• dialup problems

    From G6JPG-255@255soft.uk@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG-255@255soft.uk>
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: dialup problems
    Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 15:20:27 +0000
    Organization: 255 software
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    In message <1fio0d9pouhfijehel9a2ludovp9p1a6n5@4ax.com>,
    james@nospam.com writes:
    []
    I do wonder if getting a different brand of modem would help though. I

    It might ...
    []
    I think a lot of the problems is my ISP. They have pretty much abandoned
    the dialup, but they know that some of us rural people cant connect any
    other way. so they keep a few modems running for those of us who have a

    .... as long as the "spiral of death" isn't caused by the other end.

    (I still can't understand why you don't get it with Windows 98, but I sympathise that you're fed up of trying things!)

    landline from them. Where I live, I must have a landline because my
    cellphone dont get a signal.

    Would it be possible to erect some sort of aerial - do cellular signals
    reach your location but too far above ground level? Or are you so remote
    that you are not in a coverage area at all? I appreciate it'd be
    awkward, since modern 'phones don't have an aerial socket, and it'd have
    to be bidirectional, which makes boosters difficult (though can be
    done), but if there is a signal, two passive but high-gain (i. e.
    directional) aerials connected together, in your loft or on a pole,
    _might_ make life a bit more bearable.
    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    You cannot simply assume someone is honest just because they are not an MP.
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From james@nospam.com@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: james@nospam.com
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 13:08:29 -0600
    Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server
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    On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 15:20:27 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG-255@255soft.uk> wrote:

    In message <1fio0d9pouhfijehel9a2ludovp9p1a6n5@4ax.com>,
    james@nospam.com writes:
    []
    I do wonder if getting a different brand of modem would help though. I

    It might ...
    []
    I think a lot of the problems is my ISP. They have pretty much abandoned >>the dialup, but they know that some of us rural people cant connect any >>other way. so they keep a few modems running for those of us who have a

    ... as long as the "spiral of death" isn't caused by the other end.

    (I still can't understand why you don't get it with Windows 98, but I >sympathise that you're fed up of trying things!)

    landline from them. Where I live, I must have a landline because my >>cellphone dont get a signal.

    Would it be possible to erect some sort of aerial - do cellular signals >reach your location but too far above ground level? Or are you so remote >that you are not in a coverage area at all? I appreciate it'd be
    awkward, since modern 'phones don't have an aerial socket, and it'd have
    to be bidirectional, which makes boosters difficult (though can be
    done), but if there is a signal, two passive but high-gain (i. e. >directional) aerials connected together, in your loft or on a pole,
    _might_ make life a bit more bearable.

    Thanks for starting a new thread. I was considering doing the same.

    I have never understood why Win98 works and not any NT based OS. I still
    have Win2000 installed on the same computer as Win98. All I use it for
    is to do backups, because Win98 cant handle those external hard drives
    on USB. I love Win98, but USB support has always been lousy. By (dual)
    booting to Win2000, I can copy everything from my HDD to my backup,
    including the Win98 OS files. I would have XP instead in that partition,
    but this computer is not quite up to Xp level for power and such.

    No, I dont get a usable cellphone signal. I live down a hill, cellphone
    signals are poor to start with, and being downhill from the nearby town,
    I dont get much. Sometimes I get one bar, but have to go outside (metal
    covered house). But I know I will lose the signal at any time during the
    call. Other times I dont get any signal. Most of the time I drive up the
    hill to make calls. Thats why I keep my landline. In bad weather or an emergency, I rely on that landline. I do not have long distance on that landline, but I can call all local emergency numbers as well as persons
    or busineesses in the immediate area. I dont make many long dist. calls,
    but when I do, I do have to go up that hill and use the cellphone.

    I do think the dialup problem is on the other end (ISP), but that still
    dont explain why Win98 works and not any NT based OSs.

    Being rural has it's disadvantages, but I'll accept the technology disadvantages before I'd ever live in a city. The firsdt part of my life
    was in a city, and I hated it.

    I know they sell signal boosters for cellphones. I am sure that having
    an antenna on the roof and a booster could solve the metal house
    limitations, but I'd still be boosting a very weak signal.

    The only way to get high speed internet here is a satellite, and that's
    very costly around here. They sell the whole package, TV, Internet, and
    other stuff, at a cost of well over $100 per month. I cant afford it,
    and I do not want the tv part. I have a 40ft tv antenna, and I get
    enough tv stations to suit me. I mostly just watch ME-TV anyhow. I'm
    elderly and like the old shows. Modern tv is crap in my opinion.

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From nospam@needed.invalid@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 18:56:48 -0500
    Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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    james@nospam.com wrote:
    On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 15:20:27 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG-255@255soft.uk> wrote:

    In message <1fio0d9pouhfijehel9a2ludovp9p1a6n5@4ax.com>,
    james@nospam.com writes:
    []
    I do wonder if getting a different brand of modem would help though. I
    It might ...
    []
    I think a lot of the problems is my ISP. They have pretty much abandoned >>> the dialup, but they know that some of us rural people cant connect any
    other way. so they keep a few modems running for those of us who have a
    ... as long as the "spiral of death" isn't caused by the other end.

    (I still can't understand why you don't get it with Windows 98, but I
    sympathise that you're fed up of trying things!)

    landline from them. Where I live, I must have a landline because my
    cellphone dont get a signal.

    Would it be possible to erect some sort of aerial - do cellular signals
    reach your location but too far above ground level? Or are you so remote
    that you are not in a coverage area at all? I appreciate it'd be
    awkward, since modern 'phones don't have an aerial socket, and it'd have
    to be bidirectional, which makes boosters difficult (though can be
    done), but if there is a signal, two passive but high-gain (i. e.
    directional) aerials connected together, in your loft or on a pole,
    _might_ make life a bit more bearable.

    Thanks for starting a new thread. I was considering doing the same.

    I have never understood why Win98 works and not any NT based OS. I still
    have Win2000 installed on the same computer as Win98. All I use it for
    is to do backups, because Win98 cant handle those external hard drives
    on USB. I love Win98, but USB support has always been lousy. By (dual) booting to Win2000, I can copy everything from my HDD to my backup,
    including the Win98 OS files. I would have XP instead in that partition,
    but this computer is not quite up to Xp level for power and such.

    No, I dont get a usable cellphone signal. I live down a hill, cellphone signals are poor to start with, and being downhill from the nearby town,
    I dont get much. Sometimes I get one bar, but have to go outside (metal covered house). But I know I will lose the signal at any time during the call. Other times I dont get any signal. Most of the time I drive up the
    hill to make calls. Thats why I keep my landline. In bad weather or an emergency, I rely on that landline. I do not have long distance on that landline, but I can call all local emergency numbers as well as persons
    or busineesses in the immediate area. I dont make many long dist. calls,
    but when I do, I do have to go up that hill and use the cellphone.

    I do think the dialup problem is on the other end (ISP), but that still
    dont explain why Win98 works and not any NT based OSs.

    Being rural has it's disadvantages, but I'll accept the technology disadvantages before I'd ever live in a city. The firsdt part of my life
    was in a city, and I hated it.

    I know they sell signal boosters for cellphones. I am sure that having
    an antenna on the roof and a booster could solve the metal house
    limitations, but I'd still be boosting a very weak signal.

    The only way to get high speed internet here is a satellite, and that's
    very costly around here. They sell the whole package, TV, Internet, and
    other stuff, at a cost of well over $100 per month. I cant afford it,
    and I do not want the tv part. I have a 40ft tv antenna, and I get
    enough tv stations to suit me. I mostly just watch ME-TV anyhow. I'm
    elderly and like the old shows. Modern tv is crap in my opinion.

    There are multiple kinds of dialup modems.

    They all have to (somehow) do the following.

    RJ-11 --- DAA ------------------ ADC ------------------ DSP ---- (PPP)
    Data Access convert beeps convert samples
    Arrangement into digital samples in the frequency
    Separate phone high at 8KHz rate. Just domain, to 0/1 in
    voltage from PC low like a sound chip. time domain. The
    voltages. Dumb cct, frequencies separate
    "like a piece of iron". into bins or buckets
    (just like ADSL!).

    On your USR Sportster, there is a chip called a Datapump
    inside the modem. It does DSP at 80-90MHz or so. It's
    a processor doing the DSP function. The USR Sportster
    should be relatively consistent from one OS to another.
    That's why we buy them, consistent performance without
    need of ugly drivers. The modem works at the "AT command"
    level. The spiral of death, is solely a function of the
    firmware behavior of the DSP. Modems like this, when flashed
    up to V92, basically run a different firmware that
    includes the DSP function for V92 protocol. The firmware
    file should be a little larger, as the firmware has to
    be able to drop back from V92->V90->V34 and so on.

    On a "Winmodem" or softmodem, the card you buy is really
    cheap, because it contains a DAA plus an ADC. The DSP portion
    is done by the system processor. This means you're on the hook
    for a driver which does DSP. A well-written DSP algo, can
    actually do 1% better transfer rates than the Sportster
    (I tested this, and couldn't believe my eyes, and
    had to repeat the A/B testing several times to be sure).
    The driver, makes *all* the difference. No driver, no workie.

    So the Winmodem has the DAA (transformer) plus an analog
    to digital converter. Well, how could we make that even
    cheaper ?

    On my laptop, the softmodem function is done with a
    sound chip. That means the laptop still needs a DAA,
    but the ADC (analog to digital converter) function is
    done with a sound chip. The driver situation on the
    laptop is no different than the one in the previous
    paragraph. No matter what OS, a driver with DSP code
    in it is needed to convert the laptop sound chip output,
    into ones and zeros for the PPP protocol the OS terminates.

    While I used to believe the Sportster was superior
    in every way, and I was always shopping for datapump
    modems, the reality is, if you're lucky, and the
    other kind comes with a "good driver", it can work
    just as well. And that's really the trick. Do the
    customer reviews indicate a driver is available
    for the OS in question ? What do the customers
    think of the driver ? Is it crap ? Even the Sportster
    can have its issues, but I discovered the "generic"
    dialup string is frequently enough to make the
    Sportster work OK. Just because WinXP "can't find"
    an entry for the most modern Sportster, you can
    actually make it work with the "generic" modem
    detection.

    Paul
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From G6JPG-255@255soft.uk@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG-255@255soft.uk>
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 01:12:46 +0000
    Organization: 255 software
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    In message <ouik80$61b$1@dont-email.me>, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
    writes:
    james@nospam.com wrote:
    On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 15:20:27 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
    <G6JPG-255@255soft.uk> wrote:
    []
    (I still can't understand why you don't get it with Windows 98, but
    I sympathise that you're fed up of trying things!)

    landline from them. Where I live, I must have a landline because my
    cellphone dont get a signal.

    Would it be possible to erect some sort of aerial - do cellular
    signals reach your location but too far above ground level? Or are
    []
    Thanks for starting a new thread. I was considering doing the same.
    I have never understood why Win98 works and not any NT based OS. I
    []
    No, I dont get a usable cellphone signal. I live down a hill,
    cellphone
    signals are poor to start with, and being downhill from the nearby town,
    I dont get much. Sometimes I get one bar, but have to go outside (metal

    Ah, so you're not in the backwoods completely.
    []
    or busineesses in the immediate area. I dont make many long dist. calls,
    but when I do, I do have to go up that hill and use the cellphone.
    I do think the dialup problem is on the other end (ISP), but that
    still
    dont explain why Win98 works and not any NT based OSs.

    No, since you say you're using external (serial port) MoDems. Very odd.
    []
    an antenna on the roof and a booster could solve the metal house
    limitations, but I'd still be boosting a very weak signal.
    Is your roof that far below the height you get when you "go up that
    hill"?
    []
    and I do not want the tv part. I have a 40ft tv antenna, and I get

    Could you put a cellular antenna on _that_? I'm not sure if it has to be
    an active booster: a couple of directional aerials (one pointing at the
    cell tower, one downwards towards where you have the 'phone) connected together _might_ work. (A booster would be better, but it's a matter of getting power to it, and so on. Solar might work, but would increase
    windage. Or, if the TV aerial has a booster, maybe you could share its supply.)

    enough tv stations to suit me. I mostly just watch ME-TV anyhow. I'm
    elderly and like the old shows. Modern tv is crap in my opinion.

    There are multiple kinds of dialup modems.
    James has said he doesn't like MoDem cards, and has ropey USB support,
    so is using true external (serial port) MoDems.
    []
    On my laptop, the softmodem function is done with a
    sound chip. That means the laptop still needs a DAA,
    but the ADC (analog to digital converter) function is
    done with a sound chip. The driver situation on the

    I once had a combined sound card and MoDem. Make beginning with O, IIRR.
    I think it was German.
    []
    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    The Daily Mail has led the campaign to limit pornography - "it demeans and belittles women," they explain, "and that's our job." (Sandi Toksvig [scripted], News Quiz 2013-7-26.)
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From james@nospam.com@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: james@nospam.com
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 21:23:35 -0600
    Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server
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    On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 18:56:48 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

    james@nospam.com wrote:
    On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 15:20:27 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
    <G6JPG-255@255soft.uk> wrote:

    In message <1fio0d9pouhfijehel9a2ludovp9p1a6n5@4ax.com>,
    james@nospam.com writes:
    []
    I do wonder if getting a different brand of modem would help though. I
    It might ...
    []
    I think a lot of the problems is my ISP. They have pretty much abandoned >>>> the dialup, but they know that some of us rural people cant connect any >>>> other way. so they keep a few modems running for those of us who have a >>> ... as long as the "spiral of death" isn't caused by the other end.

    (I still can't understand why you don't get it with Windows 98, but I
    sympathise that you're fed up of trying things!)

    landline from them. Where I live, I must have a landline because my
    cellphone dont get a signal.

    Would it be possible to erect some sort of aerial - do cellular signals >>> reach your location but too far above ground level? Or are you so remote >>> that you are not in a coverage area at all? I appreciate it'd be
    awkward, since modern 'phones don't have an aerial socket, and it'd have >>> to be bidirectional, which makes boosters difficult (though can be
    done), but if there is a signal, two passive but high-gain (i. e.
    directional) aerials connected together, in your loft or on a pole,
    _might_ make life a bit more bearable.

    Thanks for starting a new thread. I was considering doing the same.

    I have never understood why Win98 works and not any NT based OS. I still
    have Win2000 installed on the same computer as Win98. All I use it for
    is to do backups, because Win98 cant handle those external hard drives
    on USB. I love Win98, but USB support has always been lousy. By (dual)
    booting to Win2000, I can copy everything from my HDD to my backup,
    including the Win98 OS files. I would have XP instead in that partition,
    but this computer is not quite up to Xp level for power and such.

    No, I dont get a usable cellphone signal. I live down a hill, cellphone
    signals are poor to start with, and being downhill from the nearby town,
    I dont get much. Sometimes I get one bar, but have to go outside (metal
    covered house). But I know I will lose the signal at any time during the
    call. Other times I dont get any signal. Most of the time I drive up the
    hill to make calls. Thats why I keep my landline. In bad weather or an
    emergency, I rely on that landline. I do not have long distance on that
    landline, but I can call all local emergency numbers as well as persons
    or busineesses in the immediate area. I dont make many long dist. calls,
    but when I do, I do have to go up that hill and use the cellphone.

    I do think the dialup problem is on the other end (ISP), but that still
    dont explain why Win98 works and not any NT based OSs.

    Being rural has it's disadvantages, but I'll accept the technology
    disadvantages before I'd ever live in a city. The firsdt part of my life
    was in a city, and I hated it.

    I know they sell signal boosters for cellphones. I am sure that having
    an antenna on the roof and a booster could solve the metal house
    limitations, but I'd still be boosting a very weak signal.

    The only way to get high speed internet here is a satellite, and that's
    very costly around here. They sell the whole package, TV, Internet, and
    other stuff, at a cost of well over $100 per month. I cant afford it,
    and I do not want the tv part. I have a 40ft tv antenna, and I get
    enough tv stations to suit me. I mostly just watch ME-TV anyhow. I'm
    elderly and like the old shows. Modern tv is crap in my opinion.

    There are multiple kinds of dialup modems.

    They all have to (somehow) do the following.

    RJ-11 --- DAA ------------------ ADC ------------------ DSP ---- (PPP)
    Data Access convert beeps convert samples
    Arrangement into digital samples in the frequency
    Separate phone high at 8KHz rate. Just domain, to 0/1 in
    voltage from PC low like a sound chip. time domain. The
    voltages. Dumb cct, frequencies
    separate
    "like a piece of iron". into bins or
    buckets
    (just like ADSL!).

    On your USR Sportster, there is a chip called a Datapump
    inside the modem. It does DSP at 80-90MHz or so. It's
    a processor doing the DSP function. The USR Sportster
    should be relatively consistent from one OS to another.
    That's why we buy them, consistent performance without
    need of ugly drivers. The modem works at the "AT command"
    level. The spiral of death, is solely a function of the
    firmware behavior of the DSP. Modems like this, when flashed
    up to V92, basically run a different firmware that
    includes the DSP function for V92 protocol. The firmware
    file should be a little larger, as the firmware has to
    be able to drop back from V92->V90->V34 and so on.

    On a "Winmodem" or softmodem, the card you buy is really
    cheap, because it contains a DAA plus an ADC. The DSP portion
    is done by the system processor. This means you're on the hook
    for a driver which does DSP. A well-written DSP algo, can
    actually do 1% better transfer rates than the Sportster
    (I tested this, and couldn't believe my eyes, and
    had to repeat the A/B testing several times to be sure).
    The driver, makes *all* the difference. No driver, no workie.

    So the Winmodem has the DAA (transformer) plus an analog
    to digital converter. Well, how could we make that even
    cheaper ?

    On my laptop, the softmodem function is done with a
    sound chip. That means the laptop still needs a DAA,
    but the ADC (analog to digital converter) function is
    done with a sound chip. The driver situation on the
    laptop is no different than the one in the previous
    paragraph. No matter what OS, a driver with DSP code
    in it is needed to convert the laptop sound chip output,
    into ones and zeros for the PPP protocol the OS terminates.

    While I used to believe the Sportster was superior
    in every way, and I was always shopping for datapump
    modems, the reality is, if you're lucky, and the
    other kind comes with a "good driver", it can work
    just as well. And that's really the trick. Do the
    customer reviews indicate a driver is available
    for the OS in question ? What do the customers
    think of the driver ? Is it crap ? Even the Sportster
    can have its issues, but I discovered the "generic"
    dialup string is frequently enough to make the
    Sportster work OK. Just because WinXP "can't find"
    an entry for the most modern Sportster, you can
    actually make it work with the "generic" modem
    detection.

    Paul


    My Sportsters (I have two of them) are both V92. External Serial cable
    types.
    I had another one that was V90, and I did not notice any difference
    beween the V90 and V92. But that V90 one died.

    I'm looking on ebay at a NEW Supra Express 56K ITU standard.

    Also an external serial modem.

    The box says "Shotgun ready for speeds up to 112K
    Voicemail, Internet and Fax
    56K ITU standard V90 and K56Flex.".

    I dont know what ITU means....
    It is V90, but what is K56Flex?
    Is that better than just V90?

    And what about that "Shotgun Ready"?
    I know there are some people online who I'd like to shoot, but I'm not
    into murdering anyone online by pulling the trigger on my modem. <LOL>

    Seriously what does the shotgun ready mean?

    Like I said, I am considering buying another brand of modem. I hear that
    Supra is one of the better brands. BUt if it's just anoither V90, isnt
    that gonna work the same as my Sportster?

    I noted that these Supra ones sell for a lot more than the USR sportster
    modems sell for on Ebay. The cheapest one I found is $30 (but its NEW
    and still in the box). Most of the Sportsters sell for $15 to $20, but
    most are USED.

    Whats a real joke is that there are sellers trying to sell 1200 baud
    Supra modems for $90. Who in their right mind would even want a 1200
    baud modem, much less pay that much for one?

    There are a lot of Supra modems selling that are USB type, but I cant
    use them on my Win98 machine, so I wont buy a USB type.


    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From nospam@needed.invalid@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 00:37:02 -0500
    Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
    Lines: 247
    Message-ID: <ouj85t$ave$1@dont-email.me>
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    Xref: feeder.eternal-september.org microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:134571

    james@nospam.com wrote:
    On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 18:56:48 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

    james@nospam.com wrote:
    On Wed, 15 Nov 2017 15:20:27 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
    <G6JPG-255@255soft.uk> wrote:

    In message <1fio0d9pouhfijehel9a2ludovp9p1a6n5@4ax.com>,
    james@nospam.com writes:
    []
    I do wonder if getting a different brand of modem would help though. I >>>> It might ...
    []
    I think a lot of the problems is my ISP. They have pretty much abandoned >>>>> the dialup, but they know that some of us rural people cant connect any >>>>> other way. so they keep a few modems running for those of us who have a >>>> ... as long as the "spiral of death" isn't caused by the other end.

    (I still can't understand why you don't get it with Windows 98, but I >>>> sympathise that you're fed up of trying things!)

    landline from them. Where I live, I must have a landline because my
    cellphone dont get a signal.

    Would it be possible to erect some sort of aerial - do cellular signals >>>> reach your location but too far above ground level? Or are you so remote >>>> that you are not in a coverage area at all? I appreciate it'd be
    awkward, since modern 'phones don't have an aerial socket, and it'd have >>>> to be bidirectional, which makes boosters difficult (though can be
    done), but if there is a signal, two passive but high-gain (i. e.
    directional) aerials connected together, in your loft or on a pole,
    _might_ make life a bit more bearable.
    Thanks for starting a new thread. I was considering doing the same.

    I have never understood why Win98 works and not any NT based OS. I still >>> have Win2000 installed on the same computer as Win98. All I use it for
    is to do backups, because Win98 cant handle those external hard drives
    on USB. I love Win98, but USB support has always been lousy. By (dual)
    booting to Win2000, I can copy everything from my HDD to my backup,
    including the Win98 OS files. I would have XP instead in that partition, >>> but this computer is not quite up to Xp level for power and such.

    No, I dont get a usable cellphone signal. I live down a hill, cellphone
    signals are poor to start with, and being downhill from the nearby town, >>> I dont get much. Sometimes I get one bar, but have to go outside (metal
    covered house). But I know I will lose the signal at any time during the >>> call. Other times I dont get any signal. Most of the time I drive up the >>> hill to make calls. Thats why I keep my landline. In bad weather or an
    emergency, I rely on that landline. I do not have long distance on that
    landline, but I can call all local emergency numbers as well as persons
    or busineesses in the immediate area. I dont make many long dist. calls, >>> but when I do, I do have to go up that hill and use the cellphone.

    I do think the dialup problem is on the other end (ISP), but that still
    dont explain why Win98 works and not any NT based OSs.

    Being rural has it's disadvantages, but I'll accept the technology
    disadvantages before I'd ever live in a city. The firsdt part of my life >>> was in a city, and I hated it.

    I know they sell signal boosters for cellphones. I am sure that having
    an antenna on the roof and a booster could solve the metal house
    limitations, but I'd still be boosting a very weak signal.

    The only way to get high speed internet here is a satellite, and that's
    very costly around here. They sell the whole package, TV, Internet, and
    other stuff, at a cost of well over $100 per month. I cant afford it,
    and I do not want the tv part. I have a 40ft tv antenna, and I get
    enough tv stations to suit me. I mostly just watch ME-TV anyhow. I'm
    elderly and like the old shows. Modern tv is crap in my opinion.
    There are multiple kinds of dialup modems.

    They all have to (somehow) do the following.

    RJ-11 --- DAA ------------------ ADC ------------------ DSP ---- (PPP)
    Data Access convert beeps convert samples
    Arrangement into digital samples in the frequency >> Separate phone high at 8KHz rate. Just domain, to 0/1 in >> voltage from PC low like a sound chip. time domain. The >> voltages. Dumb cct, frequencies separate
    "like a piece of iron". into bins or buckets
    (just like ADSL!).

    On your USR Sportster, there is a chip called a Datapump
    inside the modem. It does DSP at 80-90MHz or so. It's
    a processor doing the DSP function. The USR Sportster
    should be relatively consistent from one OS to another.
    That's why we buy them, consistent performance without
    need of ugly drivers. The modem works at the "AT command"
    level. The spiral of death, is solely a function of the
    firmware behavior of the DSP. Modems like this, when flashed
    up to V92, basically run a different firmware that
    includes the DSP function for V92 protocol. The firmware
    file should be a little larger, as the firmware has to
    be able to drop back from V92->V90->V34 and so on.

    On a "Winmodem" or softmodem, the card you buy is really
    cheap, because it contains a DAA plus an ADC. The DSP portion
    is done by the system processor. This means you're on the hook
    for a driver which does DSP. A well-written DSP algo, can
    actually do 1% better transfer rates than the Sportster
    (I tested this, and couldn't believe my eyes, and
    had to repeat the A/B testing several times to be sure).
    The driver, makes *all* the difference. No driver, no workie.

    So the Winmodem has the DAA (transformer) plus an analog
    to digital converter. Well, how could we make that even
    cheaper ?

    On my laptop, the softmodem function is done with a
    sound chip. That means the laptop still needs a DAA,
    but the ADC (analog to digital converter) function is
    done with a sound chip. The driver situation on the
    laptop is no different than the one in the previous
    paragraph. No matter what OS, a driver with DSP code
    in it is needed to convert the laptop sound chip output,
    into ones and zeros for the PPP protocol the OS terminates.

    While I used to believe the Sportster was superior
    in every way, and I was always shopping for datapump
    modems, the reality is, if you're lucky, and the
    other kind comes with a "good driver", it can work
    just as well. And that's really the trick. Do the
    customer reviews indicate a driver is available
    for the OS in question ? What do the customers
    think of the driver ? Is it crap ? Even the Sportster
    can have its issues, but I discovered the "generic"
    dialup string is frequently enough to make the
    Sportster work OK. Just because WinXP "can't find"
    an entry for the most modern Sportster, you can
    actually make it work with the "generic" modem
    detection.

    Paul


    My Sportsters (I have two of them) are both V92. External Serial cable
    types.
    I had another one that was V90, and I did not notice any difference
    beween the V90 and V92. But that V90 one died.

    I'm looking on ebay at a NEW Supra Express 56K ITU standard.

    Also an external serial modem.

    The box says "Shotgun ready for speeds up to 112K
    Voicemail, Internet and Fax
    56K ITU standard V90 and K56Flex.".

    I dont know what ITU means....
    It is V90, but what is K56Flex?
    Is that better than just V90?

    And what about that "Shotgun Ready"?
    I know there are some people online who I'd like to shoot, but I'm not
    into murdering anyone online by pulling the trigger on my modem. <LOL>

    Seriously what does the shotgun ready mean?

    Like I said, I am considering buying another brand of modem. I hear that Supra is one of the better brands. BUt if it's just anoither V90, isnt
    that gonna work the same as my Sportster?

    I noted that these Supra ones sell for a lot more than the USR sportster modems sell for on Ebay. The cheapest one I found is $30 (but its NEW
    and still in the box). Most of the Sportsters sell for $15 to $20, but
    most are USED.

    Whats a real joke is that there are sellers trying to sell 1200 baud
    Supra modems for $90. Who in their right mind would even want a 1200
    baud modem, much less pay that much for one?

    There are a lot of Supra modems selling that are USB type, but I cant
    use them on my Win98 machine, so I wont buy a USB type.

    International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - a standards body.

    *******

    Shotgunning, combines the bandwidth of two modems.
    It's not practical, and is some kind of sad joke.

    Teaming, is the same idea, with two NICs on a computer.
    Generally the NICs are identical (as the teaming software
    is provided by the manufacturer of the chip, and selling
    a second one is in their best interests).

    On ADSL, MLPPP is the teaming of multiple ADSL connections.
    My ISP will sell you up to 7 ADSL connections, for seven times
    the monthly price.

    In some cases, the lunacy might make sense, but most
    of the time, it doesn't. In some cases, you don't
    get to combine the bandwidth into a single IP connection,
    and must use a multi-connection downloader software
    to get the enhanced transfer rate from a single site.

    *******

    There were two "camps" of chip makers. One camp made K56 solutions.
    The other made X2 solutions.

    Rockwell was the K56Flex camp. Rockwell spun off its chip making
    portion as Conexant. Towards the end of this web page, it
    suggests Conexant still owns the data modem business.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conexant

    The datapump version of Conexant chips is possibly called "ACF".
    Some of this info, is needed on the Linux side, for setting
    up modems, and otherwise we might not have got any
    taxonomy info at all.

    http://modemsite.com/56k/rockacf.asp

    This is a picture of my Diamond MultiMedia Supra brand modem,
    with a Rockwell chip inside (making it K56Flex).

    Supra was bought by DiamondMM (1995). This product was
    made some time in 1998 maybe.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supra,_Inc.

    Main chip RCVDL56ACFW/SP ACF = single chip modem w. datapump
    Rockwell 1998 Week 8
    CY7C109-15 Static RAM for processor
    Atmel AT49F020 Flash EEPROM (reprogrammable)

    (213,951 bytes)
    https://s8.postimg.org/459vr7nz9/Diamond_Supra_ACF.jpg

    The question then is, how do we track down a list of
    ACF modems ? They might not be the only flavor of K56Flex.

    Another supplier of ACF might be Creative.

    *******

    This is the only list I found so far. And of course,
    it doesn't sound like the year 2017 here. Some of the
    text strings hint at K56 or ACF. HCF is not the same thing
    (probably a softmodem of some sort). There are also X2 modems
    mixed into this lot.

    http://xmodem.org/modems/extlist.html

    Paul
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From ANTant@zimage.com@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
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    NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 00:25:01 -0600
    From: ANTant@zimage.com (Ant)
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    References: <WS81G0GNsaAaFwwg@soft255.demon.co.uk> <ou3nc0$uoa$1@dont-email.me> <ou746h$5ei$1@neodome.net> <repe0ddh0285l2d10v4rifs1rqm4u9id3r@4ax.com> <Y72dnZtWj7Vbb5THnZ2dnUU7-YWdnZ2d@earthlink.com> <4guk0dlh6o7unn70mmc9obbvc024msfri3@4ax.com> <oug972$mki$1@gioia.aioe.org> <1fio0d9pouhfijehel9a2ludovp9p1a6n5@4ax.com> <Wvylp3O7sFDaFwb1@soft255.demon.co.uk> <1q2p0d5oflvfpdld8gdg8qcaoms09v1jgi@4ax.com> <ouik80$61b$1@dont-email.me> <qrvp0d950d4ifh4461452m44fjje99re3o@4ax.com>
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    james@nospam.com wrote:

    My Sportsters (I have two of them) are both V92. External Serial cable
    types.
    I had another one that was V90, and I did not notice any difference
    beween the V90 and V92. But that V90 one died.

    I'm looking on ebay at a NEW Supra Express 56K ITU standard.

    Also an external serial modem.

    The box says "Shotgun ready for speeds up to 112K
    Voicemail, Internet and Fax
    56K ITU standard V90 and K56Flex.".

    I dont know what ITU means....
    It is V90, but what is K56Flex?
    Is that better than just V90?

    And what about that "Shotgun Ready"?
    I know there are some people online who I'd like to shoot, but I'm not
    into murdering anyone online by pulling the trigger on my modem. <LOL>

    Seriously what does the shotgun ready mean?

    Shotgun is combining two dial-up modems on two different copper phone
    lines. http://www.modemhelp.net/faqs/shotgun.shtml for its details.


    Like I said, I am considering buying another brand of modem. I hear that Supra is one of the better brands. BUt if it's just anoither V90, isnt
    that gonna work the same as my Sportster?

    I noted that these Supra ones sell for a lot more than the USR sportster modems sell for on Ebay. The cheapest one I found is $30 (but its NEW
    and still in the box). Most of the Sportsters sell for $15 to $20, but
    most are USED.

    Wow, I remember Supra. I think I had its 28.8k external modem I bought
    from my college roommate, but its connection sucked with 16800 speed. :(


    Whats a real joke is that there are sellers trying to sell 1200 baud
    Supra modems for $90. Who in their right mind would even want a 1200
    baud modem, much less pay that much for one?

    Were they brand new and unopened?


    There are a lot of Supra modems selling that are USB type, but I cant
    use them on my Win98 machine, so I wont buy a USB type.

    I tried a couple winmodems at work. Dang they suck. Also, they don't
    work under a Mac Mini's Mac OS X v10.9. (no driver). :(
    --
    Quote of the Week: "I go out of my way to avoid stepping on ants." --Terry McGovern, daughter of Senator George and Eleanor McGovern, subject of the book "Terry by her father"
    Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
    /\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
    / /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
    | |o o| |
    \ _ / Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail privately. If credit-
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    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From james@nospam.com@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: james@nospam.com
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 04:25:22 -0600
    Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server
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    On Thu, 16 Nov 2017 00:37:02 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

    International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - a standards body.

    *******

    Shotgunning, combines the bandwidth of two modems.
    It's not practical, and is some kind of sad joke.

    Teaming, is the same idea, with two NICs on a computer.
    Generally the NICs are identical (as the teaming software
    is provided by the manufacturer of the chip, and selling
    a second one is in their best interests).

    On ADSL, MLPPP is the teaming of multiple ADSL connections.
    My ISP will sell you up to 7 ADSL connections, for seven times
    the monthly price.

    In some cases, the lunacy might make sense, but most
    of the time, it doesn't. In some cases, you don't
    get to combine the bandwidth into a single IP connection,
    and must use a multi-connection downloader software
    to get the enhanced transfer rate from a single site.

    *******

    There were two "camps" of chip makers. One camp made K56 solutions.
    The other made X2 solutions.

    Rockwell was the K56Flex camp. Rockwell spun off its chip making
    portion as Conexant. Towards the end of this web page, it
    suggests Conexant still owns the data modem business.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conexant

    The datapump version of Conexant chips is possibly called "ACF".
    Some of this info, is needed on the Linux side, for setting
    up modems, and otherwise we might not have got any
    taxonomy info at all.

    http://modemsite.com/56k/rockacf.asp

    This is a picture of my Diamond MultiMedia Supra brand modem,
    with a Rockwell chip inside (making it K56Flex).

    Supra was bought by DiamondMM (1995). This product was
    made some time in 1998 maybe.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supra,_Inc.

    Main chip RCVDL56ACFW/SP ACF = single chip modem w. datapump
    Rockwell 1998 Week 8
    CY7C109-15 Static RAM for processor
    Atmel AT49F020 Flash EEPROM (reprogrammable)

    (213,951 bytes)
    https://s8.postimg.org/459vr7nz9/Diamond_Supra_ACF.jpg

    The question then is, how do we track down a list of
    ACF modems ? They might not be the only flavor of K56Flex.

    Another supplier of ACF might be Creative.

    *******

    This is the only list I found so far. And of course,
    it doesn't sound like the year 2017 here. Some of the
    text strings hint at K56 or ACF. HCF is not the same thing
    (probably a softmodem of some sort). There are also X2 modems
    mixed into this lot.

    http://xmodem.org/modems/extlist.html

    Paul

    This gets very complicated and confusing to me. To sum it up, from what
    you said, it seems like there is V90 / 92 and K56 Flex. The two basic
    options. Since my Sportsters have never given me a decent connection
    using XP, I want to try something else. Since the Sportsters are V90/92,
    I assume I need to try the K56Flex. Is that correct?

    This Supra Express modem says it has BOTH the V90 and K56Flex. Is that a
    good choice for me, or is there something better (another brand)?

    What should I be looking for? Model numbers will help a lot more than
    all this highly technical info. I cant see what chip is being used when
    I look at modems on ebay or whereever.

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From james@nospam.com@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: james@nospam.com
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 04:36:21 -0600
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    On Thu, 16 Nov 2017 00:25:01 -0600, ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) wrote:

    james@nospam.com wrote:

    My Sportsters (I have two of them) are both V92. External Serial cable
    types.
    I had another one that was V90, and I did not notice any difference
    beween the V90 and V92. But that V90 one died.

    I'm looking on ebay at a NEW Supra Express 56K ITU standard.

    Also an external serial modem.

    The box says "Shotgun ready for speeds up to 112K
    Voicemail, Internet and Fax
    56K ITU standard V90 and K56Flex.".

    I dont know what ITU means....
    It is V90, but what is K56Flex?
    Is that better than just V90?

    And what about that "Shotgun Ready"?
    I know there are some people online who I'd like to shoot, but I'm not
    into murdering anyone online by pulling the trigger on my modem. <LOL>

    Seriously what does the shotgun ready mean?

    Shotgun is combining two dial-up modems on two different copper phone
    lines. http://www.modemhelp.net/faqs/shotgun.shtml for its details.


    That wont do me any good. I only have one phone line.

    Like I said, I am considering buying another brand of modem. I hear that
    Supra is one of the better brands. BUt if it's just anoither V90, isnt
    that gonna work the same as my Sportster?

    I noted that these Supra ones sell for a lot more than the USR sportster
    modems sell for on Ebay. The cheapest one I found is $30 (but its NEW
    and still in the box). Most of the Sportsters sell for $15 to $20, but
    most are USED.

    Wow, I remember Supra. I think I had its 28.8k external modem I bought
    from my college roommate, but its connection sucked with 16800 speed. :(

    All the slower modems sucked. Not that the 56K always worked well
    either.

    Whats a real joke is that there are sellers trying to sell 1200 baud
    Supra modems for $90. Who in their right mind would even want a 1200
    baud modem, much less pay that much for one?

    Were they brand new and unopened?

    I dont know. I did not open the pages. It takes 10 or 15 min to open
    each ebay page. I only open stuff I am real interested in.


    There are a lot of Supra modems selling that are USB type, but I cant
    use them on my Win98 machine, so I wont buy a USB type.

    I tried a couple winmodems at work. Dang they suck. Also, they don't
    work under a Mac Mini's Mac OS X v10.9. (no driver). :(

    I dont want a Winmodem. As far as I understand, they are always internal
    modems anyhow, and I will never use another internal modem. I had far
    too many problems with them in the past.

    Also, I do have a very basic install of an old 2009 version of PcLinux,
    which is the only Linux I have ever liked. It's almost like Win98.
    (After 2009, they made it bloated and very slow).
    But someday I do want to try to connect a modem to it. I know I cant use
    a Winmodem on Linux.

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)
  • From nospam@needed.invalid@1:124/5013 to All on Thu Jan 31 19:16:25 2019
    Path: eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.o rg!.POSTED!not-for-mail
    From: Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
    Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
    Subject: Re: dialup problems
    Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2017 06:35:25 -0500
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    james@nospam.com wrote:


    This gets very complicated and confusing to me. To sum it up, from what
    you said, it seems like there is V90 / 92 and K56 Flex. The two basic options. Since my Sportsters have never given me a decent connection
    using XP, I want to try something else. Since the Sportsters are V90/92,
    I assume I need to try the K56Flex. Is that correct?

    This Supra Express modem says it has BOTH the V90 and K56Flex. Is that a
    good choice for me, or is there something better (another brand)?

    What should I be looking for? Model numbers will help a lot more than
    all this highly technical info. I cant see what chip is being used when
    I look at modems on ebay or whereever.

    If you were going on a modem-buying spree, I think testing
    a K56Flex might be fun for a change.

    The industry says that flash upgrading these two modem types,
    would give *identical* V90 behavior. That was bullshit, based
    on my testing. The original "flavor" of each, leaks through.
    Even with the V90 firmware in place, the K56Flex works better with a
    K56 front end. This is why I ended up with two modems, flipping
    back and forth depending on what I was calling into. The IT department
    at work, lent me a K56Flex to test with, and that's when I
    decided to buy one.

    X2 _________
    \___V90
    K56Flex ____/

    I don't know an easy way to produce a list of K56Flex products.
    That list I found is a start, but it's highly unlikely to be
    perfectly accurate today in 2017. Since you're in the used
    market, and since the V90 era was quite a while ago, I suppose
    items in the list would still make sense as choices.

    If the product description includes the K56Flex terminology,
    that means there is a Rockwell or Conexant-branded ACF chip
    inside. The example I gave, of the picture of my DiamondMM
    Supra, shows that my chip was an ACF type. And Rockwell/Conexant
    is the K56 camp.

    *******

    There are other ways to debug dialup modems.

    The modem records the performance of the frequency buckets
    in the 0-4KHz voice range. After a dialup session completes,
    and the modem hangs up, you can use a particular AT
    command (from Hyperterm) to dump the performance data.
    However, I'll save you the trouble, and tell you not
    to bother with this :-) I didn't find the data all
    that impressive looking. It looked pretty random to me.

    Paul
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.1
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx //telnet.RDFIG.NET www. (1:124/5013)