Ä Area: R-USR ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Msg#: 7776            Rec'd                        Date: 10-07-94  16:42
  From: Bill Garfield                                Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: Steve Ellis                                  Mark:                     
  Subj: 28.8 CONNECTS
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Quoting Bill Garfield to Steve Ellis <=-

 SE>         I am in need of some help with my phone co and the SLC system
 SE> they use.  They have been out to my house on two occassions and tell me
 SE> that everything is within tolerences.  I am using the Sporster V.34
 SE> (external) and am only able to see 19.k connects and a periodic 21.6.
 SE> I have taken the modem to neighboring communities (here in St. Paul,
 SE> Minnesota) and have seen 28.8 connects, so I know the modem (and my
 SE> setup) is working properly.
 
 SE>         I'd sure appreciate any help you can give.  The phone co has
 SE> been very nice about it, but I get the impression they have done about
 SE> all they are going to do unless I can come up with something more to
 SE> tell them...

 BG> Hello Steve.

 BG> Usually the biggest headache with the SLC-96 (Subscriber Loop
 BG> Concentrator) is poor bandwidth.  The high frequencies fall off too
 BG> rapidly beginning just above 3000 Hz.  For the record, these things
 BG> also come under many different names, including: RT (Remote Terminal),
 BG> Pair Gain, Subscriber Mux (multiplexor) - it all depends on what area
 BG> of the country you're in.
 BG> Using USR's higher-end Courier product I've seen generally 1
 BG> step better results through the "slick" than I do with the Sportster,
 BG> but don't take that to the bank - it's merely my own experience.  If
 BG> you know someone who has one of the new Courier V.Everything modems you
 BG> may want to see if you can borrow it to test this theory.  It could
 BG> simply be that you need a little higher tech modem to deal with the
 BG> extreme limitations of the "slick".
 BG> Try also disconnecting **everything** from the phone line
 BG> except for your modem. - By everything, I mean exactly that - including
 BG> any surge protection devices that you may have connected.  There are
 BG> also scattered reports that sometimes reversing the polarity of the
 BG> telephone line can have an effect, though there's not much that's been
 BG> offered in the way of supporting evidence.  The easiest way to do this
 BG> is get a second phone cord and a double female coupler.  A standard
 BG> telephone "silver-satin" phone cord is, by design, a crossover cable,
 BG> so two of them in line together with the double female coupler should
 BG> effectively reverse line polarity from what it normally is.  IF THIS
 BG> HELPS, then have the phone co. come back out and check your line for
 BG> "balance" See if you can find out who the manufacturer of the
 BG> SLC is. If it's Western Electric or AT&T, you should be able to achieve
 BG> at least 24,000 bps through it on most calls.  If it's an offshore
 BG> brand from then results may be not as good.
 BG> Keep us posted as to your results.  FYI I no longer monitor
 BG> Conference 0 (Main Board) on USR's support bbs - it just became too
 BG> unweildy. 
 BG> -!-
 BG> ž OLX 3.3 ž Tandy Corporation & Rat Shack:  Creators of the 286/SX