rec.autos.simulators

Chris

Chris

Chris,
same boat here man, I'm in Austin with aol and N3. How did you connect, using
aol, or direct connect?
Rik Anthrax
           -
     -
"trust the government?? what are you, some kind of moron?"

Firstly, the DUN you use for the Internet is NOT suitable for on-line
***.  It most likely would be using Data Compression, Error
Correction, Maximum FIFO Buffers and probably going as hard as your
poor little modem can peddle, or harder if i believe half of the tales
i hear about....
All of the above is VERY bad news for on-line ***.

You should make up another DUN for on-line ***, with Data
Compression and Error Correction turned OFF.  Also, turn down the
maximum connect speed of your modem to 24000, 26400 or 28800 at a
maximum.
The quality of the lines in your area, will dictate the best speed for
you.
This can be done in the Modem Properties tab of your DUN for the
designated Modem. Read the booklet that comes with your modem for the
initialization strings you need.

NOTE:
Some people are under the mistaken belief that a slower connect speed
will take longer to get to the host, resulting in higher latencys
(pings) etc.   This is totally false.!!!
The connection speed of your modem, is a false analogy, as the
connection speed only refers to how much bandwidth the modem is
capable
of sending at any given time, NOT how fast it can send it.
Hence, the ammount of data that a GPL host requires from a client,
will
get to the host at exactly the same time, whether the client is using
26400 baud or 56000 baud, and 99.9% of the time, the 26400 baud
rate
from the client will have a  lot less errors and be a lot more stable
than
the 56000 baud's best effort, unless you are lucky enough to live in a
area where optical fibre abounds, all the way from you to the host,
which is very unlikely.  :)
I only ever use a maximum of 26400 on-line with GPL, as the lines in
my
area, leave a bit to be desired, but with my normal internet dun, i
use
33 to 56k baud, and let the error correction fix any problems i
encounter, which is fine for surfing and general internet use etc.
(error correction is a definite no-no for GPL on-line)

To make more than one DUN with different modem initialization strings,
you will need to go to the MODEMS in the control panel and ADD another
modem.  This will not overwrite your present modem settings, but will
add another modem to the modems you have listed in the modem list.  As
you add more modems to the list, Windows will simply add a #2  #3  #4
etc etc to the end of the modem name.  That way you can set up as many
DUN's as you have modem names, each one with different initialization
strings.
Once you have your on-line DUNS and modem set up correctly, you will
actually find that disco's, error filled connections and high
latency's
will simply become a bad memory...

NOTE:
The FIFO buffers should be set no higher than the 2nd mark from
the left, unfortunately these are global settings, so if you set them
at the 2nd setting from the left, that is where they will remain,
regardless of which DUN you are using.  I have not noticed any lesser
performance in surfing or downloading with the buffers set there
anyway, so i just leave them there all the time.

Make sure you turn Error Correction off, also turn off the Data
Compression and select Hardware Flow Control in you modem's properties
tab for the On-Line *** DUN.  If you are a paranoid type, as i am,
you could also add those commands to the extra settings in the modem
initialization string, just in case you don't trust windows to carry
out your wishes and let's face it, who trusts windows to do anything
right when it comes to *** anyway..

I have included the following line for my US Robotics modem in my
On-Line *** DUN..

&F1&K0&M0&U10&N13

&F1  Resets modem to standard, in case windows messed it up.
&K0  Disables  Data Compression, in case windows forgot.
&M0  Disables Error Correction, as per above scenario..
&U10  Sets the floor connect speed to 19200.
&N13  Sets the ceiling connect speed to 26400.

The above is an example for the US Robotics modem, different modems
will vary slightly in the initialization strings, so read your manual
for further details to achieve similiar results.

Secondly..   Windows in it's infinite wisdom sets up the Port settings
on the extra conservative side by default.
This needs to be changed manually.
To do this:
Go to the Control Panel, go to System, go to  Device Manager, go to
Ports (com & lpt).
Select Com1 ,  go to Port Settings, and adjust the following to read
as
follows:
Bits per second   115200
Data   8
Parity   none
Stop Bits   1
Flow Control   Hardware
Go to Advanced   and adjust the FIFO Buffers so they are 1 mark from
the left side.
Do the same for Com Port 2.

I know it was long...print it out and try it...it helps!! good luck
and if you are on aol....you need to leave and find an ISP that
provides a better connection. If you need help with this post back
here....good luck and see ya on the track, provided, you dont warp
away!