USR X2 Modems . Do they Work??? Or just hype.

[John Navas]

[POSTED TO comp.dcom.modems]
Marc Levesque <lev...@mlink.net> wrote:

>Ricky Beam - Interpath wrote:
>>
>> Marc Levesque <levesq...@sympatico.ca> writes:
>> > I own an internal USR Sportster 56kx2. I also have two Internet
>> >providers. On the first, on a 28,8k connect, I have between 3,0 and
>> >3,4K/sec on a d/l. On the second provider, a 56k x2 connection, for the
>> >same file, same length and same d/l site, I have rate of between 0,6 and
>> >1,4K/sec. It sucks..... So far, let's say I'm not satisfied with the
>> >product. I did all their test (line testing), d/l'ed their comm drivers
>> >for Win95.....but it still sucks...
>>
>> First off, I'd have to say your phone line is crap. As you have an internal
>> modem, there's no telling what all is going on...
>>
>> --Ricky
>
>Second off, the linetest util from USR tell me that my phone line is
>allright.

That's only a guess. What matters is what an x2 product can actually do.

>Third off, how come I can have a 49333 connection!

If you are simply looking at the reported connect speeds, those numbers
won't necessarily be dependable or even comparable, since modems can
(and often do) speed shift up and down after the initial connection in a
manner dependent on the particular connection as well as the particular
equipment (including firmware versions) at each end. See my FAQ at
<http://www.aimnet.com/~jnavas/modem/faq.html#Connect28800>. Your 49333
connection may well be speed shifting down to a much lower value. (Under
certain conditions I've seen fallbacks all the way down to 33333.)

In any event, all that really matters is net data throughput. Your very
low throughput (less than V.34) suggests that you have some sort of
serious problem. It might be downshifting, the Win95 TCP/IP bug
<http://www.aimnet.com/~jnavas/modem/faq_a.htm#HalfSpeed>, high bler rate
or retraining, or it could just be an overloaded provider.

>Fourth off, received an email from my server today, they have a problem
>with the x2 phone line and will upgrade their equipments this month. So
>even though I own an internal......

This probably won't help -- generally speaking, the provider's x2 phone
line either works or it doesn't (and in your case it's working). If the
problem is at your provider, it's probably somewhere else (e.g., an
overloaded connection to the Internet backbone).

p.s. Please help stop the massive inappropriate cross-posting of this
thread!
--
Best regards,
John mailto:JNa...@NavasGrp.Dublin.CA.US http://www.aimnet.com/~jnavas/
28800-56K Modem FAQ: http://www.aimnet.com/~jnavas/modem/faq.html