Modems

1. The Frugal Power User
2. Save Money at 14,400 Baud
3. That Ding-a-Ling Thing
4. Modem Standards

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The Frugal Power User
From Catalog 34, page 42

Either way you want to read it, having the ability to control your PC from afar is very nice. A remote power switch means you don't have to leave home knowing your PC will be running 24 hours per day until your return or that the alternative is no access to your computer while you are away.

If you have a modem or fax/modem in your PC, you know you have to keep it running if you want to receive all of the electronic traffic coming in. That probably means the average user will have their PC running for 23.5 or more hours out of every 24 with nothing to do but wait.

Not only is this a waste of electricity, it also puts a lot of hours of spin time on the fans and spindles of your power supply and disk drives.

The POWER-ON can switch up to 1200 watts of AC power when your phone rings. The average PC with monitor and printer draw is less than half of that. Use the selectable ring count and power down delay time to customize the switch for your own requirements.

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Save Money at 14,400 Baud
From Catalog 31, page 41

We've all heard the old saw about "Cheap at twice the price," and I think it applies to the current modem situation. With more and more of the world being interconnected with electronic mail, the necessity for reliable and fast connection equipment has exploded.

As a result, even the fastest generally available equipment finds a ready market, and the high volumes drive the cost down. The 14,400 bps modem is a case in point. Just a few months ago, it was much too expensive for the average user.

Today, it is not only affordable, it is so inexpensive as to make it almost free if you spend much time connected to any of the many electronic services.

I correspond with a friend in Russia via the services of InterNet and CompuServe. If I mail a letter, it takes two weeks to get there. Via E-mail, the letter arrives within minutes!

A recent commentary on the radio concerned the cost of sending a letter via the post office as compared to sending it via FAX or E-mail. I hope it comes to no surprise that you can now send electronic messages cheaper than regular mail, and get it there faster besides!

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That Ding-a-Ling Thing
From Catalog 27, page 39

Even though we depend on them for a lifeline to the world, many of us would rather the telephone had never been invented. It used to be that you could at least expect a voice on the other end when the phone rang, but now it seems just as likely to be an autodialer with a sales pitch or, even worse, a fax or modem calling.

If you can afford the additional phone line, a second phone could free you from some false interruptions, but an even better solution is a fax or fax/modem switch. These neat gadgets are just the ticket for turning a single phone line into an automatic switchboard.

When a call comes in, the fax switch picks up the line and listens for the telltale sounds of a non-voice call. If it detects a fax or modem tone, it automatically sends the call to the appropriate machine; otherwise, the call is sent to the voice phone or answering machine.

Not only does this save the cost of a second phone line (at $12.55 a month, you'll save $150.60 a year!). It avoids the situation where a fax/modem call comes in on your voice-only line. It can't get much better_unless you have some way to zap those pesky autodialers!

When originally published, this column had an error in the basic cost for a phone line. Instead of $12.55, we went to press with $2.55.

I figure that error cost the American public untold dollars in postage and increased phone charges as so many readers made an effort to educate us in grammar school math.

For all of you who wrote or called, we express our thanks and apologies.

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Modem Standards
From Catalog 12, page 38

Even though I've been recommending CCITT V.32 and MNP communications protocols to friends for over a year, I've hesitated to put it in writing. We've all wanted faster and more reliable standards for years. Now, with a gentle nudge from several modem manufacturers, we have that standard.

CCITT V.32 describes the electrical signals used over the phone lines to move data from here to there. The CCITT is an international committee that refines the input from many experts in the modem industry into an accepted standard. Sometimes users or industry experts reject the efforts of standards committees and follow a single industry leader. On this occasion, the committee has prevailed.

MNP is somewhat the opposite. Microcom Network Protocol is the product of one company's efforts to fix data errors and improve the transmission efficiency. They've made their protocol available to other companies for a reasonable fee, and as a result, have been accepted by users en masse.

MNP-5 is an implementation of the protocol that not only insures reliable data transfer, but also compresses the data at a rate of about 2 to 1. This means that a modem operating at 9,600 bps (bits per second) provides a data transfer rate of approximately 19,200 bps. That's about 16 times the rate of the older 1200 bps standards. The effect of that improved speed on your phone bill could be considerable.

We want and need solid standards that won't be obsolete in a year or two. CCITT V.32 and MNP-5 will be around for a long, long time.

Whew... Old as this observation is, it is still relevant, but look out in the future. As V.32terbo fights it out with V.34, expect some confusion in the marketplace as modem manufacturers try to choose the dominant standard for 19,200 bps and above.

I expect considerable progress before the end of this year, we will keep you informed.

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