Knowing the modem, your passport to Cyberspace<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Over the last year or more, hardly a single day
\nhas passed on which I have not come across an article about the
\nInternet. People write and talk about the Internet everywhere, in
\nmagazines, in newspapers, on TV and radio talk shows, in
\nseminars, at computer exhibitions, you name it.<\/p>\n
Recently, the United States Information Service in Jakarta and
\nthe American Cultural Center held a live WorldNet interview on
\nthe Internet. Furthermore, stacks of books containing Internet
\nmanuals and guides can be found on the shelves in computer
\nstores. The Internet has become perhaps the most publicized topic
\nin the history of mankind.<\/p>\n
The reason I'm still hesitating to get on the Internet,
\nthough, is the potential expense that the local telephone usage
\nmay accrue. In addition, I don't think I can afford the time to
\nexplore such a tempting territory, at least for the time being.
\nNevertheless, a lot of people have come and asked me what they
\nneed to get on the Net. Of course I tell them that the first
\nthing they need is a good modem for their PC or Mac.<\/p>\n
In this article, I'd like to share with those of you who
\nhaven't yet got themselves a modem some of the basic features
\nthat they should consider in choosing one, as there are at
\npresent literally hundreds of modem models on the market.<\/p>\n
In countries and places where Integrated Services Digital
\nNetwork is already available, the telephone line is digital. If
\nyour office has a digital PABX and digital internal phone system,
\nthe telephone line that connects to the telephone set on your
\ndesk may be digital as well. But for the rest of us, the
\ntelephone line here in Indonesia is still analog.<\/p>\n
The computer, on the other hand, uses digital signals. They
\nprocess and transmit data that is represented by ones and zeros.
\nTherefore, to connect two computers via the telephone line, we
\nneed a pair of boxes that convert digital signals to analog and
\nvice versa. We call these boxes the modems -- which stands for
\nModulation Demodulation. IndoInternet and RadNet, two Internet
\naccess providers for Jakarta, have modems attached to their
\ncomputer. Thus, we also need a modem on our end of the telephone
\nline if we want to access Internet using their service.<\/p>\n
There are basically two types of modems: internal and
\nexternal. The internal modem is a card that you insert into an
\navailable slot in your PC, Mac or notebook. The good things about
\ninternal modems are many: First, they are cheaper than external
\nmodems. Second, they do not require a separate power supply.
\nThird, if your serial port doesn't have the fast 16550 UART, the
\ninternal modem can overcome this problem easily and give you the
\nhighest speed (more on this later).<\/p>\n
The down sides are, first, if you happen to have more than one
\nPC or Mac, you cannot easily move your modem from one computer to
\nanother, as taking out and installing internal modems would mean
\nopening the computer case. Second, you wouldn't be able to really
\ncheck what is going on in your on-line connection, as there is no
\nLED or LCD display for internal modems.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, external modems cost more and they require
\ntheir own power supply -- usually from a power adapter. The good
\nthings about external modems are that they are easy to move
\naround from one PC to another, and they also have LEDs or even an
\nLCD panel that tells you in plain English what is taking place.
\nIn other words, you'll be able to see at which speed the
\ntransmission is taking place.<\/p>\n
One type of internal modem that is closer in convenience to
\nthe external ones is the PCMCIA modem. As the name tells you,
\nthis one is a PCMCIA fax\/modem card that you can easily insert
\ninto the PCMCIA slot of your notebook. It shares the
\ntransportability of external modems, but it doesn't give you the
\nread-out capability of external modems. If both your desktop PC
\nand notebook have a PCMCIA drive, your most cost-efficient choice
\nis of course the PCMCIA type.<\/p>\n
What to look for<\/p>\n
Price is always a significant factor to consider. Modem prices
\nrange from Rp 100,000 to Rp 2 million and beyond. As you would
\nnaturally expect, the more expensive a modem is, the more
\nfeatures it has.<\/p>\n
Speed is one factor that distinguishes one class of modem from
\nanother. In 1992, the standard maximum speed was 9,600 bit per
\nsecond (bps). It has jumped to 28,800 bps (28.8 kbps) this year.
\nNeedless to say, we want to use the fastest modem that we can
\nbuy, as it will give us better response and shorter log-in time
\n-- which will lead to lower bills at the end of the month.<\/p>\n
This brings us to at least four different types of modems --
\ndepending on which standard protocols they comply with. We have,
\nat the highest end of the hierarchy, the newly set V.34 class
\nmodems, the maximum speed of which is 28.8 Kbps. Below that, we
\nhave the V.32Terbo, which is capable of 19.2 Kbps transmission
\nspeed. Below the V.32Terbo, we have the V.32bis modems, which are
\ncapable of transmitting at the 14.4 Kbps rate. At the low end, we
\nhave the V.32 modems, which can ship files across the phone lines
\nat the maximum speed of 9,600 bps. What do these speed ratings
\ntranslate into? If you need to transfer a 5 MB file, the V.34 can
\ncomplete the task in less than eight minutes. The V.32Terbo can
\nfinish the job in 11.38 minutes, the V.32bis in 15.17 minutes and
\nthe V.32 in 22.76 minutes. If you know what a pulse (two minutes)
\ncosts, you can now calculate the amount of savings you can get by
\nbuying a faster modem over a one year period.<\/p>\n
Modems are backward compatible, which means that faster modems
\ncan always work with slower ones. Keep in mind, though, that high
\nspeed capability will mean nothing if the phone line is noisy.
\nUnfortunately, having a noisy phone connection is the rule rather
\nthan the exception in Indonesia -- unless you're connected via
\nthe Palapa satellites. Given this fact, perhaps it's overkill to
\nbuy the fastest modem on the market today, the V.34.<\/p>\n
Many high-end modems also use the V.Fast Class (V.FC)
\nprotocol, which is not exactly an official standard. However,
\nthere is a huge base of V.FC modems out there already, so, in
\ncase you still decide to buy a high-end V.34 modem, you'd better
\nmake sure that it also has V.FC capability.<\/p>\n
The serial port that connects an external modem to the PC can
\nbecome a bottleneck that limits the speed of transmission. If
\nyour PC has been around for a couple of years, chances are that
\nit has the older, 8259A or 16450 based serial port. This
\ncommunication port -- usually called COM port, for short -- only
\nhas a one bit buffer. Therefore, it can easily lead to data
\noverrun. For higher speeds, you will need the new 16550 Universal
\nAsynchronous Receive and Transmit. You can check your PC to see
\nwhich UART it has by running Microsoft Diagnostics utility (type
\nin MSD at the C: prompt and hit ENTER). If the utility tells you
\nthat it still has the old 8520A or 16450, your best solution is
\nto buy a new I\/O card with the 16550 chip. If your motherboard
\nhas a built in COM port -- and most current motherboards do --
\nyou will have to disable it -- usually by changing dip switches
\nor CMOS settings.<\/p>\n
Internet is not the only reason why you should also consider
\nadding a modem to your system. In the era where telework is an
\noption we should seriously consider, a modem is like the car that
\nyou use to commute. In addition, almost all current modems have
\nfaxing capabilities, so that you can fax documents directly from
\nyour desktop PC or notebook. In other word, you no longer have to
\nprint your document, go to your stand-alone fax machines, dial
\nthe number of your recipient, and feed the printed pages.<\/p>\n
The way the PC-based fax works is like this: You print your
\ndocument into the fax driver instead of into the printer. This
\nwill then invoke the fax utility, and you type in the recipient's
\nfax number, and a click on the OK button will send the fax across
\nthe telephone network -- possibly to the other end of the globe.<\/p>\n
Given the quality of the telephone lines in Indonesia, I guess
\nwe can safely say that we don't need the V.34 modem just yet. The
\nV.32 is adequate for most purposes, until PT Telkom successfully
\nimproves our public telephone networks.<\/p>\n
However, one excellent feature of the V.34 modem is that, when
\nconnected to another V.34 modem, it will always conduct line
\nprobing and adjust transmission speed dynamically. This may make
\nit worth the extra cost.<\/p>\n
By the way, I've also seen at least one model of fax, AcerFax
\nF-26, which has a built-in modem capability. It's a neat
\nperipheral for your PC, if your requirements are not heavy.
\nAcerFax F-26 can function as a scanner, a copier, and a stand-
\nalone fax machine in addition to being a modem, and the price is
\nvery reasonable.<\/p>\n
The next time around, we will have a look at a very expensive
\nfax\/modem from Hayes, the pioneer in modem technology, to see
\nwhat other features to consider when buying a new high-end modem.<\/p>",
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