Hi Rod.

On Tuesday January 30 1996, Rod Speed wrote to John Piper ...

 JP> However, Dynalinks do have a problem recognising the dial tone on the
 JP> Australian PSTN.

 JN> Which is a non-issue to everyone but BBS sysops,

 JP> How do you figure that the modem's inability to recognise the dial
 JP> tone is a sysop-only problem? It affects anyone who uses the modem

 RS> Nope, its almost a complete non issue for normal users. About its
 RS> only marginal value is to give an immediate notification if you
 RS> havent plugged it into the phone line.

I've used a Dynalink as both a user AND a sysop. Yes, countless times I
checked my logs in the morning to discover that my mail event didn't happen
because the modem didn't dial. That was (of course) until I was aware of
the X3 kludge.

 JN> who should be spending more on a modem anyway.

 JP> Not necessarily. Sysops -- ANYONE -- should spend money on the best
 JP> modem for the job, ie, one which performs reliably in their
 JP> environment.

 RS> You havent actually established that this particular dial tone
 RS> detection has anything to do with reliability for normal users.

Was I supposed to? I'm quite sure that normal [sic] users would have just
as much of an expectation of their modem(s) as sysops would. Take the user
who uses a Dynalink for placing regular -- unattended -- fax calls. I'd
imagine
that reliability (in the form of dial tone detection) would be important.

 JP> If there is a higher price to pay, so be it.

 RS> Bit pointless spending much to get dial tone detection for normal users.

Would you recommend a Dynalink to me (as a user, not a sysop) when there a
modems such as the USR Courier around? Dial tone detection wouldn't be the
only factor I would take into consideration when purchasing X-brand modems
over Dynalink brand modems.

Johnno

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