Subject: Mini-review of $99 LineLink 144e Modem
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 93 15:39:28 -0400
From: MacFarland Hale <MacFarland.Hale@heckle.mitre.org>

OK, here's the mini-review I promised.  Hope it's of use to some of you.
Perhaps if I can get the couple of questions I ask below answered I can write a
more complete review (is TidBITS interested Adam and Tonya?).

Warning!  I'm no modem expert!  Just a somewhat well-informed modem user - I
know just enough to be dangerous.  :-)

.........................................................................
  MacFarland Hale                machale@mitre.org
  The MITRE Corporation          (617) 271-3703, FAX (617) 271-2352
  202 Burlington Road, MS K331   "All opinions are my own - but feel
  Bedford, MA  01730-1420  USA      free to share them if you like..."
.........................................................................

The LineLink 144e modem is being sold by MacWareHouse for $99 (plus $3
overnight shipping, at least in the US).  Their number is 1-800-ALL-MACS
(international 1-908-370-4779).  The part number is BND 0249.  The following is
a mini-review based on a couple nights use.  I reserve the right to make errors
and glaring omissions whenever I feel like it.  :-)  One thing to note up
front is that MacWareHouse is NOT offering a 30 day money back guarantee, but
does provide a 90 day warranty.

The LineLink 144e is made by Technology Concepts, Inc. (TCI) which is a
subsidiary or division or something of Prometheus who is better known in the
modem world.  TCI's number is 1-800-477-3473 or 1-503-692-9600.  The modem's
specs, according to a data sheet I got directly from TCI are as follows:

Physical characteristics:  External modem
Data speeds:  300 bps/CCITT V.21 and Bell 103; 1200 bps/CCITT V.22 and Bell
212A; 2400 bps/CCITT V.22bis; 9600 bps/CCITT V.32; 14400 bps/CCITT V.32bis
Data compression:  CCITT V.42bis; MNP-5 for 2:1
Error correction: CCITT V.42 (LAP-M); MNP 1-4
Operation:  Full or half duplex
Dialing:  Rotary or touch-tone compatible
Data commands:  Hayes AT command set
Phone connectors:  Two RJ11C/RJ13 phone jacks
Requirements:  Mac Plus or higher, System 6.0.4 or higher, System 7 savvy
Package includes:  MAcKNOWLEDGE (I received version 1.06MW), Macintosh hardware
flow control cable, coupons for on-line services (I received a standard freebie
startup kit for CompuServe only)

Technical support is being provided by MacWareHouse (1-800-925-6227), which
concerns me a little since the sales folks, at least, didn't have most of the
above specs available.  In fairness, though, I didn't call the tech support
number at all so they may (or may not) be good.

In addition, MacWareHouse is including a free copy of Accu-Weather (Software
Toolworks, Inc.) which appears to use a subscription dial-in account to produce
full weather maps on screen.  It looks like it may be interesting, but I
haven't had time to play with it yet.

As shipped, the modem doesn't do faxes, but TCI sells MaxFax software for
$29.95 (and MacWareHouse will soon too) which allows fax operation with the
modem.  When I type the Hayes command ATI4, one of the configuration
settings it returns is "SRFAX", so it does appear to be just a software issue.
I'd GUESS that FaxSTF would work with it too, but be warned that I have no
direct experience with fax modems.  I have not bought any fax software so I
can't verify the modem's fax performance.

OK, I said "mini-review" and here it is:  it works for me!
I have an LCIII and live in a 2.5 year old home about 30 miles north of Boston,
so I probably have decent phone lines (at least noise does not seem to be a
problem so far).  I just plugged it in and went with it.  The MAcKNOWLEDGE
software (I really hate the way they capitalize that) has an "auto-configure"
mode which I used to set things up.  I then copied the initialization string it
created into ZTerm and MacLayers for testing, and it all flies quite smoothly.
I've barely used MAcKNOWLEDGE beyond that, so I won't give you any comments on
it except to say that the copy I got had no printed manual (an electronic one
was provided), and apparently it can not save custom scripts.  The modem itself
did come with a printed manual, which is sparse but probably sufficient for
those who've used modems before.  It has a short table summary of a buncha AT
commands that I've found useful, but I'm not sure it's complete.  It has no
information describing which registers are for what.  (Question:  is there a
full, descriptive list of AT commands and registers available on-line
somewhere?)

I've been using the modem with MacLayers a bit and everything zips along with 3
or 4 windows open simultaneously.  I've tried using ZTerm to transfer a few
files with Zmodem and it seems to work fine.  The transfer progress box ZTerm
displays only shows about 1900 cps, but I don't know how ZTerm measures
transfer speed.  A 750K file took about 7 minutes to transfer.  I'd really
like to get my hands on something that can MEASURE the transfer speed of the
modem in a realistic way.  I asked the list, but no replies - if you have an
idea please let me know!  I'm not a modem expert, so I'll take any advice on
how to test this beast.  AS TIME PERMITS, I'll perform tests that you folks
suggest and post the results.

OK, there's been a bunch of talk (mostly questions) about this modem on the
lists (MAC-L and Info-Mac) - hope this was useful.  Overall, I recommend the
modem.  The price is worth the risk of no 30 day MBG, especially now that you
know at least one person got it to work!