From: martinh@shiva2.cac.washington.edu (Martin Hunt)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Cheap V.32/V.32bis Modems
Date: 15 Apr 92 21:13:17 GMT
Organization: UW Information Systems

In article <397@plus.UUCP>, stuart@procase.uucp (Stuart Balfour) writes:

> Model & Manufacturer  Price  Distributor   Phone         Advertisement   I/E  Other
> --------------------  -----  -----------   -----         -------------   ---  -----
> SupraFax Modem V.32   $235   Ron Kushner   [rkushner@sycom.mi.org]USENET Ext
> SupraFax Modem V.32   $239   Computability 800-558-0003  PS  4/92 p.144  Ext  Fax
> AMT 9632              $265   Treasure Chest800-723-8282  PS  4/92 p.12   Int
> PM9600SA              $266   Comp.Disc.Ware800-829-4239  PM  4/28 p.86   Int
> Infotel V.32          $268   Midwest Micro 800-423-8215  PS  4/92 p.206  Int
> Infotel V.32 Turbo    $269   Midwest Micro 800-423-8215  PS  4/92 p.206  Int  12K
> Lightcom 96           $269   Lightning Comm800-433-4420  CS  4/92 p.178  Int 
> DallasFax 96/96       $278   DallasFax     800-876-8581  PS  4/92 p.208  Int  Fax 
> PM9600SA              $279   Comp.Disc.Ware800-829-4239  PM  4/28 p.86   Ext
> Twincom 96/42         $279   H&J Elec.Intl.800-275-2447  CS  4/92 p.337  Int 
> Infotel V.32          $288   Midwest Micro 800-423-8215  PS  4/92 p.206  Ext
> Zoom V.32             $289   Ralin Whlesale800-752-9512  CS  4/92 p.311   ?   Fax
> 

> Model & Manufacturer  Price  Distributor   Phone        Advertisement    Int Other
> --------------------  -----  -----------   -----        -------------    --- -----
> SupraFax V.32bis      $305   Ron Kushner   [rkushner@sycom.mi.org]USENET Ext  Fax
> SupraFax V.32bis      $309   Computability 800-558-0003 PS  4/92 p.144   Ext  Fax
> Zoom V.32bis          $319   Ralin Whlse.  800-752-9512 CS  4/92 p.311    ?   Fax
> Spirit II             $320   QuickComm     800-551-6166                  Int  Fax
> DallasFax 9696 14.4   $328   DallasFax     800-876-8581 PS  4/92 p.208   Int  Fax
> Compucom Speedster    $329   Compucom      800-748-6840 BT  4/92 p.345   Int  Fax
> Spirit II             $342   QuickComm     800-551-6166                  Ext  Fax
> PM14400FXSA           $359   Comp.Disc.Ware800-829-4239 PM  4/28 p.86    Int  Fax
> DallasFax 9696 14.4   $369   DallasFax     800-876-8581 PS  4/92 p.208   Ext  Fax
> PM14400FXSA           $396   Comp.Disc.Ware800-829-4239 PM  4/92 p.86    Ext  Fax
> Twincom 1440F         $399   Twincom       800-275-2447 CS  4/92 p.337   Ext  Fax
> 9696 PF               $399   MET, Inc.     800-766-7466 PS  4/92 p.556   Ext  Fax
> 

Looks like the average price of a V.32 is around $250 and V.32bis is around $350.

> 
> While 14.4K is on paper 50% faster than a 9600 bps modem, in practice this is
> not achieved. 

Obviously, 14400 = 9600+4800.  So a V.32bis modem is exactly 50% faster. This is
also exactly what I see in practice.  When transferring a compressed file, my
transfers are 50% faster when using V32bis instead of V32.

> Here are some speeds for V.32 and V.32bis file transfers for some
> typical file types in bps (V.42 LAP-M and V.42bis enabled):
> 
> 
>            file        V.32      V.32bis
>            ----        ----      -------  
>            dbase        24K        24K
>            TIFF         24K        24K
>            text         16K        22K
>            binary       13K        18K
>            ZIP           8K        10K

What are these numbers???

> 
> 
> An "average" speed advantage for V.32bis given the spread above is meaningless.
> But it is clear that a 50% improvement is approached only under specific condi-
> tions.  The ZIP file case is particularly instructive, because the ZIP compres-
> sion is LZW based, as is V.42bis, and therefore no hardware compression is 
> being effected.  The transfer rates are thus a reflection of modulation proto-
> col speed.  (TIFF files are an uncompressed graphics format - you'll get re-
> sults more like those for ZIP files with GIF, JPG and other highly encoded
> graphics formats, for those of you who download from BBS's). 

Maybe your computer is just too slow to keep up with V32bis.  What DTE speed
are you using?  What about handshaking?
 
> V.32bis is at
> least 50% more expensive than V.32, and only 0-25% faster, except in a few
> cases.

Actually, V32bis is almost always 50% faster and costs less than 50% more.
The only time I have seen V32bis less than 50% faster is when I am talking
to a very slow system.

> 
> V.32bis is under tremendous price pressure right now, having fallen from the
> $700-1000 price range to the $400-500 price range in the last 6-9 months, and
> prices will fall further to fill the gap left by cheap (<$250) V.32 modems. 
> 
>                                                             Stuart Balfour
>                                                             Software Engineering
>                                                             ProCASE Corp.
>                                                             Santa Clara, CA

-- 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin Hunt                            martinh@cac.washington.edu   
Networks and Distributed Computing     University of Washington