wmf@chinet.chi.il.us (Bill Fischer) (09/15/90)
We have a plain vanilla phone line for use with a modem. A couple days
ago, I began to get a lot of static on the line, so much so that the
modem was rendered useless. So, I call 611, report the complaint and
am told a service man is on his way.
When this joker arrived, he was incredibly hostile! He said he had
been monitoring the line and every time he called, "some fax machine
or something" answered the line. So I tell him that it's a modem for
dial in and out of our little Xenix box. Now he's really hostile! "You
are using a standard dial tone line, what you get is what you get ... If
you want a data line, pay for it. You people abuse the system, but
it's gonna change..."
Now, I told this guy that the quality of the line was unacceptable
even as a voice line and he better get to work on that, which he
grudgingly did. As I write this, there is still some garbage on the
line, but it *is* a lot better.
My question to the net at large is this:
What is this data line he refered to, how much does it cost and is it
really necessary to get one for modem use? Is there any way Bell can
determine if a line is used exclusively for data?
The whole deal kinda smells bad to me.
Bill Fischer | INTERNET : wmf@chinet.chi.il.us
US Agent for Omega Electronics | COMPUSERVE: 76257,1226
"Olympic Timekeepers Since 1936" | MCIMAIL : 3110885
< The opinions expressed here are my own >
[Moderator's Note: A data line is a telephone line upon which the
telco guarentees a certain transmission quality making it suitable for
data transmission. They are a little more expensive, and seldom are
they needed. (I just use regular voice-grade lines here and get by
fine.) But it sounds to me like the fellow they sent out could use a
few lessons in diplomacy. If you are paying for the service, then you
are 'abusing' nothing. PAT]
brian@apt.bungi.com (Brian Litzinger) (09/19/90)
In article <12197@accuvax.nwu.edu> wmf@chinet.chi.il.us (Bill Fischer) writes: >When this joker arrived, he was incredibly hostile! He said he had >been monitoring the line and every time he called, "some fax machine >or something" answered the line. So I tell him that it's a modem for >dial in and out of our little Xenix box. Now he's really hostile! "You >are using a standard dial tone line, what you get is what you get ... If >you want a data line, pay for it. You people abuse the system, but >it's gonna change..." I ran through this exact same gambit with Pac*Bell in California. The answer was: Pac*Bell gaurentees a certain set of specifications for voice lines and "data lines". I'm guessing that the specs are different for the two kinds of line. Our story is: Our Telebit trailblazer began having very slow transmission rates. We called Pac*Bell and complained that the line was faulty. They asked us what we used it for and we explained about the modem. At they point the pitch about misusing the phone system started and that we should get a "data line" if we expected the modem to work. I explained that our modem was specially designed to operate in the same bands as the human voice and that we didn't need a "data line". They didn't buy my argument, but were willing to send someone out to look at the line. When the service person showed up we watched him test our voice line. Inside the lid of his test box were two charts with the specifications that the line had to meet. One for data lines and one for voice lines. On the third test the box reported that the line failed to meet the specifications for a voice line. So off went the service person, and the Pac*Bell performed some central office magic, and lo-and-behold our trailblazer was back up to speed. The moral is: At least at Pac*Bell, they guarentee a certain set of specifications with each type of service. If your modem will operate within the specs of a standard voice line, then that is all you need, all you have to pay for, and all your using. Also, I believe the reason the phone companies become hostile is because they believe you are stealing service when you run data over a voice line. They mistakenly think you are using more than you are paying for. Disclaimer: State Laws and Regulations vary. So will your mileage. <> Brian Litzinger @ APT Technology Inc., San Jose, CA <> brian@apt.bungi.com {apple,sun,pyramid}!daver!apt!brian <> Disclaimer: Above are my opinions and probably wrong.
nsoley@uunet.uu.net (Norman Soley) (09/21/90)
In article <12347@accuvax.nwu.edu> brian@apt.bungi.com (Brian Litzinger) writes: >Also, I believe the reason the phone companies become hostile is >because they believe you are stealing service when you run data over a >voice line. They mistakenly think you are using more than you are >paying for. Once upon a time someone told me that the reason a data line costs more was because a voice call used less bandwidth when it was multiplexed with other calls on a trunk than a data call did (accompanied with a rather hokey explanation about voice having lots of silent parts but data was always "noisy") at the time I bought it (hey, give me a break I was in High School) but now I have all this fancy technical education which tells me I was probably slid a line. Well was I? Norman Soley - Systems Administrator - Oracle Corporation Canada 155 University Ave. Suite 400 Toronto, Ontario (416)-362-7953 X646 nsoley@cnseq1.oracle.com uunet!torsqnt!cnseq1!nsoley "These opinions are mine, not the company's"
Wm Randolph Franklin <wrf@mab.ecse.rpi.edu> (09/22/90)
In article <12382@accuvax.nwu.edu> Norman Soley <oracle!nsoley@ uunet.uu.net> writes: >Once upon a time someone told me that the reason a data line costs >more was because a voice call used less bandwidth when it was >multiplexed with other calls on a trunk than a data call did. At least in the past on transatlantic lines, a form of time division multiplexing was used where you had a line only when talking. The result was that 1/20 second of so was clipped of the start of every phrase while the system was allocating you a new circuit. Therefore they had to make the first tone longer when transmitting a number. Is this still used, and where? Wm. Randolph Franklin Internet: wrf@ecse.rpi.edu (or @cs.rpi.edu) Bitnet: Wrfrankl@Rpitsmts Telephone: (518) 276-6077; Telex: 6716050 RPI TROU; Fax: (518) 276-6261 Paper: ECSE Dept., 6026 JEC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst, Troy NY, 12180