Subject: (usr-tc) [Fwd: V.92: USR/3Com blows random quadrupeds]

From: Ronald Kushner <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 06:38:39 +0000

Found this on a newsgroup tonight.  Any thoughts?

-Ron

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: V.92: USR/3Com blows random quadrupeds
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 17:12:07 -0500
From: Matt Black <[email-masked]>
Organization: And Now This
Newsgroups: chi.internet

I hadn't been paying any attention to this until just now, but it looks
like 3Com/USR has been f--king up royally when it comes to making its
analog modems compatible with V.92.

First of all, most owners of USR V.90, x2, and V.34 modems, even late
models, are just plain SOL with regard to flash-ROM upgrades, because
relatively few existing USR modems will be upgradeable to V.92.  That
includes the Courier V.everything external, model 2806, of which 3Com
has sold zillions and which still appears to be a current product (at
least it's shown on the USR web site, with a list price).  It seems
that for most customers, USR's response is going to be "Sorry, but
you'll have to buy a new modem instead."  Of course, they'll probably
give you a $50 trade-in allowance on your perfectly good $250 modem. 
Assholes.

Second, apparently 3Com or USR has decided not to implement V.44, the
better compression algorithm that supersedes V.42bis and that was
approved along with V.92.  USR is doing V.92, but not V.44.

Third, there's at least one bad bug in one 3Com V.92 product, the
Sportster model 5686.

All of this is from Richard Gamberg's fabulously good modem pages at
<http://808hi.com/56k/>.  Specifically:

   V.92 news & updates:          <http://808hi.com/56k/v92s.htm>
   USR V.92 bug:                 <http://808hi.com/56k/v92bug.htm>
   Additional questions for USR: <http://808hi.com/56k/v92q.htm>
   More on USR V.92 upgrades:    <http://808hi.com/56k/v92usrc.htm>
   V.92 overview & background:   <http://808hi.com/56k/v92.htm>

Fortunately, V.92 shouldn't be that big a deal, because it doesn't
contain anything that's really essential for most people.  So judging
by what I've seen so far, if you have a USR V.90 modem, you should
probably stick with it and not try for V.92 unless you really need call
waiting or the 48kb/s upstream speed.  And keep in mind that you may
never get V.44 from USR at all.  So when it comes to V.92 modems, a
different manufacturer probably deserves your business more than USR
does at this point.  Which is something I never thought I'd say.  (I
bought my first USR modem in 1990, and I've been a fan of Couriers
forever.)

BTW, on the earlier subject of badly-designed web sites that have too
much flash, too many large images, and not nearly enough substance, I
have to say that <http://www.3com.com> takes the grand prize.  I hadn't
known that usr.com is still the place to go for information, manuals,
and downloads for USR modems, so a few days ago I tried 3com.com first. 
What a totally f--ked-up site.  That gets my nomination for an award
for the most bloated, useless, annoying, pointless, and time-wasting
corporate web site in existence.  The consultants who constructed that
huge pile of shit should be taken out and shot, pro bono publico.  I
mean, *everything* is wrong with it.  If you use a high-bandwidth
connection then you might not notice it so much, except for the extreme
difficulty of actually finding any information among the site
designer's collection of vacation photos.  But try it from a dialup
connection if you want to get the full effect.  Man, what a nightmare.

-
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---

From: albert <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2001 21:33:36 +0000

i concur with all this poster said, especially on the 3com web site, and
many many corporate sites are using the same consultants i guess because the
net is filled with the same krap, all flash and no content,.. and the
writing...! man alive and thank the lord i have a key set to enlarge,
otherwise i could not read 9 out of ten sites out there any more.

and what does Jane and john doe need an uplink of 48k for? to send one
little URL to the server?? give me a break. and for this big boost in
productivity i am supposed to recommend they go out and buy a new modem? and
worse the ISP is supposed to spend millions on new pools?

i wish for one silly upgrade cycle Jane and john and the ISP's of the world
would just keep their wallets shut!! that is where the real power is, and if
our wallets are shut maybe the 3coms and the cisco's would get off their
duffs and support what is there.

when are we the "people" gunna get tired of getting sucked in??

nuff said.

albert.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email-masked]
> [mailto:[email-masked]]On Behalf Of Ronald Kushner
> Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 11:33 PM
> To: [email-masked]
> Subject: (usr-tc) [Fwd: V.92: USR/3Com blows random quadrupeds]
>
>
>i co

-