On Feb 03, 1996 at 20:09, Paul Edwards of 3:711/934.9 wrote:

 db>> Considering it was Bankstown(NSW)-to-Ascot(QLD) via Optus, and mine's
 db>> the heap o' shit NetComm Bill lurves so much, I figure we did pretty
 db>> well.  And I'm using IBM's COM.SYS, not SIO.SYS.
 PE>
 PE> My complaint is about the connect speed, not the CPS.

So is my comment above.  At $799 (saw a magazine ad the other day), I'm not
interested in a USR Courier V.34+ when my M34F only cost me $649 brand new
(no sysop deals, either) last year.  I was thinking of a ZyXEL at one
stage, as they seemed to be "the next big thing" ready to topple
USR - especially amongst European users.

Then suddenly their popularity seemed to drop, and I haven't seen/heard of
'em much in ages.  Oh well, buggy as it may be, my M34F works (xfers data)
and as has already been stated, I can wander over to their HQ and give 'em
hell (and marvel at their wonderful staircase) if necessary.

Give it time, ISDN/B-ISDN/ATM will replace these old PSTN modems anyway. 
Most (all?) modern UNIX/RISC workstations come with ISDN ports or options
these days, and apparently PCI-based ISDN and ATM cards are also available
for PCs (notice that ZOC for OS/2 has an ISDN option?).

The PSTN is ancient technology and is slowly being replaced .. even the
major lines into the University's PABX are now all ISDN from the local
exchange.  Look in the Fidonet nodelist - notice how some nodes are now
marked "ISDN"?

Raw digital 64Kbps (or higher) shits all over 33.6Kbps via the PSTN any day.  ;-)

    - dave
    d.begley{at}ieee.org

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