[GTALUG] Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP PC;

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: "Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk" <talk at gtalug.org>

| ----- Original Message ----- From: "Russell Reiter" <rreiter91 at gmail.com>

| > The hylafax site has a good list of Linux comparable modems.
| >
| > http://www.hylafax.org/site1/modems.html
| >
| 
| Brilliant !!
| 
| >From what I see at the site, this product looks very promising for my
| use:
| 
| -- "HylaFAX is a telecommunication system for UNIX systems. It supports:
| ... transparent shared data use of the modem" which is exactly what I'm
| looking for (data use);

I don't think it is useful to you.

The point of HylaFAX is to support FAXing.  Conveniently, it allowed
non-FAX uses to share the same serial port.  But elsewhere you said
you didn't do any FAXing.  So there is no benefit in running HylaFAX.

I ran HylaFAX for years.  Because I needed FAXing.  It was a bit
complicated to set up.  Partly because I used an unsupported FAX modem
so I had to configure the software and the modem to get along.  Partly
because HylaFAX is meant to handle larger-scale FAX installations
(many users, several FAX modems, ...).

It turns out that many FAX modems incorrectly implement the various
standards.  Modems with Class II FAXing commands are theoretically
best because they make fewer realtime demands on the computer.  But in
practice, the implementations are often sub-standard.

Linux is (used to be?) quite adept handling modems.  That was part of
the culture in the beginning.  But for internet access you need to use
something a little more intricate: PPP.

My ISP (Telnet Communications) provides me with ADSL and VDSL
broadband over phone lines.  This does not interfere with using the
phone lines for voice at the same time.  As a bonus, they used to
allow customers so many hours a month of telephone MODEM access at no
extra charge; they may have stopped -- I would not have noticed.

Interestingly enough, ADSL uses PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet (instead of
RS232 or the like)).

| -- "WHICH MODEMS CAN BE USED WITH HYLAFAX" the compatibility table shows
| some USRobotics (now 3Com) modems, but none are recommended, so I will
| look to buy a recommended modem instead;

That's almost all about Class I and Class II FAX command support.