modem question

[Ric Moore]

On Tue, 2010-10-12 at 20:16 -0500, Linda wrote:
> I have a  modem set up I use at work where I dial in so I can fix things 
> on the network from home. All machines have 8.04.4  LTS, the dialing 
> machine uses kermit and the answering machine uses mgetty. The last few 
> weeks I have been having trouble with incredibly slow file transfer 
> speeds. If I have them shut off the modem and turn it back on the 
> transfer speed is back to normal. We changed to a new fax machine which 
> shares the line during the same time period.
> My thoughts are if the new fax were causing the problem, shutting off 
> the modem and turning it back on should not change the situation. Yet 
> the timing leaves me wondering.
> So do you think the external modem I am calling into is dying or should 
> I be looking into other possibilities?

AH! Memories! Init strings, uugetty, mgetty, setserial. I don't miss
them one doggone bit. Sounds like the fax machine needs to have its
answer delay increased. Switching the modem on and off merely puts it
cleanly "off hook". Just maybe there is contention between the two and
the line isn't "off-hooked" well enough. If it's just an outbound fax,
make sure auto-answer is completely off. Or, maybe try a line-filter
from ra-didio shack. I used to run 8 modems to my Linux BBS. What a
nightmare. 

Maybe just unplug the fax for a day and see what happens. Well, if
you're a law firm you really have to have a fax, as pdf's don't cut it
in court ...yet. <sighs> darn dinosaur machines. Ric


-- 
My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
Linux user# 44256