite 501 | Phone: 613-236-6604 x667 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Fax: 613-236-2043