baxter@zola.ICS.UCI.EDU (Ira Baxter) (12/23/90)
I (like zillions of others) have a generic 2400 baud modem. I would like higher throughput. I understand that MNP protocols offer such without change to the basic underlying hardware. Is there any modem program that implements MNP levels 1-n on such generic modems? IDB (714) 856-6693 ICS Dept/ UC Irvine, Irvine CA 92717
kdq@demott.com (Kevin D. Quitt) (12/23/90)
In article <9012221054.aa08435@PARIS.ICS.UCI.EDU> baxter@zola.ICS.UCI.EDU (Ira Baxter) writes: > >I (like zillions of others) have a generic 2400 baud modem. I would >like higher throughput. I understand that MNP protocols offer such >without change to the basic underlying hardware. Is there any modem >program that implements MNP levels 1-n on such generic modems? Be aware: MNP protocols below 9 will only gain you higher throughput if you are sending uncompressed data. Levels below 9 can actually run 30% slower than a non-compressing modem, because they try to compress the data, and end up expanding it. Level 9+ does not have (significantly) better compression, but is smart enough to know when to leave the data alone. -- _ Kevin D. Quitt demott!kdq kdq@demott.com DeMott Electronics Co. 14707 Keswick St. Van Nuys, CA 91405-1266 VOICE (818) 988-4975 FAX (818) 997-1190 MODEM (818) 997-4496 PEP last
schuster@cup.portal.com (Michael Alan Schuster) (12/23/90)
>I (like zillions of others) have a generic 2400 baud modem. I would >like higher throughput. I understand that MNP protocols offer such >without change to the basic underlying hardware. Is there any modem >program that implements MNP levels 1-n on such generic modems? A Chicago company called MagicSoft has several varieties ("MTE", "FlashLink") of terminal software that claims to emulate MNP5 without additional hardware. The concensus is that a software-only solution such as this will be a poor performer. Considering also that these are commercial programs costing $70 or more, your money wou,d be better spent by (selling your old 2400) and buying a cheap error-correcting modem such as Zoom, PPI, etc.
silver@xrtll.uucp (Hi Ho Silver) (12/24/90)
In article <9012221054.aa08435@PARIS.ICS.UCI.EDU> baxter@zola.ICS.UCI.EDU (Ira Baxter) writes:
$I (like zillions of others) have a generic 2400 baud modem. I would
$like higher throughput. I understand that MNP protocols offer such
$without change to the basic underlying hardware. Is there any modem
$program that implements MNP levels 1-n on such generic modems?
I've heard of two. I received a program called FLASHlink with my
Cardinal Technologies modem. It does MNP levels 2, 4 and 5, though
not as well (at least on level 4) as hardware implementations. It
does a poor ANSI terminal emulation and offers XMODEM (checksum and CRC)
and YMODEM (batch and non-batch, with the /G variants if you have MNP
enabled). Oh, and it doesn't provide 100% error-free communications,
but all in all, it beats a 2400 bps, non-error-correcting, non-compressing
modem.
There's another one whose name escapes me; every time the above question
gets asked, someone or other posts about it, so I'm sure you'll find out
about it.
One thing to note is that MNP level 5 data compression, unlike V.42bis
(and possibly higher MNP levels) will not notice if your data is already
compressed, so sending compressed files (such as .ZIP archives) will actually
result in _lower_ than 2400 bps throughput in many cases. However, for
reading news, MNP is just fine.
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_____________________/ find / -print|xargs cat|compress | SNTFjimmy_t@verifone.com (12/27/90)
We tried a program called MTE a while back -- Don't remember any thruput gains -- but if you are suffering from line noise the error correction for interactive use might make it worthwile. -- +------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+ | James H. Thompson | jimmy_t@verifone.com (Internet) | | VeriFone Inc. | uunet!verifone!jimmy_t (UUCP) | | 100 Kahelu Avenue | 808-623-2911 (Phone) | | Mililani, HI 96789 | | +------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck) (01/02/91)
In an article schuster@cup.portal.com (Michael Alan Schuster) wrote: >A Chicago company called MagicSoft has several varieties ("MTE", "FlashLink") >of terminal software that claims to emulate MNP5 without additional hardware. >The concensus is that a software-only solution such as this will be a poor >performer. Considering also that these are commercial programs costing $70 or >more, your money wou,d be better spent by (selling your old 2400) and buying >a cheap error-correcting modem such as Zoom, PPI, etc. I tried the version of MTE that is on SIMTEL. I normally log into our Unix system on campus, which is equipped with MNP5 modems. The MTE program displays a little "speedometer" that shows the bits per second being transmitted and received. According to this, the instantaneous rates hits up in the thousands of bps. But I tried timing various displays of text, and never was able to get it to display faster than the same text at 2400 bps without MNP. In fact, in normal interactive work such as editing or reading news, the overall effect is to slow down your work, because there is a certain overhead for the MNP protocol, which results in noticeable delays as you type. However, I do use MTE whenever I have trouble with line noise on windy days, since it does a pretty good job of killing the garbage. By the way, MTE only supports Hayes and a few other modems. I had to hack it considerably to get it to work with my non-Hayes modem. Also, the scripting is very limited. For example I can't get it to just send CR's to wake up the system on the other end, so I have to do that part manually when I log on. -- John Dudeck "If it's Object Oriented then by jdudeck@Polyslo.CalPoly.Edu definition it's A Good Thing". ESL: 62013975 Tel: 805-545-9549 -- D. Stearns
schuster@cup.portal.com (Michael Alan Schuster) (01/02/91)
>I tried the version of MTE that is on SIMTEL. I normally log into our >Unix system on campus, which is equipped with MNP5 modems. The MTE program >displays a little "speedometer" that shows the bits per second being >transmitted and received. According to this, the instantaneous rates hits >up in the thousands of bps. But I tried timing various displays of text, >and never was able to get it to display faster than the same text at 2400 >bps without MNP. In fact, in normal interactive work such as editing or >reading news, the overall effect is to slow down your work, because there >is a certain overhead for the MNP protocol, which results in noticeable >delays as you type. That's about what I'd expect. In my office we have a machine with a Hayes 2400. (Actually requested a 2400V, but how we got screwed there is another story). Anyway, I found out that Hayes is closing out the stock of the now-discontinued V-Series Modem Enhancer for $99. These units feature V.42bis, and essentially turn a 2400 into a 2400V. These units will ONLY work with Hayes modems as, among other things, they check ROM versions and operate in synchronous mode in order to gain the throughput that MTE loses. Anyway, I got an enhancer, hooked it up and ... voila! I get error-free transmission and visible data compression (somewhere between 4800-9600 bps throughput on BBS sytems ... on text, of course). If you have a Hayes external modem and are looking at commercial software solutions like MTE ... call Hayes Customer Service and order a $99 enhancer before they're gone forever.
silver@xrtll.uucp (Hi Ho Silver) (01/03/91)
In article <2780d8d5.38f4@petunia.CalPoly.EDU> jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck) writes:
$I tried the version of MTE that is on SIMTEL. I normally log into our
$Unix system on campus, which is equipped with MNP5 modems. The MTE program
$displays a little "speedometer" that shows the bits per second being
$transmitted and received. According to this, the instantaneous rates hits
$up in the thousands of bps. But I tried timing various displays of text,
$and never was able to get it to display faster than the same text at 2400
$bps without MNP. In fact, in normal interactive work such as editing or
$reading news, the overall effect is to slow down your work, because there
$is a certain overhead for the MNP protocol, which results in noticeable
$delays as you type.
I used FLASHlink during my last school year. Typical throughput was
between 3000 and 3600 bps for rn and mail, which made up most of what I
did :-) I wasn't particularly bothered by the jerkiness; to get essentially
error-free and higher-speed transmission, I found it quite easy to put up
with. And yes, it will report peak throughput of 18kbps most times, since
there will usually be a packet consisting of mostly spaces that it can
compress the heck out of.
I used to use it to log in here, too, but it seems to screw up the
modem (the host one, not mine) when I disconnect. Strange.
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_____________________/ find / -print|xargs cat|compress | SNTFgwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) (01/06/91)
jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck) writes: >>more, your money wou,d be better spent by (selling your old 2400) and buying >>a cheap error-correcting modem such as Zoom, PPI, etc. *** i have a 2400 modem that has the word zoom, in fancy colored foil, on one of the roms. does it do any error correcting? it seems to have a hard time sending info to an hst. does anyone know anything about this modem? i have no instruction manual. in fact i have no documentation at all. gwoho liu