BG> Something is VERY wrong at your end, Paul.

PE> Yeah, I'm running a courier.

BG> Piss it off then.  You've already made up your mind anyway.

BG> Doesn't matter what you get, you'll find fault with it.  I guarantee it.

The last thing you guaranteed was that I wouldn't be disappointed
if I got a Courier.  Now look, after having badgered me to get a
Courier for the last x months, the first sign of 10 problems, and
he's folding like a deck of cards!  I could still get a Courier
you know Bill.  Depends how much you REALLY want me to get one.
You'd have to go close to solving all 10 problems in 3 weeks for
me to be happy about forking out the extra dough.  Otherwise,
trusty Spirit, back online!

PE> # 26 Jan 22:19:29.40   CONNECT 28800/ARQ/V34/LAPM/V42BIS

BG> OK so far.

PE> Except I wanted 33600 anyway.

BG> Tough.  Either yours or Dave's lines wouldn't allow it.  You've had a 33600 
BG> connect with Dave, so you know it ain't the modem at fault.

That's like saying that Bob never has any problems calling my
Spirit, so it ain't the Spirit's fault.  Pity you never saw that
as a possibility.

PE> # 26 Jan 22:27:56.69   Modulation    V.34+

BG> Seems you did get Dave's Courier after all.

PE> Hmmm, didn't know that you could tell from that.

BG> Que?  What other brand of modem supports V.34+ Paul?  Enlighten me.

I thought that would be a report of what my modem was trying for,
not necessarily what the link was connected at.  It was a 28800
connect and all.  It was just a comment anyway, anyone would 
think that I had just reported 10 problems with the world's only
faultless modem.

PE> # 26 Jan 22:27:56.72   Carrier Freq (Hz)        44672/44672
PE> # 26 Jan 22:27:56.72   Symbol Rate              48905/48905

BG> Those figures are complete bullshit.  ISDN lines perhaps?  :)

PE> Don't ask me.

BG> That was sarcasm Paul.  The figures above have been exaggerated by a factor 
BG> of 10 or more.  IOW, they're bullshit.

That's the 10th bug then.  Sorry, I didn't know enough to
be able to recognize that as a bug.

PE> # 26 Jan 22:27:56.87   Roundtrip Delay (msec)   0

BG> That's bullshit too.  0mS delay is impossible.

PE> I've been told by a reliable source that nothing is impossible
PE> if you put enough money into it.  In this case, $600 to beat
PE> the speed of light would seem reasonable.

BG> The point is that those stats were completely fucked.

So is my reliable source in fact!

PE> # 26 Jan 22:27:57.28   Speed  21600/2400

BG> The first figure is your receive rate, the other is sending speed.  Given 
BG> the rest of your stats, I wouldn't believe any of it, especially with the 
BG> cps rates you achieved, which were quite normal for a 28k8 connect.

PE> The modem is a heap of shit.

BG> Fine, if that's your scientifically concluded opinion, so be it.  The other 

Not even an opinion.  It's a scientific fact when I watch the
expert's response to 10 bugs.

BG> couple of million Courier owners won't mind at all what you think.  I know 

Just like all the Maestro owners, and the Spirit owners.  Come
to think of it, all the other modem owners.  Your point?

BG> I don't.  Get a Rockwell V.34 then, and put up with the manner in which 
BG> they cripple V.34 by not following the recommendation to the letter (i.e 
BG> lower symbol rates, different trellis coding etc.).

Keeping a connection instead of dropping it out after an hour,
auto-baud-rate detecting, not asking for retrains, etc etc,
yeah, I know what you mean.

PE> The modem is a heap of shit.

BG> Then why not buy an Interlink instead?  Or another S2?  ROFL!

Certainly had better performance out of the S2.  ROFL indeed!

PE> To solve which problem do you want me to change my mode command?

BG> I wanted to make sure that you had its parameters set correctly.

BG> Something else I'd be checking is your serial I/O card, just in case the 
BG> storm damaged it somehow when it took out your Spirit.

PE> Again, the connects I have, even with you, prove that my serial
PE> card is working.  My serial card doesn't care what is happening
PE> between your modem and my modem, or Dave's modem and my modem,
PE> or Frank's modem and my modem.  Only the modem cares.

BG> You appear to know very little about intermittent electronic faults then.  

I do know a fair bit about deciding which bit affects modem
negotiation and which bit doesn't.

BG> It's not inconceivable that the card HAS been damaged, although I doubt it.  

It's very conceivable, I have no problem with that.  However,
trying to blame my serial card for modem negotiation failures
is like believing in god.

BG> I'm more concerned that people like Frank can connect fine 3 times out of 
BG> 5.  If the problem was constant, I'd expect him not to connect at all (or 
BG> at least, not at V.32ter).

Just like 90% of your calls to my S2 were successful, yet you
always blamed the S2?  How the man changes his tune so quickly?
The fact that my S2 was able to handle Frank's modem proves that
the problem is fixable on the USR, although that does not
necessarily mean it is the USR that is violating protocol.  However,
the S2, Supra, etc etc are all modems out in the field that I
expect the world's best modem to be able to cope with.  It can't.

BG> that you are experiencing strange problems which nobody else has ever 
BG> reported, and whilst it's not inconceivable that the modem is faulty, the 
BG> fact that the 100s I tested (and used) at CHH lead me to believe that this 
BG> is probably not the case at all.

PE> People should give me modems to test, I'm the only one who tests
PE> them properly.  Actually, I suppose the guy at work did too, and
PE> told me the USRs kept dropping out. 

BG> Oh really?  First I've ever heard of it.  Sure you don't mean the earlier 

Second actually, Paul Markham reported it, the guy at work
reported it.

BG> V.FC Rockwells?  They dropped out all the time.

I'm not talking about getting one of those, though.

PE> Not as thorough as my tests, but I had longer to do mine.  He strongly 
PE> recommended Netcomm.  

BG> Shows you what a complete fuckwit he must be then, doesn't it?  :)

Compared to who?  He tested a variety of modems, with no
pre-conceived ideas of which was best, although I had told
him that the news from the BBS's was that USR Courier was
best, and he agreed he had heard that too, as well as the
Netcomms.  Testing proved otherwise.  In fact, he said that
his results were the same as an article in PC World, which
presumably means that they also had problems with USR, so
there's another one.  Why do you prefer to close your eyes
and shut your ears, Bill?  It doesn't make the TRUTH go
away.

PE> I am getting the feeling that whatever modem I buy, I will get 0
PE> support for it, and I have to stick with it until the next
PE> lightning strike.  Therefore, I have the choice between a Yum Cha
PE> for ~$300, a Netcomm for ~$400 sysop, a USR for ~$600 sysop.  I
PE> am leaning towards the Netcomm at this stage, I know someone who
PE> is using them on their internet service (they are a provider).

BG> Doesn't matter what you get, you'll find fault with it.  I guarantee it.

Yes.  As I said before, if it comes to a choice between a swag
of bugs in a cheap modem and a swag of bugs in an expensive
modem, I'll take the cheap one.

BG> my modem is rock-solid here (as have been the Couriers I've used here as 
BG> well).

PE> Bill, you don't have anything like the variety of schmucks 
PE> dialling you as I do.

BG> No, but DD sure does (and, I imagine, so does Poe).  Can't speak for Poe 

"Sure", "guarantee", "trust",
"imagine".  No dice, Bill.
As Rod just showed, the problem is with DD's modem too.
Same story all over as with the Spirit.  It's not until *I*
see the problem that it gets documented.

BG> with his recent line problems, but David couldn't be happier with his 
BG> Courier.  He also runs OS/2, in case you weren't aware of that.

BG> Sorry, but I simply don't know what else to suggest.

PE> Netcomm or Yum Cha, I have to make a gamble either way, which one?

BG> The cheapest one possible, Paul.  It'll match your personality...

You don't reckon it's worth an extra $100 for both:

1. Local support as opposed to definitely none.
2. Flash rom.
3. This being one of the 2 modems that are supposed to be the
best, at least being in with a chance of this being good?

BFN.  Paul.
@EOT:

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