BG> Paul, at 02:02 on Mar 06 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG>> Hey Paul, I really hate to say "I told you so", but...

PE>> You're doing it again, Bill.  Nowhere has the man said that the
PE>> M34F violates the V.34 spec, he's even said he doesn't have a
PE>> copy of it, and to try elsewhere for an answer to the question.

BG> The discussion was about whether or not NetComms are 100% ITU 
BG> V.34-compliant, and as the USR supports MORE of V.34 than the M34F, I have 
BG> my answer.

I doubt any modem is 100% V.34 compliant, Bill. The Courier might come
close, though :)

As you know, the ITU-T only sets recommendations for modulation protocols. 
It's up to modem manufacturers to interpret and apply the feature set(s)
associated with said protocol(s) on the basis of modem design criteria and
developmental costs. Given that USR spends more on R&D in its top-end
modem designs, one would expect that their modems would be more protocol
"compliant" instead of protocol "compatible". The
latter is open to some quite diverse interpretation - re: The Netcomm M7F
series 3 modem's using BTLZ over MNP as "V.42bis".

Still, I wouldn't trust NetCon implementing any proper protocol compliance
for their modems. Too often, NetCon plays around with their modem's
microcode and don't provide enough CPU grunt for their Datapumps. The
Companys naming nomenclature stinks too - Roadster???, Cooeee???,
Smartmodem V8??? (Not as bad as Intel's but still inconsistent).

Overall I still think Rockwell chipset modems have a lot to live up to -
most of the early/recent V.34/VFC chipset implementations have been riddled
with operational bugs - some which effectively compromise EC performance
over bad lines (eg. the use of 16-State/4-Dimensional Trellis Coding
instead of the more widely accepted 64S/4D pattern).  

And yes, I'm not a great fan of NetCon modems - I've been burned four times
with the lack of compliance, poor connectivity, lousy support and inflated
prices (until recently). The only decent NetCon modem I ever owned was an
Automodem 1234a, and even that had its faults - the bloody thing would
regularly overheat to the point of IC's becomming detatched from their
sockets!. The M5 was better, and performed as expected - probably helped
pay for the infamous marble staircase at the North Ryde office  :)

            
John.
@EOT:

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