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July 27
SpeedChoice is
a new, high speed wireless Internet service provider with
broad coverage. With speeds greater than one megabit per
second and a starting cost of just $44.95 per month for home
use, it bears watching.
56K modems are currently limited to a maximum of 33.6
when uploading data. Point
Topic is covering several efforts to increase the upload
rate:
- The ITU is meeting to extend V.90 to cover the
so-called "digital case": a situation in which both the
ISP and the customer have digital lines to the Internet.
Normal 56K connections only require the ISP to have
digital phone lines. With a fully digital connection,
it's possible to upload at faster than 33.6, and to get
higher download rates than are usually seen with V.90,
but changes to the V.90 protocol are required to make
this a reality.
- Lucent is continuing its push to establish a
symmetrical 45K standard, with 45K download and 45K
upload rates. Lucent first proposed the idea in
1996.
V.90 ISP and Modem Upgrades
Computer
Reseller News and News.com
report that AOL has deployed V.90 across its dial-in
network.
Steve Healey found new Diamond Multimedia V.90 firmware,
version
2.081-07, for the PC version of the SupraExpress 56.
David
Armstrong of The New Zealand Press reports that most of
the larger New Zealand ISPs have upgraded to 56K, and
several have already upgraded to V.90.
Stephen Melachrinos notes that ActionTec
has released V.90 upgrades for more of its K56flex modems,
in particular, the external K56flex voice modem and the
Rockwell-based PCMCIA modem.
July 29
Welcome, Playboy readers
Several months ago the Playboy Advisor called to ask for
56K modem advice. T.W. of Fort Wayne, Indiana had asked for
help in getting his 56K modem up to speed. Playboy published
my recommendations in the August, 1998 issue, on newsstands
now. (It's the one with Downtown Julie Brown on the cover,
and the Women of Iceland inside.) If you need another
net.geek reason to buy the issue, there's also an interview
with Matt Drudge.
News
Wired
reports a serious security flaw in the email portions of
Netscape and Outlook Express. Malicious parties could
exploit the flaw to run commands on the user's computer, and
even delete files.
Two of Motorola's Iridium satellites aren't functioning,
according to a Chris Oakes article in Wired.
The 66-satellite data network is scheduled to go live
September 23rd.
A Computer Reseller News Article, Fears
Aside, Retailers High on Modems, examines the outlook
for modem shelf space.
Information Week examines cable modems from a business
perspective in Cable
Modem Conundrums: Is This Really A Service For Power
Users?
Erik Carlson found new Zoom
Mac CCL files dated July 17th.
V.90 Upgrades
Packard
Bell has V.90 upgrades for its x2 modems. According to
the web page, the upgrade package automatically installs
V.90 versions of the Windows 95 drivers.
NewCom released
V.90 upgrades for their 56KIFXC model. (Thanks, Randy
Rance!)
July 31, 1998
Brian
McWilliams of PC World reports that Lucent is not
pursuing its symmetrical technology that would allow PCM
modems to upload at speeds of 45K. Current 56K modems are
limited to upload speeds of up to 33.6. It's believed there
was insufficient interest among modem manufacturers to
pursue the technology. The PC World story also mentions that
the ITU gathered in Quebec City on Thursday to finalize the
V.90 spec prior to the September meeting, where V.90 is
expected to be ratified. (Thanks, Jay Price!)
Hypercom
is planning to upgrade the modems it uses to verify credit
card and debit card transactions to 9600 bps. The current
modems operate at 1200 or 2400 bps. The new modems can
complete a credit card verification transaction in less than
four seconds. Credit card authorization involves a
relatively small amount of data, so short connection times
are generally more important than absolute speed. 28800 and
faster modems are currently out of the question because they
take so long to connect. Even 9600 bps modem connect
sequences are long compared 2400 bps connects, so I assume
Hypercom is either customizing the modems or disabling
certain features to shorten the connection process.
BTW, that reminds me of a project I've been wanting to do
for some time: record the connection sounds of various
modems. I've got a microphone and a copy of SoundEdit, so
I'll play with them this weekend.
V.90 modems and upgrades
Zoom's
download page has a number of new files released in the
last two days:
- K56flex to V.90 upgrade utility for the
Macintosh
- New K56flex to V.90 firmware for the PC (thanks,
Chris Kennedy)
- New firmware version 2.081 for the Zoom DualMode
K56flex/V.90 modem
Paul Siegmund notes HP
5.14 Lucent firmware.
Digitan
is shipping V.90 modems. As previously reported, the company
also has V.90
upgrades.
Weekend updates
New message board!
56K.COM now has a message
board to replace the survey. This is a much more useful
feature, and is something I've wanted for a long time. It
was finally possible because of the re-release of WWWThreads,
which threads messages just the way I like.
Because of some glitches I encountered while setting it
up (I spent most of the weekend getting WWWThreads to do
what I wanted), the board is in beta test mode. If it works
well, I'll customize the look and feel to match the rest of
the site.
Web server glitches
There was a problem with the web server Saturday
afternoon and Sunday morning. The server ran out of disk
space, which prevented some CGIs from working correctly. In
particular, the links in the Link Board didn't work. When I
tried to upload a notice to that effect on the front page,
the upload got most of the way through and failed with a
STOR error, which wiped out the front page. The disk space
problem was fixed Sunday morning.
Survey
The survey
expires midnight Saturday. Honestly, I've run out of good
survey questions, but if you have any good ones, email
me. Meanwhile, I've taken the survey off the front page
and I'm working on some new interactive programs.
Did you miss it?
Last week's news was a three
part report on Internet security, for web browsers,
webmasters, and ICQ users.
Previous
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