Re: 56k from USR (fwd)
PortMaster Issues (pm@digicity.net)
Tue, 22 Oct 1996 14:57:13 -0700
>Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 14:56:27 -0700
>To: Jon Lewis <jlewis@inorganic5.fdt.net>
>From: PortMaster Issues <pm@digicity.net>
>Subject: Re: 56k from USR (fwd)
>
>At 01:02 PM 10/22/96 -0400, you wrote:
>>How stable/reliable are they? We went from Sportsters to a Digicom rack
>>unit...and the digicom modems seem to hang almost as often as sportsters.
>>The rack is nearly full now, and it's time to decide what to buy next.
>>Right now, I'm leaning toward MP/16's...but the ISPorte is interesting.
>>Is the db25-rj45 adaptor really required? Capella says so...but I have
>>terminal servers that terminate their ports as rj45 female...so it would
>>be nice to just make the magical rj45-rj45 pinout cable needed and just go
>>straight from the terminal server rj45 to modem rj45.
>
>We've been running them a week. So far the Microcom ISPorte seems fairly
>reliable, although it's too soon to know for sure. I suspect there are a
>few quirks that we're going to learn about a month or so down the road.
>We've noticed that ocassionally it appears that a modem simply won't
communicate
>properly with an incoming call until we reset that modem. I'm suspecting that
>it has something to do with the modem's serial port floating until it answers
>and then locks to DTE speed. Just a haphazard guess based on the docs...I
won't
>know for awhile exactly what causes the problem, assuming there really is one.
>
>As for the db25 - rj45 adapter, you wouldn't need one if you are not connecting
>to a PM. If your hardware already has a rj45 connector, no biggie.
Pinouts for
>the ISPorte modems are in the docs...just make your own cables.
>
>>Do you have to use a stupid Windblows box to manage the thing or is there
>>a usable character mode interface that a linux box could talk to? Can you
>>just treat them like dumb modems and forget about mangement?
>
>We are running the modems without using the management software. With the
>suspected problem mentioned above, we've just done an "attach Sxx" from the
>PortMaster and typed ATZ to reset the modem and gone on about our business.
>
>Although the Microcom ISPorte rack simply provides a 9-pin serial connector
>which runs at 9600 bps, I've not attached regular comm software to the port
>to see what comes out. Unless it's cryptic stuff, I suppose you could figure
>out a way to use a text mode interface.
>
>One nice thing about the software is that it not only shows the connect speed,
>but the line quality (signal to noise ratio), and both the xmit and receive
>level in dbm.
>
>Damien
>