Modemwars: X2 <-> X2 connections at home?
Dunkie asks, "Is X2 only limited to ISP->user? Can two computers, ie office and home - both with X2 modems achieve near 56K speed?"
A couple of people have said that the X2 protocol will not work between two "user" X2 modems, but only between the "user" X2 modem and the "server" X2 modem, which must have a digital connection to the telephone network. This is correct, and, as far as I can tell, K56, when ever if finally appears, works the same way.
However, it's possible, according to the USR web page referenced below, to connect in X2 mode with a Courier I-Modem, which has an ISDN BRI interface (the kind of ISDN most people consider for home office use) to the PSTN. Of course, if you had I-Modems at both ends of the link, you could make a direct digital connection, but the BRI line and a single I-modem might allow a pretty small business to allow people to dial in and connect at X2 rates, or a very small ISP to support a small number of X2 connections.
x2.usr.com
I haven't seen any announcement of similar small product for the server end in the K56 world. Ascend equipment gets most of the mentions for that end of the link for K56.
Has anyone actually made a K56 connection yet? |
