Hardware in Telecommunications: Product Review
Reprinted from the January, 1996 issue of PC Alamode Magazine
(c) Copyright 1996, John Woody. All rights reserved.


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Angia PCMCIA Modem

Once the mobility of a laptop is mastered, ie., the ability to be mobile, telecommunicating becomes a reality. Road Warriors' are not tied to the office or home desktop to communicate. Most RJ 11 telephone plugs are fair game to communicate through. Outside salesmen, technicians working on-site and program presenters may make their products and presentations come alive with "live" presentations. This has been especially true in my Internet presentations. There is nothing like showing the real thing to make impressions. Mobile telecommunicating has become a necessity for traveling salespersons who can use almost any phone connection to reach the home office about pricing, proposal and contract changes, or e-mail communication. This mobility is available nearly everywhere for today's traveler. Hotels have direct or nearly direct phone connection ports built into their telephone systems. This makes it easy to transmit the day's sales calls results to the home office, and/or get up dated pricing information. Laptop systems with PCMCIA modems are just the ticket to efficiently make this happen.

 Many businesses now have some of their employees work from home at least one day a week. This is called remote telecommunicating. There are many advantages to work of this kind. Less physical travel to and from the job site, less cars on the freeway, less polluted air, more free time at home, and smaller offices are among the benefits. Again, laptop/PCMCIA modems are the natural technology applications for this task.

All of these advantages exist for individual users as well. Casual or vacation travel should not be a deterrent to receiving one's e-mail. Again, most hotels now accommodate all travelers by providing telephone jacks for computers in each room. The next time you travel, look closely at the telephone or wall jack. You will most likely find two RJ 11 ports. One handles the telephone and the other handles the computer. Some are labeled for the computer. (Note: forwarding one's e-mail from one provider to another will be the subject of another article.) One's laptop may be the application of choice for this task.

 In all three of these examples, the laptop I/O device which makes all of this happen is the PCMCIA modem, or, PC Card. Of all the PCMCIA I/O devices we have discussed, the PC Card modem is the first one which comes to mind and use. Our November and December 95 COMM CORNER articles covered the basics, architecture, and types of PCMCIA I/O devices.

PC Card Modems

My experience with PC Card modems started when I purchased my Toshiba Satellite 1960 laptop in 1994. I purchased a US Robotics Worldport 14.4 kbps fax/modem PC Card at the same time. Toshiba furnished the PC Card Manager program to go with it. Toshiba used Phoenix PC Card Manager Plus. In getting the USR PC Card set up, I called USR, who suggested that I use a newer version of the Phoenix Card Manager Program. Setup of the Card Manager was painless. I followed the Quick Mode installation procedure and answered the questions about what I wanted the Card Manager to do. I had the modem up and running almost immediately.
 
 

Angia Communications Modems

I later added another PC Card modem to my inventory. It is manufactured by Angia Communications. This PC Card, a 19.2 kbps cellular adapted fax/modem, was needed to fulfil a series of mobile presentations on the Internet. (The Bookstop Presentations #1 and #2). In these presentations, it was determined that the installed telephone PBX system would not be adequate to make a continuous connection to my ISP.
 
 

19.2 kbps PC Card

The Angia "Safejack 19.2 Direct-Connect Cellular Fax/Modem" installed directly in place of the previous modem with no changes to the PC Card manager and only changes to the AT Command initialization string in the various communications programs. The initialization string was one of the simplest I have ever installed in any modem. Two AT configurations were required for this modem. One configuration set the modem up for "land line" use. The other established the cellular AT commands. The difference between the initialization strings for regular phone use or cellular use centers on the cellular compression protocol, MNP 10. The "land line" initialization string is AT &F F5) C0' and the cellular string is 'AT &F5) C2' (NOTE: the close parenthesis' after the 5 is required in both strings.). All connections through either my BBS communications programs or my TCP/IP programs were solid.

 The Angia Safejack 19.2 PC Card is designed around the V.32terbo protocol (19,200 bps) for speed and MNP 2 - 10 plus V.42bis compression protocols. It meets all of the speed and compression protocols under those listed, ie.,it is downward compatible with slower modems. The Fax protocols are V.17, V.21, V.27ter, V.29, Group 3, and Class I and II.

 This PC Card modem is a Type II PCMCIA device. It is marked so that installation is easy. The Safejack RJ 11 telephone plug contains two phone connections. This plug fits contains two uneven fittings to insure that is installed in the PC Card correctly each time. The Safejack two plug connector allows the use of a telephone when the unit is plugged into the phone wall jack. Additionally, the three foot cellular cable contains the same uneven fittings for the PC Card and a fitting for the Motorola 550 cellular phone at the other end. The cellular cable is specific for different types of cellular phones. A six foot double male RJ 11 cable is also included for land line connections. The Safejack connector plug serves two purposes in addition to the phone connection function. It has RJ 11 edge connector jacks for easy installation of phone lines and is designed to release from the PC Card with a slight tug when pulled. This is a key safety factor in keeping the laptop from crashing if someone trips over the phone line.
 
 

19.2 kbps Operation

This PC Card operated at its design specification with Telix 3.22, HyperAccess for Windows 1.0, and Internet Chameleon with no problems. We continually got 19,200 bps/ARQ with the TCP/IP connections and 14,400 bps/ARQ with the Alamo PC BBS. (Note: This was before the lightning strike and move to the hither land.) The only problem we encountered was during cellular TCP/IP connections during a Netscape browse. This was most likely due to the fact that Web browsers disconnect when the data has been pulled in. The cellular connection most likely thought that the connection had been broken, thereby disconnecting the cellular connection.

 The cellular connection was made on two occasions during long Internet presentations. Both presentations were at Bookstop book stores. Both pushed the ability of the cellular telephone to work inside the building under the fluorescent lights. Log in using the Internet Chameleon TCP/IP program connected every time. All of the Internet applications worked well as long as the cellular phone thought the connection was open. During long Web browse pauses in Netscape, the cellular phone would sometimes close the connection. At that time we had to re-dial TexasNet, our ISP. Both of these presentations were in excess of three hours duration. During other presentations, we experienced the same performance, with the main limitation being the cellular phone operation. We have never attempted using the cellular connection during driving through different cellular cells.

 Fax operations have gone without problems. This device connects at 9,600 bps with standard fax machines and at 14,400 bps with other computer fax programs.
 
 

28.8 kbps PC Card

The second Angia Safejack PC Card we have used and tested is their 28,800 bps V.34 fax/modem. This opportunity came with the buildup to the Internet Odyssey. 19.2 kbps WWW connections are nice, but 28.8 kbps connections are much better. Again, presentations and training sessions go better on the Internet, especially browsing the Web, at the fastest speed possible.

 This PC Card was installed in place of the 19.2 kbps modem and the corresponding changes to the communications program initialization strings were made. The PC Card Manager program did not require any changes. It recognized the new modem without any change on our part. The new initialization string is AT &FE0 S66=190. This is a late breaking change. At first we had problems with over current' electrical indications on some dial ups. This PC Card has an over current protection circuit built in to keep digital phone connections from shorting the card out. Analog phone lines have current built in. ISDN lines do not have current available. It must be supplied at the NT 1 connection for dial tone purposes. This current is 12 volts in some cases. This is too much for the card, thus the over current protection. S66=190 AT' command delays this circuit enough for the card to recognize the phone line.

 This modem is designed to full V.34 protocol (28,800 bps) for speed and MNP 2 - 5 plus V.42bis compression protocols. It is also downward compatible with slower modems. It handles all fax protocols in the same manner as the 19.2 kbps modem.

 This card is also a Type II PC Card device. It is also marked for easy installation. It contains the same Safejack two RJ 11 phone connections with the uneven card connection. As with the unit above, a telephone can be used in the extra RJ 11 plug with the Safejack connector. A six foot male RJ 11 phone cable is also included. Additionally, a Safejack plug with single built in RJ 11 wall jack male plug is included with this unit. This cable is six feet long and very handy in making a connection. Again, the Safejack connector provides safety from tripping over the phone line and causing the laptop to crash on the floor.
 
 

28.8 kbps Operation

This modem has been used for TCP/IP Internet functions only during the time of preparation for Internet Odyssey and the Internet seminars in the trial period. Setting up Internet Chameleon was not problem. The over current' occurrence at some log ins was the only problem. That was fixed with the change in the initialization string. The modem is solid during all operations. It connects at 28.8 kbps from nearly anywhere in San Antonio. File transfers are accomplished with little or no errors. It has never dropped the carrier during operations.
 
 

Angia Communications

Common features to both modem cards which have not been covered include each having a 16550 UART, a sixteen character, first-in, first-out buffer for error free transmission built in. Each is "plug and play", auto installable, hot swapping, and hot insertion capable. Each is flash ROM field upgradable. Both have internal DAA requiring no external devices for operation. Both are Hayes autosync compatible. Both feature lifetime warranty and lifetime toll-free technical support.

 I can vouch for the technical service. Angia has responded quickly and with good information each time I have talked to them.
 
 

Price Information

The list price of each is as follows: The mail order (street) price is as follows:

Summary

These two PC Card modems have performed in an excellent manner for me. Each has done its job and will continue to function in the future due to the flash ROM upgrade capability. The USR Worldport has found a good home in another laptop.

 I am told that their 28.8 kbps / ethernet combination PC Card is almost ready. And that they are working on an ISDN PCMCIA terminal adapter.