Thank you very much, great advice and information. -Jeff
On 14 Aug 2002, you wrote: > On Wed, Aug 14, 2002 at 11:13:57AM -0600, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: > I found a modem at a thrift store that appears to be in new > > condition. It is a Courier I-Modem ISDN 128kbps v. everthing US > > Robotics and it is external. [...] Do I need to have special > > service to make this work or just change the phone wall connector to > > fit the larger ISDN connector. > > You don't want the modem. > > For much of the US phone system a voice call gets digitized at 64 Kbps > and is hauled around that way. Once the call is bits the bits can be > copied perfectly. That's why long distance calls these days usually > sound as good as local calls. (That is also why analogue dialup > modems were never going to match or beat 64 Kbps--they get turned into > a 64 kbps stream anyway.) ISDN was based on the clever idea of > bringing that digital connection out to the end user, and it was a way > to do it over copper wires without nasty distance limitations. The > reason for the "128" is that they put two of these 64 kbps channels on > one circuit. One could be used for a voice call and the other a data > call, or both voice, or both data--possibly bonded together for 128 > kbps. > > But ISDN never really happened. First, because phone companies are > not good at innovation and couldn't figure out how to market it. > (Hell, much of the time you could call asking to buy ISDN and not be > able to find anyone at the phone company who had heard of it.) Second, > ISDN was "circuit switched" on the cusp of the "packet switched" era. > That is, instead of, say, a DSL connection where you might fling a > packet at any IP address on the internet, ISDN was a data phone call > from one phone number to another phone number. These two problems > combined to make ISDN very expensive. Ironically, one flavor of DSL > (IDSL I think it is) is actually based upon ISDN techology for putting > the bits on the wire. > > ISDN does still exist. It is used by radio stations for interviews > across the country or across oceans, and even recording studios will > sometimes use it to link up a remote musician. The reason is because > it doesn't have the nasty delay of a satellite connection and it is > more reliable than sending bits over the internet. > > > And second question, as a Linux novice, will I be able to make this > > work if I buy it? It is only $25.00 so it seems like a good deal. > > -Jeff > > Linux does have ISDN support, but you don't want ISDN just because you > can buy a modem for cheap. > > > -kb > > > P.S. When a phone company says "64 kbps" they mean 64,000, not the > 65,536 preferred by a computer person. > > > > -- > redhat-list mailing list > unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=unsubscribe > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list > -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=unsubscribe https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
