Text 1871, 151 rader
Skriven 2004-06-12 19:03:40 av Henri Derksen (2:280/1208.1)
   Kommentar till text 1841 av Scott Little (3:712/848)
Ärende: Modem speeds
====================
Hello Scott and others,

In a message on Wed. 09 Jun 2004, 03:03:02,
subject: modem speeds
on area FTSC_Public (FTSC_PUBLIC),
Scott Little wrote to David Drummond:

SL> *  Today, this field carries no relevant information,

I think this bitrate field should be used to show the DTE-speed of the system,
well choosen from the highest possible fixed DTE-speed the uart will accept,
and in combination with the OnLine ErrorCorrection and OnLine DataCompression
flags.
So every connecting system can than understand whay the throughput is so very
low with some systems.
Is it really a bad connection (DCE-modem speed), many errors OnLine, EC/DC led
flashing on your modem (my ZyXEL Elithe 2864L has one ;-).
Or has the system an old uart (only 19200 bps).
Or you can find out that his DTE-speed is thow low.
So when you change your DTE-speed from 19200 bps to 155200 bps, because you now
use a new serial port card with a 16c550an uart, you have to inform your
NodeList clerc too for changing this bitratefield.

SL> *    and is ignored by most software,

That is wrong too, because you can tell your software not to use a fix
DTE-speed and the modem's interspeeder, but to call out with the same DTE and
DCE speeds,
or to change the DTE-speed according to the connection$tring reported by the
modem, when calling or answering.

When a system has a bitrate of 2400 bps in his bitratefield, you are NOT
allowed to make a call at higher speeds. Because when repeated many times, the
called system is unreachable by others. So calling at to high speeds may be
annoying behavior?

SL> *    Values other than 300, 1200, 2400 and 9600 (historically accepted
SL> *    by any program) have to be approved by the ZCC before being used.

Systems with very old software that do not accept fixed DTE-speeds, and/or old
modem(s) witch do not have an interspeeder, can replace higher bitrates to
9600, before installing the new generated nodelist on their system.
It is even possible to automate that for every weeks nodelist.
So prohibiting higher values than 9600 should not be valid anymore I think.

 DD> Speaking of FTSC docs, how is it that the widespread current practice
 DD> of IONs flying PVT in the nodelist isn't documented by the FTSC?

SL> It will be.  There's a few big issues with nodelist practises I want
SL> the ZCs to have a chat about first.  eg:

SL> 1)  000-whatever used by end nodes.
SL> 2)  000-whatever used by special nodes.
SL> 3)  Partial ZMH/flag compliance (eg. not honouring CM with all listed
SL> protocols, or not being online during ZMH with all listed protocols).
SL> 4)  the true status of Pvt (rather than defined as Private, defined as
SL> a node with no PSTN).
SL> 5)  something else I'm forgetting ATM...

Yes, listing ALL modemflags that CAN be used, even if no one is using it at
this moment.
And also correcting the IC from stripping modem flags away in the world's
nodelist, because that is not allowed by him, but is a task of the nodelist
clerc of the geven segment.
I think ALL the Modem Carriers that are possible to use the FTN-protocols must
be mentioned, even if they are not used any more, but are still technically
possible. The minimal number of modemusers is no reason to leave the flag
unmentioned. Suppose someone wants to use it again or tomorrow ;-). It is
"technically" possible, so it must be mentioned in the NodeList epilog and in
the ErrorFlag program.
Suppose someone wants to use it again, then the ZC strips it away, that is s
not fair!
This means the same for all the other Full- and (old) Half-Duplex bitrates:

V17, V19, V21, V23, V26, V26B, V26T, V27, V27B, V27T, V29, V33, V44, V54, etc.

The ZC strips these away too ;-(.

And why not include a modem flag voor FAX usage ?
Because sometimes my system is not connectable for mailers (do not now why),
but FAXes are still accepted at V17, V29, V27T, V21ch2 on my ZyXEL Elite 2864
modem. That is very important to me, as I am DEAF and cannot be called in voice
;-(.
And there are many other FidoNet nodes too wich are connectable for paper FAXes
and FAX-modems and (fax-)software. So why not mention this connection method
too?
If you omit the Fax flag, then you have to omit the InterNet information too,
because that has nothing to do with FidoNet either, ie. ICQ numbers ;-).

The V19 flag could be used for systems with DTMF tone detection on voice
modems; i.e. Press 1 for BBS, press 2 for Fax, press 3 for voice and press 9 to
hang up for example. No key press should give you the mailer if the mailerbyte
is received. Also the Dutch texttelephones for the deaf uses V19 DTMF.

I am also missing the V54 flag for modem testing. That may be very usefull
under error conditions to know if a V54 test would be accepted.
If you get many errors with the BBS/Mailer, then you can try a V54 test.
After that the caller can fax, or voice call the sysop, or send a netmail form
another system.


The last thing I am missing are some *C userflags:

; *** 09.Nov.97 : Removed ZEC as a user-flag

Why? Although there is no ZEC in Zome 2 at the moment, that thus not mean to
remove the flag from the flaglist (i.e. this is a political movement ;-(.
I think it is a job for the FidoNet community to solve this vacature?
And secondly there are more Zones than only Zone 2 ;-).
So the following is relevant too:
USER RC ZC ZEC IC
Why are these omitted in both the NodeList Epilogue and the ErrFlag.zc2 file ?
Because the people witch such a function are still existing, or should be.
Most times the list of *C flags is incomplete, even in the recent FTS-5001 :-(.
For completenes here a full list I hope ?

Mail oriented Node- and Point-List User Flags:

NC        Network Coordinator.
NEC       Network EchoMail coordinator.
RC        Region Coordinator.
REC       Regional EchoMail Coordinator.
ZC        Zone Coordinator.
ZEC       Zone EchoMail Coordinator.
IC        International Coordinator.
NPC       Net Point Coordinator.
RPC       Regional Point Coordinator.
ZPC       Zone Point Coordinator.
NPK       Net Pointlist Keeper.
RPK       Regional Pointlist Keeper.
ZPK       Zone Pointlist Keeper.
SDS       Software Distribution System.
SMH       Secure Mail Hub.


In the NodeList epilog and in the FTS-5001 file the modem carrier flags are not
all mentioned and some incorrectly. I.e. CCITT is changed to ITU-T for a long
time already. Secondly the (high) bitrates are missing with the new flags. Sou
would you please correct this?
See my list to David Drummond.

I hope you appreciate my comments?
Many success and good luck.

Greetings from: |_|     |\
                | |enri |/erksen, SysOp UniCorn BBS, Arnhem NL +31-26 4425506.

                                                             Also for teleFAX.

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 * Origin: Do you see the CONNECTion ? UniCorn BBS (2:280/1208.1)