https://wiki.preterhuman.net/index.php?title=Modem_MNP_How-To&feed=atom&action=historyModem MNP How-To - Revision history2024-03-28T13:07:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.0https://wiki.preterhuman.net/index.php?title=Modem_MNP_How-To&diff=31328&oldid=prevNetfreak: Created page with "<pre> ======= PREFACE ======= If you are reading this, you probably have a modem. Your modem may be equipped with MNP error correction/compression protocols (probably MNP 4..."2021-02-15T22:14:43Z<p>Created page with "<pre> ======= PREFACE ======= If you are reading this, you probably have a modem. Your modem may be equipped with MNP error correction/compression protocols (probably MNP 4..."</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div><pre><br />
=======<br />
PREFACE<br />
=======<br />
<br />
If you are reading this, you probably have a modem.<br />
<br />
Your modem may be equipped with MNP error correction/compression protocols<br />
(probably MNP 4 or 5 - will be explained soon).<br />
<br />
MNP can help you work faster. In addition to its error-free connection, it has<br />
features that increase the effective modem speed beyond its rated value.<br />
<br />
If you do have MNP, chances are you are NOT using it correctly - you probably<br />
do not communicate as fast as you can. In other words, you are probably paying<br />
Bezeq more than you should.<br />
<br />
Using MNP correctly requires that you set various options in various locations<br />
(your modem, your communication program and your file transfer protocols).<br />
You must set ALL options correctly to make MNP work. Moreover, your<br />
communicating partner (the BBS) must also set all ITS options correctly. The<br />
defaults that come with your modem and your software do not help - they are<br />
usually wrong.<br />
<br />
This article is intended to help you determine these settings so that you can<br />
utilize your modem to its best.<br />
<br />
The basic idea is very simple. First, you must get your modem to work in its<br />
highest speed (in other words, setup MNP correctly); then you must make sure<br />
that your computer and software do not become a bottleneck and slow the modem<br />
down. This simple idea is not very easy to implement, however, so read<br />
carefully.<br />
<br />
One last remark. There are many brands of MNP modems in the market, and even<br />
more communication programs and file transfer protocols. I cannot cover all<br />
of them. The modem discussion will be based mainly on the Everex EV-941,<br />
which I own and know the best. The software part will discuss Telix, Telemate,<br />
Puma, Bimodem and DSZ. I will mention some other modems and software packages,<br />
but your favorite one may not be among them. READ ANYHOW: if you understand<br />
the basic ideas, you will probably be able to implement them for other<br />
hardware or software items.<br />
<br />
<br />
=================<br />
SOME MODEM BASICS<br />
=================<br />
<br />
So that we can all understand each other, let me draw some basic facts. They<br />
are not necessarily exact, but they are good enough for this discussion. If<br />
you are familiar with these facts, you can skip this and the following<br />
section.<br />
<br />
Let's assume that YOUR computer wants to send some data to MY computer. Here<br />
is what happens:<br />
<br />
Your computer sends the data to its own "Serial Adapter" (or "RS232 card").<br />
It sends the data in parallel - one full byte at a time (all bits together),<br />
along with some control information.<br />
<br />
Your serial adapter converts the data from parallel to serial representation.<br />
In other words, the bits that form the byte (which entered your adapter at the<br />
computer side together) leave it at the connector side one after the other.<br />
The adapter is asynchronous, which means that it adds a "Start" bit, "Stop"<br />
bit(s) and perhaps a parity bit to each sequence of bits that form a byte (I<br />
will not discuss this any further).<br />
<br />
Your Serial adapter narrows the eight-bits-per-byte-plus-control computer data<br />
to a fewer number of lines, but is still creates digital data, which can be<br />
transmitted over special (and short) lines only. This is why your adapter is<br />
connected to a modem. The modem translates the digital data to voices that can<br />
be transmitted over a standard telephone line.<br />
<br />
On the other side of the phone line, my modem listens to the incoming voices,<br />
translates them to serial bits and feeds the bits into my serial adapter. This<br />
adapter converts the sequence of bits into parallel bytes, which are read by<br />
my computer.<br />
<br />
To summarize:<br />
<br />
- Your computer creates parallel bytes;<br />
- Your serial adapter receives parallel bytes and creates serial bits;<br />
- Your modem receives serial bits and creates voices;<br />
- My modem receives voices and creates serial bits;<br />
- My serial adapter receives serial bits and creates parallel bytes;<br />
- My computer receives parallel bytes.<br />
<br />
(By the way, "internal" modems - such as the Everex EV-941 - combine the<br />
serial adapter and the modem into a single card: they receive parallel data<br />
and send voices, and vice versa. This is transparent to the software, since<br />
the single-card modem emulates a serial adapter connected to an external<br />
modem, and there is no difference on either the computer or the telephone line<br />
side).<br />
<br />
<br />
=======================<br />
SOME MORE MODEM DETAILS<br />
=======================<br />
<br />
Let's get closer and examine some points in higher detail.<br />
<br />
Your serial adapter is "Full Duplex", and so is probably your modem. This<br />
means that they can receive and transmit data at the same time (the serial<br />
adapter actually has two physical lines - one for outgoing bits, one for<br />
incoming - as well as some control lines; the modem usually uses two basic<br />
frequencies, one for transmitting and one for receiving).<br />
<br />
Your software, serial adapter and modem must be able to tell when each of them<br />
is ready to communicate. In other words, there must be a standard method of<br />
"Handshaking" between all parties. This is done in several methods. <br />
<br />
First, there are several control lines between the serial adapter and the<br />
modem (these lines can also be set and/or sensed by the software on the<br />
computer side of the serial adapter). Of these control lines I will mention<br />
four:<br />
<br />
- DSR (Data Set Ready) - Modem-to-computer: Used by the modem to tell the<br />
serial adapter and the computer that the modem is ready (but not<br />
necessarily able to receive new data).<br />
<br />
- CTS (Clear To Send) - Modem-to-computer: Used by the modem to tell the<br />
serial adapter and the computer that the modem is able to receive new<br />
data.<br />
<br />
- DTR (Data Terminal Ready) - Computer-to-modem: Used by the serial<br />
adapter to tell the modem that the adapter (and computer) is ready (but<br />
not necessarily able to receive new data).<br />
<br />
- RTS (Request To Send) - Computer-to-modem: Used by the serial adapter <br />
to tell the modem that the adapter (and computer) is able to receive new<br />
data. <br />
<br />
Not all four lines are used by all modems, but MNP modems usually use all<br />
four, as I'll explain later.<br />
<br />
There is an alternate way of handshaking between the communicating parties.<br />
Instead of relying on extra hardware lines, this method uses special ASCII<br />
values that are sent as standard data but have a unique meaning. These values<br />
are usually XON (hex 11), which means "start", and XOFF (hex 13), which means<br />
"stop". Using XON/XOFF has several disadvantages: it slows down the<br />
transmission (because handshaking comes in sequence rather than in parallel<br />
with the data), and more important - the XON/XOFF characters, being used for<br />
handshaking, are "swallowed" and cannot be transmitted as part of the normal<br />
data.<br />
<br />
One more thing you should know about modems is that they usually work in two<br />
modes. In normal mode, everything you send to the modem is transmitted over<br />
the phone to the other partner. The modem may also operate in "Command" mode;<br />
in this case, the data you send to the modem is interpreted as modem commands<br />
(the switch between normal and command mode will not be explained here, since<br />
it is usually done for you by your communication program). Most modems use the<br />
Hayes command language, in which all commands start with the characters "AT".<br />
The Hayes language is not uniform - every manufacturer has its own implement-<br />
ation of the language, particularly for such exotic things as MNP control,<br />
which is what this document is all about. I cannot therefore give exact rules<br />
that match all modems, and you will have to figure out your own commands if<br />
your modem is different than mine.<br />
<br />
<br />
====================<br />
COMMUNICATION SPEEDS<br />
====================<br />
<br />
I said "communication speeds" and not "communication speed" on purpose. Each<br />
modem has a rated maximum speed. This is somewhat misleading, because there<br />
are several speeds involved, and the final communication speed depends on<br />
more than one factor.<br />
<br />
The modem speed itself is measured in Bits Per Second, or BPS. This is the<br />
number of bits per second sent or received by the modem over the telephone<br />
line. The most common speed today is 2400 BPS (1200 is used by older or<br />
cheaper modems, while 9600 is becoming quite common).<br />
<br />
(You may also hear the term "modem Baud rate". IGNORE IT. This measures the<br />
number of modem status changes per second. 2400 BPS modems have usually a<br />
Baud rate of only 600, and use special techniques such as frequency shifting<br />
to squeeze in more bits per change in status).<br />
<br />
The modem speed (BPS) refers to the PHONE side of the modem. The speed on the<br />
other side, between the modem and the computer, is not necessarily the same.<br />
MNP modems are usually capable of talking to the computer faster than they<br />
talk between themselves; we'll soon see why this is necessary.<br />
<br />
When the modem-to-computer and modem-to-modem speeds are different, some<br />
handshaking techniques (explained above) must be used to ensure that the<br />
computer does not "overrun" the modem beyond its actual capabilities and vice<br />
versa.<br />
<br />
To complicate things a little more, the BPS speed measures the actual number<br />
of bits that flow between modems. MNP effective transfer rate can be faster,<br />
because less bits are needed to transmit the same amount of data.<br />
<br />
There is one thing you must remember. THE ACTUAL TRANSMISSION SPEED IS THE<br />
SPEED OF THE SLOWEST COMMUNICATING PARTNER. If your modem can talk 2400 and<br />
my can talk 1200, the actual speed will be 1200: this is straightforward. What<br />
is less obvious is that if your modem can talk to my modem at an effective<br />
speed of 3000 (actually 2400 enhanced by MNP) but your (or my) computer-to-<br />
modem speed is fixed at 2400, the final speed will only be 2400 - and neither<br />
of us may be aware of it.<br />
<br />
Communication is a two-partners game. You may set all your speeds correctly<br />
on your side, but this is not good enough. I must set my speeds right as well.<br />
SYSOPS PAY ATTENTION: There is a whole world out there waiting for you to<br />
setup your communication parameters correctly!<br />
<br />
<br />
===============<br />
SOME MNP BASICS<br />
===============<br />
<br />
MNP, or Microcom Networking Protocol (today supported by many more brands<br />
beside Microcom), was originally intended to ensure error-free communication<br />
between modems regardless of phone line conditions. MNP is divided into<br />
classes. In the first (and earliest) classes, the error-free communication was<br />
obtained at a price of reducing the effective speed (which is quite obvious<br />
if you think about it). Newer classes use special techniques that result in<br />
error-free data transfer while actually INCREASING the communication speed<br />
(moderately to considerably).<br />
<br />
MNP classes 1 and 2 reduce the transfer speed, and are not worth discussing.<br />
<br />
MNP class 3 is the first class that resulted in an increased transfer rate.<br />
This was done by communicating between the modems using SYNCHRONOUS "packets"<br />
without start and stop bits, although the data transfer on the other side of<br />
the modems (between the modems and the computer) is still synchronous. There<br />
is still some overhead involved, so the effective transfer rate of MNP 3 is<br />
about 108%, or up to 260 bytes per second for an 2400 BPS modem, compared to<br />
240 bytes for non-MNP (assuming 1 start bit, 1 stop bit and no parity). These<br />
speeds, by the way, are ideal and are never reached because of other limiting<br />
factors, but you can get quite close.<br />
<br />
MNP class 4 uses synchronous packets as well, and optimizes these packets by<br />
eliminating unnecessary data and adjusting to line conditions. The effective<br />
transfer rate of MNP 4 is up to 120%, or about 260 bytes per second for 2400<br />
(assuming there are not too many errors - remember that the communication is<br />
supposed to be error-free as well as faster).<br />
<br />
MNP class 5 adds data compression to MNP 4. A real-time adaptive compression<br />
algorithm is used, which means that the modem adjust the algorithm all the<br />
time to match the data being transferred. Unlike the previous classes, which<br />
provide a constant speed factor, compression depends of course on the data<br />
being transmitted. MNP 5 is considered to have an effective rate of 200%,<br />
which makes a 2400 BPS modem behave like a 4800. <br />
<br />
There is a catch, however. If your modem does mainly file transfers from a<br />
BBS, chances are that you will not gain much by compression (to put it in<br />
other words, if the already-compressed .ZIP or .ICE etc. files in the BBS can<br />
be squeezed any further, the file compression method should probably be<br />
changed!). Some publication suggest that you would be better off WITHOUT data<br />
compression in this case, since compression does have its price, which means<br />
that you should revoke MNP 5 and go back to using MNP 4. My own experience is<br />
that MNP 5 does not harm file transfers that much, and you should probably<br />
keep it on to take care of interactive BBS work, but your case might be<br />
different - feel free to experiment and let me know the results.<br />
<br />
This is as far as I will go. There are several further MNP classes (the latest<br />
one I heard of is MNP 10, which makes a 2400 BPS modem behave like 19200!),<br />
but the idea is the same, and modems above MNP 5 are still not that common.<br />
<br />
One thing I didn't say, but should be obvious, is that MNP is a two-way<br />
business - both communicating modems must use the same MNP level when they<br />
communicate (the modems may negotiate and agree upon a certain level when they<br />
make the first connection).<br />
<br />
<br />
====================================<br />
HOW TO SPEED THINGS UP - BASIC IDEAS<br />
====================================<br />
<br />
Enough with the theory - let's start doing something useful.<br />
<br />
The things you should do to make your communication faster can be summarized<br />
as follows:<br />
<br />
1. PURCHASE AN MNP MODEM (at least MNP 4, probably 5).<br />
<br />
2. PURCHASE A FAST-ENOUGH COMMUNICATION PROGRAM, that will not cause a<br />
bottleneck on your computer (notice that I said "purchase", not "steal"<br />
or "borrow"!).<br />
<br />
3. MAKE YOUR MODEM USE MNP (4 or 5 - as I said, I don't have a good advise<br />
here). This is rather easy, but remember that most MNP modems do NOT use<br />
MNP as a default, so you have to do some manual work.<br />
<br />
4. MAKE YOUR SERIAL ADAPTER TALK TO THE MODEM AT A HIGHER RATE THAN THE<br />
MODEM'S NOMINAL RATE. The manuals suggest 4800 for a 2400 modem; I<br />
myself am more optimistic and use 9600.<br />
<br />
5. MAKE SURE YOUR MODEM STAYS AT THE HIGH MODEM-TO-ADAPTER SPEED and does<br />
not revert to the modem-to-modem nominal speed when the connection is<br />
made.<br />
<br />
6. MAKE SURE YOUR COMMUNICATION PROGRAM STAYS AT THE HIGH SPEED and does<br />
not revert to the modem nominal speed when the connection is made.<br />
<br />
7. USE HARDWARE-LEVEL HANDSHAKING (CTS/RTS) between the modem and your<br />
communication program. Do NOT use XON/XOFF handshaking.<br />
<br />
This is all you have to do, but you must make sure you do EVERYTHING specified<br />
here. If you do a partial job, you'll end up without any gain in speed (the<br />
better case) or with unreadable garbage on your screen (the worse case).<br />
<br />
<br />
============================================<br />
HOW TO SPEED THINGS UP - A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE<br />
============================================<br />
<br />
For the hardware part, let me assume that you have purchased an Everex EV941<br />
modem with MNP 5 (this is NOT a recommendation - there may be better bargains<br />
in the market). I'll also discuss some other modem setup possibilities.<br />
<br />
For the software part, you may use the communication program that comes<br />
bundled with your modem (Everex comes with something called "BitCom"), but<br />
there ARE much better bargains in the market, and some of them are shareware,<br />
so you can experiment and purchase the one you like. I'll mention two:<br />
<br />
- Telix seems like a fairly good choice. It is FAST, not too large, has<br />
built-in ZMODEM and a powerful script language, and is not too annoying<br />
to use.<br />
<br />
- Telemate is considered to be a good choice, since it allows a kind of<br />
multitasking (you can browse a file while you download so you can decide<br />
on-the-fly what to download next). If your computer is slow, Telemate<br />
may not be fast enough and may become a bottleneck (something a<br />
communication software should never be), and it also eats up too much<br />
of your precious RAM, but it is still worth considering.<br />
<br />
I have also experimented with some other packages (including Procomm, Procomm<br />
Plus which is used at my work but is NOT shareware, Boyan, Qmodem and GT1500).<br />
Most of them can be used quite easily with MNP.<br />
<br />
A communication program is not complete without some external file transfer<br />
protocols. There are about a dozen of them around, but I'll discuss only<br />
three: Puma, which is fast and elegant; Bimodem, which is quite amazing (it<br />
is truly full-duplex - allows you to upload and download simultaneously at<br />
full speed, and even chat with your friend at the same time); and DSZ, which<br />
contains several protocols including ZMODEM and is preferred by many users.<br />
<br />
<br />
===========<br />
MODEM SETUP<br />
===========<br />
<br />
In the following lines I'll discuss only those modem settings that are<br />
important for proper MNP operation. There are more options that I will not<br />
mention.<br />
<br />
Commands that have an alphabetic character immediately following the AT code<br />
are usually common among all modems. Commands that start with AT& are less<br />
common, and there are some variations. Commands that start with AT\, AT% or<br />
AT* are unique, and probably have other codes in other modems.<br />
<br />
ATB1 (Mandatory, default). Selects the Bell 212A protocol.<br />
<br />
ATE1 (Mandatory, default). Echoes the commands to the screen; some<br />
communication programs require it, for others it does no harm.<br />
<br />
ATQ0 (Mandatory, default). Suppresses "quiet" modes, and causes command<br />
responses to be sent by the modem (most communication programs<br />
require it to tell when a communication has been made, etc.).<br />
<br />
ATV1 (Recommended, default). Causes command responses to be displayed<br />
in English words rather than in numeric codes.<br />
<br />
ATX4 (Recommended, default). Causes the modem to wait for dial tone<br />
before dialing, and to detect BUSY and NO ANSWER conditions. some<br />
modems may not support it.<br />
<br />
AT&C1 (Mandatory, default). Causes the modem to indicate Data Carrier<br />
Detect (DCD) only when there is actually a modem on the other<br />
side (DCD is not explained in this article).<br />
<br />
AT&D2 (Mandatory, default). Causes the modem to hang up when the DTR<br />
line is down (DTR is explained above).<br />
<br />
AT&S1 (Mandatory, NOT default!). Causes the modem to keep the DSR line<br />
up only when the modem is active (DSR is explained above). BE<br />
CAREFUL: Other modems use AT&S for other things (Motorola 82240,<br />
for example, uses it for front switch settings control).<br />
<br />
AT\C1 (Mandatory, NOT default!). Enables an internal modem buffer to be<br />
used while the modems negotiate MNP. If not used, the first<br />
characters in the transmission may be lost.<br />
<br />
AT\G0 (Mandatory, default). Disables XON/XOFF flow control between the<br />
two modems. Setting AT\G1 will cause problems with some file<br />
transfer protocols (such as Bimodem).<br />
<br />
AT\J0 (Mandatory, NOT default, VERY important!). Turns "baud adjust"<br />
off. The default (AT\J1) causes your modem to adjust the speed by<br />
which it communicates with your computer (the RS232 side) to the<br />
nominal modem-to-modem speed at connect time, which eliminates all<br />
MNP speed gains (your 2400 modem will talk "effective-4800" to the<br />
second modem, but only 2400 to your computer!). Setting AT\J0<br />
keeps the speed between the modem and the serial port constant<br />
(how to set this speed initially is explained below). Other modems<br />
use other commands for this, such as AT&I1.<br />
<br />
AT\K5 (Mandatory, default). Causes a Break signal to be sent and<br />
received in sequence with the data, which is important for file<br />
transfers. Other modems use other commands for this, such as<br />
AT*Y2.<br />
<br />
AT\N3 (Mandatory, NOT default!). Causes the modem to work in "auto-<br />
reliable" mode, which means that it will try to use MNP and fall<br />
back to non-MNP if the other modem is not compatible. The default<br />
(AT\N1) DISABLES MNP altogether. Other modems use other commands<br />
for this, such as AT&E4 or AT&E6.<br />
<br />
AT\Q3 (Mandatory, NOT default, VERY important!). Causes hardware-level<br />
handshaking (RTS/CTS) between your modem and your computer. If the<br />
modem and the serial adapter speeds are different (such as when<br />
AT\J0 is specified), handshaking MUST be enabled. DO NOT use<br />
XON/XOFF handshaking (AT\Q1), because it will cause problems with<br />
some file transfer protocols. Other modems use other commands for<br />
this, such as AT&K2.<br />
<br />
AT\V1 (Recommended, NOT default!). Causes the modem replies to indicate<br />
if a reliable (MNP) connection has been made - you should probably<br />
want to know what kind of connection you have established.<br />
<br />
AT\X1 (Mandatory, NOT default!). Enables XON/XOFF characters to be sent<br />
to the other modem as data. The default (AT\X0) will swallow<br />
XON/XOFF and will cause problems with some file transfer<br />
protocols.<br />
<br />
AT%C1 (Up to you - I use it; NOT default). Enables data compression<br />
(uses MNP 5 rather than MNP 4). If you can prove that MNP 5 slows<br />
down file transfers considerably, I'll be glad (?) to switch back<br />
to AT%C0.<br />
<br />
ATDT (Recommended). This has nothing to do with MNP, but you may be<br />
able to use touch-tone (DTMF) dialing without being aware of it,<br />
and it is a real time saver. Even if you can't, try to ask Bezeq -<br />
you may be surprised.<br />
<br />
AT&W0 You probably do not want to type all those setup strings every<br />
time, so save them once with AT&W0, and indicate to your<br />
communication program that your modem initialization string is<br />
simply ...<br />
<br />
ATZ Which is easy to remember and use.<br />
<br />
AT&V (View setting). Use this to check your non-MNP modem settings.<br />
<br />
ATI6 (Inquire modem). Use this to check your special MNP modem settings<br />
(why use two different codes is beyond me).<br />
<br />
<br />
===========<br />
TELIX SETUP<br />
===========<br />
<br />
If you are using Telix as your favorite communication program, there are<br />
several things that you should do to make it work properly with MNP.<br />
<br />
First, bring up the Telix setup menu (Alt-O), and select "Terminal options".<br />
<br />
Within "Terminal options", select option A and set the default baud rate to<br />
9600 (!) if your modem is 2400 MNP. This will ensure that the serial-adapter-<br />
to-modem speed is high enough not to cause a bottleneck.<br />
<br />
Then select the appropriate options to turn XON/XOFF flow control OFF, CTS/RTS<br />
flow control ON, and DSR/DTR flow control OFF. Do not use any other<br />
combination of flow control!<br />
<br />
Now go back to the configuration menu and select "Modem and dialing". Set the<br />
modem initialization string to ATZ^M (provided that you have saved your<br />
setup!), and set Auto Baud detect to OFF.<br />
<br />
Finally, go to your dialing directory and define ALL entries to have a speed<br />
of 9600 (even if you know for sure they are only 1200 or 2400).<br />
<br />
Now start working. You should notice that the speed indication in the status<br />
line always says 9600, whether you are idle or communicating. If it is (and<br />
if you manage to work), you probably did everything right.<br />
<br />
(What happens is that Telix talks to your modem at a constant speed of 9600<br />
BPS and uses CTS/RTS flow control to avoid overruns; your modem talks to the<br />
other modem as fast as it can, taking advantage of MNP if available, and is<br />
not delayed by your computer's hardware or software).<br />
<br />
There is one small problem. If you upload or download with Telix's internal<br />
protocols, the estimated transfer time will be incorrect, because it will be<br />
based on the assumption that your modem is actually 9600 BPS. This is a small<br />
price to pay in order to be able to work faster.<br />
<br />
<br />
==============<br />
TELEMATE SETUP<br />
==============<br />
<br />
First of all, use Telemate only if your computer is fast enough and has enough<br />
free memory - writing programs in C using Vermont Views results in very good<br />
programs but does not contribute to their size and performance.<br />
<br />
Go to Telemate's options menu (use your mouse or Alt-O).<br />
<br />
Select "Dial setup", and turn "Auto Baud detect" OFF.<br />
<br />
Select "Terminal", and turn XON/XOFF flow control OFF and RTS/CTS flow control<br />
ON.<br />
<br />
Select "Communication", and set the modem initialization string to ATZ^M<br />
(provided that you have saved your setup!). In addition, set the "Baud rate"<br />
(which by now you know should say BPS, not Baud) to 9600 (!) if your modem is<br />
2400 MNP. This will ensure that the serial-adapter-to-modem speed is high<br />
enough not to cause a bottleneck.<br />
<br />
Do not forget to save your setup.<br />
<br />
Finally, switch to your dialing directory and define ALL entries to have a<br />
speed of 9600 (even if you know for sure they are only 1200 or 2400).<br />
<br />
Now start working. If you left your status line on, you should notice that the<br />
speed indication in the status line always indicates 9600, whether you are<br />
idle or communicating. If it is (and if you manage to work), you probably did<br />
everything right.<br />
<br />
Unlike Telix, Telemate adjusts its estimated upload/download times as it<br />
works. Therefore, only the initial estimated transfer time will be incorrect<br />
(because it will be based on the assumption that your modem is actually 9600<br />
BPS), but after a few blocks the estimate will be corrected.<br />
<br />
<br />
==========<br />
PUMA SETUP<br />
==========<br />
<br />
If you are using Puma as an external protocol, you can have MNP speed AND a<br />
correct estimate of the file transfer time.<br />
<br />
Run PUMASET to configure Puma, and choose "Change default options". In this<br />
menu, select the following:<br />
<br />
- UART Baud - "current" (assuming you always call Puma when your<br />
communication program is operating).<br />
<br />
- Effective Baud - 2400 (assuming your modem is 2400). This figure is used<br />
for estimating the file transfer time.<br />
<br />
- CTS/RTS handshake - "fast".<br />
<br />
<br />
=============<br />
BIMODEM SETUP<br />
=============<br />
<br />
Bimodem is a protocol you cannot live without if you plan on being a honest<br />
person and upload at least once in a while.<br />
<br />
Like Puma, Bimodem can be configured to use MNP and estimate times correctly.<br />
<br />
To do this, run BICONFIG (either directly or from BIMENU). Select "Terminal<br />
options" and set the following:<br />
<br />
- "Baud (yack!) rate to base estimate on" - type here your nominal modem<br />
speed (e.g. 2400). This figure is used for estimating the file transfer<br />
time. Note that if you use MNP, your effective BPS rate will be faster,<br />
and the estimated time will be too long.<br />
<br />
- "CTS/RTS hardware flow control" - set to "Y".<br />
<br />
The next time you are asked why you always download and never upload, do not<br />
use the "I don't have time" or "I don't have money" excuses - they do not work<br />
well with Bimodem.<br />
<br />
<br />
=========<br />
DSZ SETUP<br />
=========<br />
<br />
DSZ is a famous yet not-very-user-friendly file transfer package that supports<br />
several protocols, most importantly ZMODEM. It is a must if you use a<br />
communication program that does not have internal ZMODEM, and there are those<br />
out there who use it even with Telix or Telemate, because DSZ is supposed to<br />
be faster and better (you can try it and judge for yourself).<br />
<br />
The following comments are based on the DSZ version dated April 11, 1990<br />
(known as DSZ0411). They are probably relevant to other versions as well.<br />
<br />
DSZ is command-line oriented and does not have a separate setup mode. The DSZ<br />
documentation has the courtesy of stating that it has a "handshake XX"<br />
command-line option (which can be abbreviated to "ha"), but it does not<br />
indicate what values this mysterious XX can take (this is part of the<br />
package's user-friendliness). If you dig deep enough, you find that the value<br />
relevant to MNP is "handshake cts". The DSZ command for ZMODEM downloading<br />
should therefore look something like:<br />
<br />
DSZ ha cts rz -rr <other options><br />
<br />
note that there is no hyphen before "ha", and that you must use lowercase<br />
characters.<br />
<br />
DSX has another option that may be relevant, called "estimate". If you<br />
indicate the effective BPS rate to DSZ (such as 2400 when using non-MNP or<br />
2900 when using MNP), DSZ will show a correct estimated transfer time;<br />
otherwise the estimate will be based on the RS232 speed (9600) and will be<br />
incorrect. If your file transfer is long enough, you may have enough time to<br />
locate where exactly on the screen DSZ gives its estimate - somewhere towards<br />
the end of its numerous line-mode messages.<br />
<br />
<br />
=======================<br />
A FINAL WORD FOR SYSOPS<br />
=======================<br />
<br />
As you have probably guessed by now, I am NOT a SYSOP and probably never will<br />
be (I am too old, too busy and too poor).<br />
<br />
I therefore have no idea what to do on your side of the game to make MNP work.<br />
<br />
We users can do everything we can, but if you do not setup your end correctly,<br />
we will never gain speed.<br />
<br />
If any of you out there knows what to do with all those Front Doors and Remote<br />
Accesses an QBBSes and FileDoors and other Buzzwords to make them utilize MNP,<br />
please share this information with other SYSOPs, so that you and us (who cares<br />
about you and us? - me!) can save some time and money.<br />
<br />
<br />
========================<br />
A FINAL WORD TO EVERYONE<br />
========================<br />
<br />
I don't want to have too many mistakes in this document. If you find one, or<br />
if you want to add your own comments, please let me know.<br />
<br />
You spent some money on your equipment - I hope this will help you use it<br />
cheeper and faster.<br />
</pre><br />
<br />
[[Category:Modems]]</div>Netfreak