From: rlm@mcgort.com (Robert McMillin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: PPI Modem IS REALLLLLLLY BAD!!!@%!@%!@
Keywords: aargh PPI bug poor lines
Date: Sun, 27 Dec 92 23:14:16 PST
Distribution: li
Organization: Private Beta Site Research, Garden Grove, Calfornia

kc@netcom.com (Dameon D. Welch) writes:

> In article <qL3DwB2w164w@mcgort.COM> rlm@mcgort.COM (Robert McMillin) writes:
> >birchall@pilot.njin.net (Shag) writes:
> >
> >> spyder@admiral.uucp (Eric) writes:
> >> 
> >> >I have a PM14400FXSA, and the modem has got to be the worst modem on the
> >> >market.  I have had nothing but problems with it, and I practically have
> >> >to baby-sit it, since it is so bad.  The modem can't handshake correctly
> >> >on the first try to anywhere, and it can't upload either without the 
> >> >transfer being aborted, which makes some of the users on my system get
> >> >their transfers shot.  Anyway, there is no hope for a product with 
> >> >quality as cheap as this.  
> >> 
> >> Since this is "Spyder"'s second post ragging on PPI, I should note that,
> >> as PPI's tech folk say, the modem does work just fine for "other people."
> >> I have had my PM14400FXSA since early June, at a point when most people
> >> thought it was still vaporware.  I have not had a single problem with it
> >> that wasn't fixed by a ROM upgrade early this fall.
> >
> >Yes, PPI ROM upgrades did fix some of the problems.  However, I agree with
> >"Spyder" inasmuch as PPI modems are second rate where it comes to dealing
> >with marginally noisy lines -- which I have in my house and cannot convince
> >Pac*Hell to fix.  You can't hear noise on voice calls, so the assumption
>                                                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >is that the problem is in my equipment, which is in fact the case.
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> How do you know that this is the case? Have you tried other brands of
> modems at your house as well? Some places simply don't have the proper
> phone lines installed (there were some problems up at UCSC with their
> dialin modems, which was eventually traced to the use of non-spec
> phone lines, or something of the sort).
> 
> As far as marginal lines go, my PPI does reasonably well on marginal
> lines. And MacUser recommended this modem for the same reason --
> because it performs well on marginal lines (as well as the Supra). 
> 
> >I still cannot successfully call the Telebit T2500's at work at any speed
> >greater than the v.32 fallback speed of 4800 from my house; the same call
> >through the lines at work (through the company PBX and through Pac*Hell's
> >lines) goes through without a peep.
> 
> This leads me to think that the problem is in your phone lines into
> your home, if it works fine everywhere else. But unless you can verify
> that it *is* the modem (ie, try other modems on that line), don't
> blame the PPI modem.

Sorry that I didn't detail all my experiences and experiments; I did
indeed try a T2500 from my home, and had absolutely no trouble connecting
to the T2500 at work.  The PPI PM14400FXSA modem just has a bad time
with the T2500 over my home lines, and that's all there is to it.  I
tried the same setup (PPI to T2500) at a friend's house with cleaner
lines, and it worked great.  (I think that the v.whatever implementation
on the Telebits may be a bit weak, as I have had problems with this
on older modems as well -- things like carrier dropping for no reason
(yes, I know enough to silence Call Waiting), and others.  Specifically,
I was using a Zoom v.42bis/2400 bps modem, which worked as long as I
forced 2400 mode on the Telebit side, or forced the Zoom to wait for
carrier AFTER the Telebit had gone through its PEP hunt sequence.)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems