Hayes Optima 28.8

by Kief Morris

It's Fast, Man! Real Fast!

Since most of the files I tried out were ZIP files, of course the transfers couldn't hit 230,400 bps, and I didn't expect them to. With a 14,400 bps connection I usually get 12,800 to 13,200 bps on ZIP files, and a 19,200 bps connection usually yields 17,600 or better. With the Hayes, I managed to get 22,500 bps or better. Although I've heard discussion that poor quality phone lines may force such a fast modem to drop to slower speeds, I consistently got this type of speed calling several different BBS's around the country. I used Telix, an excellent shareware DOS communications program, and FrontDoor, a special comm program used for communication between Fidonet BBS's, under both DOS and OS/2.

The ESP Communications Accelerator Card

If your comm program is kept in the foreground, and the files you transfer are ZIP files, you may be fine even if your serial port (or modem, if it's internal) has an old 8250 chip. For transferring files at high speeds (9600 bps or faster), uncompressed files which come over at higher rates, and/or transferring files in the background in Windows or OS/2, a 16550 chip is a must. Most internal modems have them, and new Pentium systems tend to have them on their serial ports as well, but 486 and lesser PC's probably don't have them on their serial ports.

With a modem as fast as the Optima 288, even a 16550 chip may not be enough to handle the load. For this reason, Hayes has designed the ESP Communications Accelerator for Windows. This is a card with either one or two replacement serial ports, and special Windows drivers. Beyond being beefed up to handle larger throughput, the ESP also aims to overcome certain shortcomings in Windows which make high speed communications under Windows more fragile than under other platforms.

I connected and tried out the Optima 288 before I installed the ESP, so I could evaluate the difference made by the card. I have 16550 chips on my serial ports, since I like to run heavy duty communications activity in the background under OS/2. The 22,500 and better speeds I mentioned earlier were attained using the 16550's. Since I only transferred ZIP files, I never had any loss of data - the Hayes pumped the bits across like a champ. When I downloaded files after installing the ESP card the speeds were about the same. I also downloaded some uncompressed files with the ESP installed, and although I got higher throughput than with the ZIP files, it wasn't a vast improvement - roughly 17,360 bps. The moral of the story is that a 16550 may be enough for most users, since it can handle throughput at these levels, and they are much less expensive than an ESP. If you want to do heavy duty communications under Windows, the ESP may offer an advantage.

The Future of v.fast and the Optima 288

The v.FC and v.32terbo standards, among others, have been growing in acceptance over the past year or less. v.FC seems to have wider support, and is simply faster than v.32terbo. The problem is that an official CCITT standard for 28.8kbps modems has been approved, v.34. This renders v.FC obsolete, since modem makers will choose to implement a standard protocol rather than a nonstandard one, all else being equal, which it is.

Hayes has said their Optima 288 modems will be upgradable to v.34, but are close mouthed as to when and how, and how much. Indications are that Optima owners will have to send their modems to Hayes to have a chip swapped out, for something a bit less than $100. Upgraded Optimas are expected to be able to communicate at 28.8kbps with v.34 modems and v.FC modems, so they can still talk at the high speeds with Optimas that haven't been upgraded. We can expect that Hayes will begin selling Optimas that are v.34 compatible, and probably v.FC compatible, too, out of the box. It's hard to say when Hayes will do this, but expect to see v.34 modems from some vendors by the end of the year.

The upshot of this is that timing is bad to buy v.FC modems, unless you must have them now. A short wait will probably allow you to buy modems which support the new standard, without the additional expense and lost time of shipping them back to the manufacturer for an upgrade.

Who Should Get One?

Keep in mind that the savings of money depends on what you do while connected to a remote system. Fast modems don't help you read or type any faster, so a 28,800 bps connection isn't much better than 9600 bps for interactive work in text mode. Where it saves money is in file transfers and automated activity, or in high bandwidth interaction. For example, using remote access GUI systems should is snappier at higher speeds.