TIP: Click on subject to list as thread! ANSI
echo: aust_modem
to: Russell Brooks
from: Alex Mcconnell
date: 1997-01-18 22:45:00
subject: modems for a BBS

Hi Russell,

 GC>> I'm not rich  :)  So I can't go out and get top of the range, what I'm
 GC>> after is modems around $200-$300 (or less). 33600
 GC>> And from the advice from other sysops, I should only get External.
 
 AM> Yes, external is HEAPS better, you can see what's going on.

 RB> If you get a quality modem. There is NO NEED to "SEE WHATS
GOING ON"
 RB> They work everytime...all the time.

What's a quality modem? They all use the same chipset, bar the Courier and
he said he wanted something cheaper anyway.
That's not true, even the best of modems drop out. You can see when it's
dialling like I need to because I have to turn the speaker off. Windows
might crash and you'd be stuck online wasting valuable internet time and never
know it, if you set AT&D0.

 RB> It is only when the junk modem or idiot user at the other end does
 RB> something to cause the BBS modem to need a reset that an external is
 RB> better....as the Sysop can just turn the modem off and on again to
 RB> reset it, where as with an internal BBS modem the sysop has to turn the
 RB> computer power off and on again to reset the modem.
 
Maybe the sysop is inexperienced?
And there are plenty of idiot users out there, they might drop carrier for
some strange reason and crash the BBS.

 GC>> What I'd like to know is, can anyone recommend good modems around that
 GC>> price, that would suit my needs....   I have the prices of plenty of
 GC>> modems ranging from $155 up to $999, but I would really have a clue how
 GC>> they actually perform...

 RB> You have to spend some real money and try lots of modems yourself in
 RB> YOUR conditions...no one recommending a modem that works great for them
 RB> can be sure 
 RB> it will work for you in your conditions
 
What have you got?

 AM> Arrrgghhh. My friend just got a KTX 33.6, it's a real arse. Whether it 
 AM> effects
 AM> you or not is a different matter altogether. The mention of "Full Hayes 

 RB> So its not the modem then... it is either the operator or the PSTN
 RB> (your particular conditions)

It is the modem. He's used his modem at my place and the BBS we called has
consistently good lines, his KTX couldn't even connect.
 
 AM> AT
 AM> command set" is complete bull. AT+MS modulation didn't work, the NVRAM 
 AM> listing
 AM> command doesn't work. Can't even set it in the synchronization! I had to
 AM> write him a string so we could play Doom because NONE of the ones in the 
 AM> game
 AM> worked. It wouldn't negotiate a carrier properly to a BBS I always 
 AM> connect to
 AM> flawlessly with my Roadster, yes it's me, hi Glen, bad luck about the 
 RB> 
 RB> You said it..."It's me,"

So what? That's because I tried to help a few times with the Roadster.

 RB> "Smartmodem" 's still need smart operators the modem
won't do the work
 RB> for you.

Did you read this message thoroughly? This person and a lot of others had
problems with the Roadster. I've been told that the Smartmodem is the better
buy of the Netcomm bunch.

 RB> And a smart operator doesn't buy cheap junk and expect million dollar
 RB> performance

It's not me that's buying the cheap modems and trying to run a BBS, that's
Glen. Talk to HIM about his choice of modems Russell. 
I don't think he was expecting a million dollar performance. I don't run a
damn BBS anyway so I don't care whether Roadsters are bad for BBS's or not.

 AM> 2650cps on a 28.8K connect, and we are just 900 metres away from each 
 AM> other
 AM> with the terminal in between, so I cannot recommend a KTX to you.

 RB> Are you saying your houses are 900metres apart and you can see your
 RB> exchange building from both your houses...

I know where my exchange is. And I've seen it.

 RB> Or are you saying that just your houses are 900m apart (the exchange
 RB> could still be 5km of copper down the road (as it is with me) so there
 RB> is actually 10km of copper between you and your mates modem).

Nope. It's 600m to the exchange from my place, then 300m to his place from
the exchange.

 RB> If you are just 900m apart dump the modems and get some thin eternet
 RB> cable and a couple of ne2000 BNC lan cards and network your machines
 RB> together.

That's completely ridiculous. It'd be cheaper to buy two modems than run
a BNC cable 900m.

 RB> Your problem is TELSTRA

Oh good, we agree on something. Are you a KTX owner are you? Perhaps my mate
just got a dud modem, but I thought the command set was poor.

Alex
... Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (S)lap nearest innocent bystander.
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

---
* Origin: Cloud Nine BBS, +61-3-9886-5195, Melbourne, Australia (3:632/552)
SEEN-BY: 3/103 50/99 54/99 620/243 621/505 623/630 625/160 632/50 107 108 158
SEEN-BY: 632/309 348 353 360 371 373 525 553 561 562 601 633/374 634/382
SEEN-BY: 635/301 506 544 728 638/102 639/252 640/820 711/401 413 430 808 934
SEEN-BY: 712/311 407 505 506 517 623 624 628 704 841 888 713/317 714/906
SEEN-BY: 772/20 800/1
@PATH: 632/552 371 107 360 50/99 712/624 711/934

SOURCE: echomail via fidonet.ozzmosis.com

Email questions or comments to sysop@ipingthereforeiam.com
All parts of this website painstakingly hand-crafted in the U.S.A.!
IPTIA BBS/MUD/Terminal/Game Server List, © 2025 IPTIA Consulting™.