Re: dial.pm (was: Re: XYWWWEB.U2)

[Robert Holmgren holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to note from xywrite@xxxxxxxx Mon, 15 Feb 1999 02:14:29 -0500

You are correct that DIAL.PM (I assume you're talking about my XyWWWeb
program?) won't work with a Win-Modem. DIAL writes directly to the
COM# port specified in Save/Get 02. Win-Modems are garbage. They
intercept commands to the COM ports. They shift the burden of doing
communications from the modem to the CPU, soaking up about 33% of the
CPU's processing power/time cycles (that's why they're cheap). Last I
knew, they ONLY worked with Win9x (not even with Win-NT). Increasingly,
they're bundled with "systems". It's an issue that many people are
unaware of when they buy a computer. They think they're getting a fast
V90 modem or something; in fact they're getting a lead weight.

What I do is, I use one modem (an external USRobotics Courier) for TCP/IP
(and just stay connected 24 hours a day), and another modem, on a
different COM port, for dialing phone calls and for faxes. Old junker
2400 baud modems won't work for faxes, but they're just great for dialing
out.

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Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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