9600MODM.TXT Purpose: To translate Advertising and misinformation about 9600 Baud modems into everyday BBS talk. Disclaimer: The information presented was accurate at the time this file was written, but with the way the world moves, it might not be true when you read this. I will not be responsible for damages incurred if you depend solely on this file for your information. I encourage you to investigate any claims either a manufacturer/dealer makes (or that I make). Corrections: If I made an error, do not modify this text. Add a file to the ZIP with your comment/correction/opinion and re-ZIP the file. ========================================================================== WHO IS THIS GUY? I am a SysOp of a BBS in Los Angeles, CA that used to run a USR HST. Not wanting to pay $725 (SysOp price) for a new Dual Standard or the upgrade fee and then presented the opportunity to distribute a V.32 9600 Baud modem, I chose to abandon the proprietary HST method. There are currently a number of modem manufacturers that are entering the V.32 field that have waited for this standard to be implemented. These are not small companies - UDS is Motorola. Other companies have been in the corporate and main frame areas where 9600 Baud is old stuff. I am not ANTI-USR! I am PRO-V.32! My old HST served me faithfully for years. Recently, I've heard of people "oohing and aaahhing" when given the chance to buy an HST for a bargain $600 price when the V.32 modems are less expensive (due to being non proprietary). When USR told me that as a SysOp, I could buy a Dual Standard for $725 if I promoted them (there are strings attached), I had second thoughts as a V.32 can be had for less without strings and knowing the secret handshake. I also saw modems being marketted as 4800 Baud when they really meant to say "2400 Baud, but if it's an uncompressed data or text file and you use our MNP5, it will go faster!". And people claiming they converted their 9600 Baud FAX machine to a V.32! I realized that all this is causing a bunch of confusion. I am not including prices in this file as they are changing daily. As of today, I can say that Computer Shopper shows V.32 modems to be the most inexpensive ones with a reasonable user base available to the general buying public. Whatever brand or type modem you buy is up to you. Research your prices well and investigate, investigate, investigate! Learn to separate the hype from the facts. ========================================================================== GOING TO 9600 Baud ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So - You want to go to 9600 Baud? Although I'm a Telenetics distributor, there is a lot of confusion and, in some cases, mis-information about 9600 Baud communications. I wrote this as impartially as I could, but consider that I have my personal preferences. Without getting too techy, the best way to decide is to get a list of the BBS's you call, then: 1. Note what kind of modem they use (V.32, HST, Hayes, etc) 2. Take a look at your budget and see what you can afford. 3. Check your hardware and make sure it will handle 9600 Baud. 4. Buy the modem that is the most compatible with your equipment, the greatest number of BBS's you call and that fits in your budget. 5. Live with your decision - but don't put down someone elses choice if it was different than yours. 6. Enjoy! And encourage others to upgrade to 9600! ========================================================================== STANDARDS Much has been said of "Standards". "Is it Hayes compatible? They're the 'Standard'" Not necessarily true when we talk of 9600 (and greater). Hayes established a Standard for the AT command set. Other modem manufacturers adopted this standard for the commands their modems would recognize. But if you look at your current modem specification sheet, you will see a different set of standards for the method that your modem communicates at 300 Baud, 1200 Baud and 2400 Baud - no mention of Hayes. The current talk is, "HST is the standard for 9600!" Untrue, it is the most widely used method in the BBS community, but it is proprietary - not available to other companies (more on this later). Much like IBM's MCA bus, it might be good - but you have to buy IBM to get it (but even IBM licenses it to other companies). My personal opinion is that the CCITT V.32 is the Standard - maybe not the most widely used today, but in the future. Unless USR licenses it to other manufacturers, it has a captive audience and no competition - no incentive to make their modems more affordable. I believe that USR is not blind to this either as they make a V.32 modem also - besides their Dual Standard - meaning they realize there is a standard out there. ========================================================================== What is HST, MNP, V.32, V.42? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HST HST is "High Speed Technology" - a method of 'talking' at 9600 bps that was developed and owned by US Robotics. It is a proprietary method and unless US Robotics (let's call them USR to save typing) licenses HST, you have to buy USR to use HST. Not that someone can't make another brand HST mechanically or electronically - they just can't do it LEGALLY. HST modems communicate at 9600 bps by using a 9200 bps channel in one direction and a 400 bps "back channel" in the other to send ACK/NAK signals for confirmation of data - a half duplex mode - often referred to as "ping-ponging". Recent models attain higher throughput than 9600 through optimization of this proprietary method. ========================== COMMENT ======================================= My own personal viewpoint of HST (and yes, I do have a USR also) is that since it _IS_ proprietary, the expandiblity of the system is dependent on one company. Due to marketting, the current majority of 9600 Baud BBS's are using the HST - however, more and more SysOps are upgrading to the DS in order to attract the V.32 modem users. Other SysOps are just going straight to the V.32 since the open market place for V.32 has encouraged better pricing - making V.32 modems popular with the budget minded modem buyer - himself/herself included! ========================================================================== MNP MNP [Microcomm (c) Network Protocol] is a method of error correction where the two connected modems perform the verification of data sent & received. This is in up to Level 4. There are software emulators of MNP, but I have not tested them. Error correction is a requirement of streaming protocols such as Ymodem-G where the protocol just sends a constant stream of data and lets the modems do the error correction. This also requires a clean, noise free line as streaming protocols will abort if line noise interferes too much. MNP Level 5 is for data compression. As most BBS's archive their files or files are already in a compressed format (try to ZIP a GIF file), MNP5 can actually increase the overhead by attempting to compress the file further. That is why I ask you to ask if throughput is measured when using data compression - you will not have MNP5 enabled on most BBS's. V.32 V.32 is an international 9600 Baud standard for communicating at 9600 bps that can be implemented by modem manufacturers without licensing. This is a standard established by the CCITT that has set the standards at 1200 and 2400 bps in Europe. V.32 uses full duplex (9600 bps in both directions at once). The full duplex method will be advantageous when (and if) BiModem ever catches on as a protocol - 9600 Baud in BOTH directions. V.42 V.42 is an international CCITT standard for data compression. It incorporates downward compatibility with the Microcom (c) Network Protocol (aka MNP) error correction and data compression. As of today, the only company currently shipping a V.42 modem I know of is UDS. Hayes, USR and others contemplate shipping, but have not as of yet. Since most of these modems use the Rockwell Data Pump (the heart of 9600 Baud modems), they should all be upgradeable to V.42 at a later date. NOTE: Although V.32 and V.42 share numbering, they are independent of each other. Having one does not mean you have the other. Because a modem incorporates V.42 does not mean it has V.32 or vice versa. Unless assured otherwise, it is best to assume that each V.x is an independent standard. ========================================================================== THINGS TO LOOK FOR: THROUGHPUT: ~~~~~~~~~~ You'll see figures claiming that you can attain 19,200 bps with a 9600 Baud modem - this is true only if you are using MNP5 on an uncompressed data or text file. Any 9600 Baud modem using MNP5 on such a file will transfer at that effective rate. In BBS real world cases, transfers are of files that are already compressed (ZIP, ARC, GIF) and MNP5 will actually slow down throughput by attempting to compress a file that is already compressed. Figures of 1700 cps, etc by the HST modems are attained through proprietary methods and are determined by the slowest of the 2 modems connected (i.e., if a 14.4K HST is connected to a 19.2k HST, the maximum speed is 14.4K). CONFIGURABILITY: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 9600 Baud modems, there is a lot more configuring to do than 2400/1200 Baud modems. A nice feauture is DIP switch (or other hardware methods) of configuring the modem. Saves inputting a 5 line INITialization string. At the very least, it should have NRAM (Non-volatile Random Access Memory) that will store your configuration. Several modems have multiple registers in NRAM that allows storing multiple initialization strings. UARTS ~~~~~ Your serial port (or sometimes, it is built on to the modem) has a UART chip to buffer and control the Input/Output (I/O). The XT usually has an 8450 UART which will handle up to 9600 Baud. The equivalent chip for the AT is the 16450. You should not exceed 9600 without upgrading the UART to the NS16550AN! ========================================================================== Synopsis of Modems and Compatibility: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These modems will usually be downwardly compatible with 2400 Baud modems. Most have an auto-fallback mode that will detect the highest negotiable Baud rate, either through hardware or software configuration. As stated previously, if the modem is V.42 capable, it will fall back to MNP if the other modem is not V.42 capable, but is MNP capable. Modems supporting MNP will connect with data compression/error correction with other MNP modems at the highest Baud rate negotiable. Listed in alphabetical order by brand name - Generic V.32: Made by a number of companies using the CCITT method of communicating at 9600 bps. Brands of V.32 modems currently available include Mastercomm, Telenetics, UDS and USR (yes, USR makes a V.32 only modem). There are many other brands that I am not aware of and new brands coming out constantly. Just as there are "Hayes Compatible" 2400 Baud modems, there are "V.32 compatible" 9600 Baud modems. Go by reputation and user reports to determine which brand to buy. - Talks to other brand V.32 modems at 9600 Baud. Hayes V-Series: The early Hayes V-Series uses a proprietary method of communicating at 9600 bps. - Talks other Hayes V-Series modems at 9600 Baud. Hayes V-Series V.42: The Hayes V-Series V.42 uses the proprietary method of communicating at 9600 Baud but will incorporate the V.42 data compression and error checking when the modem is released. - Talks to other V.42 modems at 2400 with error correction/compression. Talks to other MNP modems at 2400 using error correction/compression. Talks to other Hayes V-Series at 9600. Hayes ULTRA: Hayes' planned CCITT V.32 modem for communicating at 9600 Baud. Not shipping as of the time this was written. Reasonably sure it will offer MNP5 abilities. - Talks to Other V.32 modems at 9600 Baud Telebit Trailblazer: Uses proprietary PEP method of communicating at 9600 Baud. Offers MNP5 abilities. - Talks to other Telebit Trailblazers at 9600. Telenetics TC921/96: Uses CCITT V.32 method of communicating at 9600 Baud. Has MNP5 abilities. [This is the brand I distribute - enough said]. - Talks to Other V.32 modems at 9600 Baud. UDS: Uses CCITT V.32 method of communicating at 9600 Baud. Uses CCITT V.42 method of Data Compression/Error Correction. The first V.32 and V.42 to ship. The first V.42 to ship. - Talks to Other V.32 modems at 9600 Baud. USR Courier V.32: Uses CCITT V.32 method of communicating at 9600 Baud. Reasonably sure it offers MNP5 abilities. - Talks to Other V.32 modems at 9600 Baud. USR Courier HST: Uses the USR proprietary HST method of communicating at 9600 Baud. Has MNP5 abilities. - Talks to HST type modems at 9600 Baud. USR Courier HST 14.4: Uses the USR proprietary HST method of communicating at 9600 Baud. Has MNP5 abilities. - Talks to HST DS's at 14,400 Baud Talks to HST 14.4's at 14,400 Baud Talks to HST's at 9600 Baud USR Courier HST DS: The Dual Standard incorporates both the proprietary HST method and the CCITT V.32 method of communicating at 9600 Baud. Has MNP5 abilities. - Talks to Other V.32 modems at 9600 Baud. Talks to Other DS's at 19,200 Baud (without compression) Talks to 14.4 HST's at 14,400 Baud (without compression) Talks to 9600 HST's at 9600 Baud. ========================================================================== Whatever choice you make, I hope this file was of some help in deciding which modem you buy. If you want to buy a Telenetics modem, check with a BBS in your area that is running one - we're setting up a network of Telenetics SysOp distributors. If you run or know of a BBS that is running a V.32 compatible modem, an E-Mail with BBS info would be appreciated. I would like to put together a V.32 BBS listing. If you're local or willing, call my BBS. The DownTown BBS (213) 484-0260 Los Angeles, CA Pursuitable thru CALAN 12/24/9600 V.32 A Telenetics Modem Support/Order BBS 332 Meg on Line - Adult Graphics or you can E-mail through WWIVnet as Ken #16@22