
  Musings on Netscape 2.0 and other ponderings....


                 

    
     Reflections of a ModemJunkie
         
         Copyright 1995 by Leonard Grossman


                 

I've been thinking lately that perhaps I should change the name of this column.  I talk about other things from time to time: Everything from new software to the state of the world.  And besides, I thought, I'm not really addicted to communications.  And then something happened!

I did a little outside work and had a couple of hundred dollars burning a hole in my pocket, and after all, I only had a 14,400 modem. It was a proud possession only a short time ago. Was it really that long ago that I upgraded from 1200 to 2400 bps?  So after doing a little, but probably not enough research on line, I began my search for a new modem.  

I went to Computer Central, the huge computer flea market at the College of Dupage.  But no one had anything under $200, except for the vendors from Cleveland...  After having been burned before I have rule: Never, NEVER,  buy from a Cleveland vendor unless, of course, you live in Cleveland!

I was determined to buy an external modem because I'm frankly lost without those lights.  My choices were between the USR Sportster, the
Supra and the Cardinal.  Calling around, I found a certain computer mail order house (let's call it "ABC, Co." to protect the innocent) which had the Sportster for $199.  Their home office is in a Chicago suburb  where they have a huge showroom.  So off I went as it's only a 45 minute drive.  No Sportster 28.8s were on the shelf.  The sales person said they were out of the Sportsters and offered me a "great buy" on a USR Courier  which was, of course, well over my budget.  After a few minutes, when he realized that I wasn't going to jump at the Courier, he looked at his computer screen again.  It's interesting to note that the customer can see the screen through the glass in the counter, but its too blurry to read from the customer's angle.  "I must have been looking at the Macs," he said.  "I do have a Sportster in stock."

I didn't know there was a difference between modems for the
different platforms.  I have switched my old modems between Macs
and PCs with no problems.  But it wasn't until I got home that I
thought I might have just escaped being a victim of a bait and
switch.  Anyway, he knocked a dollar off of the price and I took
the Sportster home for $198 or $2 below budget.  Perhaps the
difference is in the free software in the box not in the modem...
Would it really have made a difference if I got Mac disks for
America Online, C$erve, Genie, and Netcom to add to my DOS/WIN
coaster collection?

     As soon I got home I hooked it up, logged on to the Internet
and found the comp.dcomp.modems news group which is something I should have done first.  Guess what?  That afternoon USR announced a firmware upgrade for the Sportster (V.34+ 33,600).  I quickly
learned I hadn't asked the right questions either. I had asked if
the Sportster was upgradable,  I didn't specify flash ROM.  So
here I was with a brand new modem... and already it was out of
date.  

USR was making the new chip available for $25 and shipping. 
I called first thing Monday morning.  Tech support hadn't even
heard about it yet, but assured me they could ship overnight.
They wouldn't let me pick it up at the plant in Skokie which is
only half as far from my house as is ABC.  "Let me think about it,"
I said.  After all, with shipping it would now be $30 over my
budget while later purchasers would find the new chip installed
without being required to pay extra for the chip.  And besides,
some contributors to the usenet group had already found that they
had purchased boxes with the new chip off the shelf-- there is no
way to tell from the box.  I felt rooked.  But I gave in.. after
all I wanted the latest and the fastest.

So I called back.. forty minutes to get through (that's what speaker phones are for), only to learn that the overnight delivery had now turned into at least a thirty day wait.  Heck, I could return my unit and wait a month and probably buy it off the shelf by then.  So I said no.  I'll stick it out.

Most of my connections seemed to be at around 21 or 24 k. Even though the carrier rate never reached 28.8, transfer rates were going 
much faster than before.  I was also learning just how much time on the Internet is spent waiting for something to happen on someone else's server.  Faster modems can't change that.  Remember how your floppy drives seemed to slow down as you got faster processors?   The faster transfer rates just exaggerate the waiting time on the Net.  

For a week I played and tuned, trying different initialization strings to see if I could get faster data transmissions with greater frequency.  I was determined to go back to the store on Friday and trade for a new machine.  Maybe by then the new faster chip would have reached the shelves.  

Friday morning, before returning to ABC,  I tired one more change to my Telix communications program setup. Voila!! After five years of uninterrupted use of Telix, except to upgrade, I had blown the config.  It would no longer connect. Sometimes it wouldn't even dial.  What had I done? 

Frustrated by my inability to regularly connect at 28.8 and now
having trashed my old DOS friend, I went back to ABC... But they
didn't have any Sportsters in stock.  The didn't have the Supra
either (due in a week, they said).  But there was the Cardinal
for only $164 and it was flash rom upgradable. (BTW: ABC was very
cooperative on the trade in...I may have to take back those
thoughts about the bait and switch.)

 So I have $38 in my pocket (including refunded sales tax) and the
Cardinal is hooked up.  It is flash upgradable, but there is no
sign that Cardinal is going to go upgrade again at this time. 
The unit I bought already has the latest upgrade.  So what good
does the flash do me?  

     Unfortunately the Cardinal uses a slightly different version
of the Hayes command set so I have spent several days trying to
find the right modem string.  My  SLIP connection to the Internet
is fine but I haven't been able to get Telix functioning yet. 
Fortunately, the Sysop on my home BBS (Chicago Syslink)  has
something called Banana Com online for quick download.  I had
recently d/ld a copy for a friend. It's a simple com program--
already configured to dial Syslink.. So I can get through again
and play BBS King.  But its been frustrating.
 
Should Powell have withdrawn?  Should Gingrich and Clinton
be taken to the woodshed for the poker game they played with the
budget?  I don't know.  There are more important questions in the
world.  Should I have waited for the upgrade chip.. or saved my
money for the Courier, or waited for the Supra with the helpful
external display?  These are the earth shaking questions.

Did I say I was thinking of changing the name of this column??  Maybe I was premature. And did I tell you?? My last connect was at 28.8!!.  Now if only I could make that constant...and if only I could get Telix connecting again.

After completing the first draft of this column, I tried some alternative phone numbers from my ISP. At two of the sites I now regularly connect at 28.8.  If I had tried those at first, I probably would have been satisfied with the Sportster. 


As to Telix, I finally deleted the telix.cnf file and reopened the app. I don't know what I had done wrong but it's working again.  Whew!! Now I can get some sleep.  But wait-- today I received notice of a Telix upgrade to v.3.5 from DeltaCom...

See you online...

Leonard Grossman is a lawyer for the Department of Labor.  He is a regular WindoWatch contributor and can be reached  at leonard.grossman@mcs.com Leonard makes the rest of us feel much better about our own puny computing skills.  The great service he performs is by making the rest of us heave a sigh of relief for not being the lone  knucklehead left in the online world. All of this has a too familiar ring!


 

                         ww


