From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Jun 12 13:05:50 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i5CH5of02990; Sat, 12 Jun 2004 13:05:50 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 13:05:50 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406121705.i5CH5of02990@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #287 TELECOM Digest Sat, 12 Jun 2004 13:06:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 287 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Stylish Linux-Based Residential Gateway Supports VoIP (VOIP News) VOIP Service Pulverized (VOIP News) Telus Mike Blackberry 7510 Fails WML Page (John Smith) Re: Feds Say Vehicle Black Boxes Not Needed (Tony P.) Determining Type of Connection (Justin Grenier) Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails (Jim Hopkins) Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails (Al Gillis) Re: Cell Phone With Timer? (DevilsPGD) Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules (Frank) Last Laugh! Misc Xerox Story, was Re: Public Copy Cost (Danny Burstein) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:58:09 -0400 Subject: Stylish Linux-Based Residential Gateway Supports VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9738448933.html i3 Micro Technology is shipping a new Linux-based residential gateway for broadband service providers wishing to extend VoIP (voice-over-IP) features to existing broadband customers. The VRG 321 includes a NAT router and firewall, with VoIP features that work in conjunction with i3 management and provisioning software. The "competitively priced" VRG 321 is the entry level model in i3's 300-series residential gateway line. It is intended for use with the company's i3 Centre Element Manager VoIP management and provisioning system. The VRG 321 connects to an analog touchtone phone or fax through its FXS RJ-11 port, and to a DSL or cable modem router through an Ethernet WAN port. It also includes an Ethernet LAN port, and network address translation (NAT, or IP masquerading) software enabling multiple home computers to share the same broadband connection. The Vood also includes a stateful, packet-inspecting firewall, with built-in quality-of-service (QoS) features to ensure excellent voice quality, according to i3. Additionally, the device includes a DHCP client and server, and supports pass-through IPSec, PPPoE, UPnP, and DMZ (de-militarized zone, for running home Internet servers on a separate network subnet). It supports remote secure webserver-based or SNMP management. It uses open standards including SIP (session initiation protocol), H.323v4/H.450/H.235 compression, and supports supplementary PSTN services. It also includes an address book and supports click-to-dial and call lists, with voice mail support optional. Full story at: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9738448933.html How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:55:25 -0400 Subject: VOIP Service Pulverized Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53927 Controversy has broken out over the launch of what's claimed to be the first commercial voice over IP (VOIP) service to use ENUM (electronic number mapping), a protocol that translates phone numbers into URLs, so that the Internet Domain Name Service (DNS) effectively becomes a global VOIP directory. A commercial service based on ENUM was launched last week by Sentiro, a U.K. company formerly known as Telesoft Ltd. (see Sentiro Launches Global ENUM Service ). But the move was today criticized as premature and counter-productive by VOIP pioneer Jeff Pulver, the founder of Free World Dialup (FWD) and numerous other VOIP ventures (see Pulver.com). "I'm quite surprised to hear someone's going ahead with a commercial service," Pulver told Light Reading, noting that a number of major political and administrative issues still need to be resolved beforehand. ENUM is still in the experimental phase, he says, and "going commercial might kill the experiment." One of Pulver's concerns is that Sentiro is using +87810 as the equivalent of a country code. The number enables Sentiro to operate across national boundaries as a global player, but the last time Pulver checked, the "universal personal telephone" code wasn't supposed to be used for commercial services, he says. It was created by the International Telecommunication Union last year and was meant to facilitate ENUM experiments, according to Pulver. At the time it was announced, both Pulver.com and Telesoft said they would offer services based on it (see VOIP Gets New Numbers ). Pulver says offering commercial services based on the +87810 "universal personal telephone" code would be dodgy if it's still experimental, because the ITU might rescind the code at a later date, leaving Sentiro customers marooned. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=53927 ------------------------------ From: John Smith Subject: Telus Mike Blackberry 7510 Fails WML Page Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:08:15 GMT I am baffled ... On the Telus PCS network using a Blackberry 6750, I can access wml pages up to approx 9000 byte in size without trouble. On the Telus Mike network using a Mike enabled Blackberry 7510 I can only access pages under approx 2000 bytes. The error I get on the 7510 Blackberry is: An error occurred while fetching the requested page. I know WAP gateways have page size limits but I'm surprised telus's new Mike Blackberry offering can handle less than 1/4 what the 6750/PCS could. Here are the basic wml pages for testing: http://64.180.231.203/a.wml (approx 1000 bytes) http://64.180.231.203/b.wml (approx 2000 bytes) http://64.180.231.203/c.wml (approx 9000 bytes) Again, all three work fine on the 6750/PCS but only a.wml works on the 7510 Mike Blackberry. I should also mention that all three pages work on a Bell Mobility 6750 as well. Any thoughts, help much appreciated. John ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Feds Say Vehicle Black Boxes Not Needed Organization: ATCC Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 19:46:41 GMT In article , monty@roscom.com says: > By DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press Writer > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Data recorders that collect information on speed, > seat belt use, braking and other factors shouldn't be required in > vehicles, federal regulators said Thursday. > Dr. Ricardo Martinez, former administrator of the National Highway > Traffic Safety Administration, was among those pushing the agency to > mandate the data recorders, saying they are essential for > understanding what happens in a crash. > But NHTSA said automakers are adding black boxes at a fast enough pace > on their own. Approximately 15 percent of vehicles now on the road > have the data recorders, and NHTSA says between 65 percent and 90 > percent of 2004 vehicles have some sort of recording ability. > Under a proposal released Thursday, NHTSA said it wants recorders to > collect a standard set of data to help crash investigators. By > September 2008, the agency wants recorders to collect up to 42 > specific data elements, including the time it takes for air bags to > deploy. > NHTSA said the systems that control air bags already capture a great > deal of that information, so the cost of standardizing the data will > be minimal. Some automakers already have the recorders installed in > most vehicles. General Motors Corp. began installing recorders in > 1994, while Ford Motor Co. began installing them in 2001. And how long will we have to wait for someone to re-chip those little data loggers so they always show 'acceptable' data. I see a niche market here. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 18:16:54 -0400 From: Justin Grenier Subject: Determining Type of Connection Greetings! My fiance received an obscene and harassing telephone call yesterday. Upon hitting *69, we came up with the source of the call. A reverse-lookup on the number produces no results, so we tried dialing the number. However, when we call this number, we are hearing some type of communications handshake on the other end. It's not a fax machine, as I have attempted to send a fax to it. I also tried connecting via HyperTerminal, but the handshake never completes there either. Can anyone point me in the proper direction for beginning to determine the type of communications device on the other end of the line so that I can further investigate the source of the obscene telephone call? I am especially concerned since the caller knew personal details about my fiance that means he knows what she looks like. We have reported the incident to the police and to the telephone company, but they have both been less than helpful. Thanks in advance for your assistance! Justin R. Grenier Applications Engineer Information Technology Berks County Intermediate Unit Post Office Box 16050 1111 Commons Boulevard Reading, Pennsylvania 19612-6050 (610) 987-8571 Facsimile: (610) 926-8223 jusgre@berksiu.org http://www.berksiu.org ------------------------------ From: Jim Hopkins Subject: Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 00:53:54 GMT On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 06:32:50 -0700, John Salmon wrote: > Hello folks, > I have Earthlink DSL over Verizon phone lines. My house is old and the > internal phonelines may be part of the problem. > My DSL connection cuts out quite regularly. DSL light on the modem goes > from lit to dark or blinks slowly. The odd thing is that taking a phone > off the hook causes the signal to reestablish within a few seconds. After > a minute or so the phone can be put back on the hook, and the connection > remains for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. This is an > intermittent problem which had disappeared for some time but now seems to > have reappeared. > Anyone have any ideas for troubleshooting? All phones in the house have > filters attached -- there are no cable boxes, security systems, or > anything else plugged into phone jacks. > Thanks in advance, > John What it might be is a high resistance connection somewhere in the copper pair. Copper splices develop oxidation on the surface of the metal, much like the dark coating of an old penny. It's normally not a problem on voice lines because the -48V CO battery has enough potential to break the insulating layer of the oxide down. When I worked on data and voice special circuits in the 80's, we'd often have this problem. Usually as soon as you tested the pair for contiunuity, the testboard battery would break down the oxide layer and the circuit would be good again for a few hours or days. The solution was to simplex -48 V onto the two pairs at the CO and short the simplex leads together in the field. Sometimes it was done the other way with voltage in the field and a short at the CO. When I say "simplex" the voltage on, what I mean is that the equipment on each end had coils across the tip and ring. These coils had center taps. so you'd wire CO battery to one center tap, say on the transmit pair, and CO ground on the center tap of the other pair. Then you'd short the center taps together in the field. It was (still is) called "sealing current". What might be happening to you, John, is your pair has a high joint in it. As long as your phone is on hook, there's no potential difference between the two wires on each side of the joint, so the oxide layer can build up and eventually cause a high open. When you go off hook, then there's a 48V difference in potential which is enough to break down the oxide layer and fix the problem temporarily. If it usually comes back within a few hours, I'd try getting a roll of wire and directly wiring from your DSL modem to the box on the outside of the house. If you still experience the problem, that points to the telco's cable pair or (less likely but possible) CO wiring. If that fixes the problem it's the wirng in your house, in which case you should physically trace it out and carefully examine any splices or junctions you find. If it's the phone company's pair, good luck getting them to change it, but if you present this information and the results of your tests to them, who knows? Jim Hopkins ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: Help w/ DSL Problem - Connection Fails Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 20:38:43 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Hi John, Your problem sounds pretty routine to aging commo dogs like myself ... The old wiring serving your home and, likely, your entire neighborhood has probably developed lots of corrosion in the numerous connection points that exist between the CO equipment serving your DSL and your home. If you could inventory your cable pair from start to finish you'd find several terminals, probably some splices and maybe an old connection to other homes along the way. Each of these has the potential to introduce high resistance connections to your DSL service, which draws very little current by itself. All that resistance impairs the DSL signal to the point that the "modem" can no longer distinguish the 1s from the 0s until the little green light flickers on and off and finally and goes out! When you pick up your telephone more current flows in the conductors of your connection to the central office. That increased current helps to reduce the effect the corrosion has on the DSL signal and things start working pretty good. Later, you hang up the phone, the line current is reduced and corrosion's ugly head pops up and starts causing trouble on your DSL again. (That very effect caused countless troubles in older analog data circuits. Finally some brilliant young guy figured it out and invented what became known as "sealing current". Sealing current "sealed up" many of those cable plant faults that added noise to data circuits and things worked great (without TelCo having to send a cable crew out to find what was wrong and then fix it). So that's what is probably wrong with your circuit. To much resistance caused by corrison imparing the DSL signal. Now -- how to get it fixed! That's a great question! I'm afraid you're in for a long uphill pull, trying to get some repair clerk to prepare a trouble ticket to "install sealing current" on your cable pair OR to move your circuit (telephone and DSL) to another good cable pair. Good luck, pal! Al John Salmon wrote in message news:telecom23.286.11@telecom-digest.org: > Hello folks, > I have Earthlink DSL over Verizon phone lines. My house is old and the > internal phonelines may be part of the problem. > My DSL connection cuts out quite regularly. DSL light on the modem > goes from lit to dark or blinks slowly. The odd thing is that taking a > phone off the hook causes the signal to reestablish within a few > seconds. After a minute or so the phone can be put back on the hook, > and the connection remains for anywhere from a few minutes to a few > hours. This is an intermittent problem which had disappeared for some > time but now seems to have reappeared. > Anyone have any ideas for troubleshooting? All phones in the house > have filters attached -- there are no cable boxes, security systems, > or anything else plugged into phone jacks. > Thanks in advance, > John ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD Subject: Re: Cell Phone With Timer? Reply-To: bond-jamesbond@crazyhat.net Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 02:45:14 GMT In message <> Michael D. Sullivan did ramble: >>> Is there any cell phone that you can program to turn on at a certain >>> time or at least not be in silent mode at a certain time ... I'm only >>> suppose to get calls from work between certain hours but people ignore >>> this so I want to program it in ... Problem is I only get calls halfway >>> through the night when I'm sleeping so obviously can't turn on the >>> ringer or turn on the phone then. > My Kyocera 7135 smartphone (Palm PDA/phone) has an option to turn on > and off at specified times each day. All of the Motorola iDEN phones (Nextel, TELUS Mike networks) which have calendars do. This is most of the business ones, but not all of the low end or the rugged units. The nice thing about standards, there is enough for everyone to have their own. ------------------------------ From: Frank@nospam.biz Subject: Re: California: SBC Restrictions on DSL Are Illegal, Judge Rules Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 08:09:41 -0700 Organization: Cox Communications VOIP News wrote: > SBC executives, who have not yet seen the decision, insisted Wednesday > that the company didn't have to provide its DSL service to customers > who wanted to move their local phone service to a rival. The crooks never give up, do they. The fact they won't simply offer DSL without voice shows their true nature. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is precisely (one of) the problems I had with Southwestern Bell here in Independence. They tried to tell Prairie Stream I was 'not eligible' for transfer to that CLEC since I had 'DSL on my line'. My response to SWB was if it has to be all or nothing then you will wind up getting nothing, and I went down that day and changed over to cable internet. Right away they started getting after me with all kinds of special offers and bonuses to stick with them. Truth be told, I have not missed SWB/SBC at all. And since I got to keep my number, who cares. But here in Kansas, SBC may not have to get sued before they change their tune. Reason is, so many folks are splitting on their own from SBC to one of the CLECs. The Kansas Commission has said they do not have a lot of sympathy either way for SBC or Sprint (formerly United Telephone, our other dominant carrier). They seem to give a cold shoulder to whatever causes SBC and Sprint Local grief. If SBC had been gracious about this and allowed me to keep DSL without keeping their lousy phone service as well, then probably today I would have still had DSL. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Last Laugh! Misc Xerox Story, was Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:42:20 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC The snippets about the continuing cheapness (between $0.05 and $0.10 for the past two decades) of making paper copies, and the other recollections by TELECOM Digest readers of Xerox history reminded me of one of my favorites: From "My years with Xerox" by John Dressor ... all such mechanical ordeals were confronted and eventually conquered, but then we struck another snag. In the earliest models of the desk-size copier, papers occassionally became jammed around the drum. They were scorched. "What if this happens in the offices of custoners?" one engineer said as a worried group of us stood around a copier whose smoking had been extinguished with a dousing of carbon dioxide. The room still smelled of smoke. "It could cause the customer damage. On top of that, it might ruin the machine. We've got to do something about the danger." Of course, in time we engineered the hazard out of existence. But on this day, still sniffing smoke, Peter McColough and Don Clark suggested, "We'd better attach one of those little fire extinguishers to each machine. With instructions printed under it. It may save us a lot of trouble." Possibly we all acknowledged, at least in the secrecy of our minds, that a fire extinguisher should at this stage be an essential part of the copier's equipment. But one of the men who objected at the suggestion was a member of our public relations staff. He pressed a hand over his eyes as if to shut out the terrible vision of an extinguisher. "You can't do that." he protested. "It's like telling a potential customer that when he leases our machine he's inviting an office fire. Might as wll tell him the copier may at any instant explode. A fire extinguisher on that machine will cost you half its potential sales. You just CAN'T do it!" There wes a long silence. A dozen able, intelligent men stood scowling at the machine whose fire had created this dilemma. And then somebody - nobody remembers with certainty who it was - said in a tentative way, "Do we have to call it a fire extinguisher? Maybe if we gave it some other name, something less frightening ..." I cannot delay reporting the outcome of this discussion. When the early 914 copiers were ready for public inspection, each had clamped to its side a small instrument labeled: Scorch Eliminator. Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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End of TELECOM Digest V23 #287 ******************************