>And finally, in reading the discussion of how the 3JTech is bottle-necked
>inside the Duo, am I kidding myself, that a Duo 280 (24/240) will be that
>much faster browsing the web than with say a 33.6 modem?
It should be noticeably faster for a couple of reasons. First, it just is.
:) There's more bandwidth available and much lower latency (especially
because of the next two points).
Second, using a serial port with a high speed modem creates a fairly
substantial interrupt load on the computer, which is made worse by the bus
design of the 280 (and worse still on a 2300). Using a buffered ethernet
device instead greatly reduces that load - you'll probably find that the
computer seems "smoother" when it's online.
Third, it's also simpler and cheaper in terms of CPU to pass IP or
AppleTalk DDP packets to an ethernet controller than it is to run another
yet another software network layer in the form of PPP, so you'll save
another 10% or so there (of CPU and context switching). And in your case
some of the IP networking functionality is also passed off to the cable
modem (or whatever's on the other side of it), so that's another win.
That may seem a rather technical reply to your question, but the bottom
line is that you should end up with a faster feeling and more stable
(because it's less complex) network connection. This is why I frequently
use an old PC running FreeBSD as a NAT gateway even with a mere modem
dialup and one other computer connected.
--
Marc Sira | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"If you can't play with words, what good are they?"
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