Hardware In Review

Primary Features
Fax: Group III, Class 1 & 2, V.17, V.27ter, V.29 and V.21 modes (14,400 to 300bps)
Data: V.32bis (14,400bps), V.32 (9600bps), V.22, V.22bis (1200/2400bps), Bell 212A (1200bps), Bell 103 (300bps).
Error Correction: V.42 and MNP2-4
Data Compression: V.42bis and MNP5 for up to 57,600bps throughput.

Boca modems are made in the U.S.A., and are covered by a 5 year warranty.

Appearance & Package Contents
The modem is housed in an attractive, low profile, black anodized texture type case (7.5" x 5.5" x 1.1"). The front panel has an array of eight LED indicators which show the status of the following lines and conditions:

TM - Test Mode
AA - Auto Answer
HS - High Speed
OH - Off Hook
SD - Send Data
RD - Received Data
TR - Terminal Ready
CD - Carrier Detect

Equipment Used for Testing
Computers: Commodore 128 with SwiftLink-232 high speed serial cartridge interface, Commodore 128 with an Omnitronix RS232 interface, Commodore Amiga 1200, Atari 800 XL, and an IBM PS/1.
Other modems: Universal Data Systems 1200, U.S. Robotics Sportster 14.4Kbps, Telebit PEP 2400, Supra 2400, SupraFAXmodem 9600Kbps, SupraFAXmodem 14.4Kbps, USR Dual Standard HST.
Software: Omni128 BBS, Desterm 128 v2.0, Dialogue 128 v2.2 on the C-128, JrComm 1.02, GPFax on the Amiga, Bobterm for Atari 800xl, QModem Pro for the IBM PS/1.

Operating Tests
It was with great anticipation that I connected the Boca 14.4 to my 128/SwiftLink setup, as I needed to find the correct modem settings for use with my BBS software (other sysops also were anxiously waiting for the proper setup).

First, I put the modem online in a simple terminal and reset the modem to its defaults via at ? ? ? ?. Then, I sent some commands which are used to set up a Supra modem (another Rockwell technology modem) for my software.

I "called" the Boca from another computer and terminal using all the standard baud rates and error correction and compression modes to see what kind of responses it gave. All responses matched those shown in the manual, and were similar to the SupraFAXmodem, so I set about to try running my BBS with it.

On the first attempt at calling the BBS, something was obviously wrong. I made it back into the BBS terminal mode to check the modem. The "at?" command revealed some registers had changed. I attributed this to the initial power up cycle. After restoring the modem to its defaults via at? and setting a few of the other registers to emulate the Supra's programmed responses, I was in business! From that point, I was able to test drive the modem on my BBS for several weeks, and also develop some other strings for use in the network section. Operation as the BBS host modem was very reliable, and better than the Supra in a few ways:

• Connect times for "direct" modes (such as 2400 direct) were between 5 and 7 seconds faster (than my SupraFAX 9600). This includes 4800 and 9600 direct.
• The modem runs very cool to touch. Even in 80 degree F ambient temperature, the modem was barely lukewarm, sure signs of a low-power consumption chipset and long-term reliability.
• Download transfer times at 14.4Kbps were often over 100 CPS (characters per second) faster than my U.S.R. Sportster. Downloading from my BBS using Ymodem-G yielded 1389 CPS, and from high speed Amiga systems, up to 1650 CPS!
• Some modem types, such as one of the two UDS 1200's which would not connect to the Supra at all, had no problem linking up with the Boca M144EW.

Compression protocols are quite different, and were designed to increase the throughput between the computer and modem at either end of the line. The Boca supports MNP-5, and V.42bis compression. MNP-5 is the lesser used of the two, and has the potential to double throughput on text and similar un-crunched data, but will actually slow down a transfer if compressed files are sent. V.42bis, on the other hand, is intelligent enough to disable its compression mode if dense data is encountered, and turn it back on when appropriate. Many modem manuals recommend not using error correction or compression unless a streaming protocol such as Zmodem or Ymodem-G is to be used--the reason being that it would be redundant to error check the same data twice. Of course, the Boca modem provides several ways to disable such connection types (Note: Error correction and compression can also adversely effect the handshaking methods of some protocols; Punter is a prime example, which may or may not synchronize with V.42bis or MNP-5 depending on the baud rate, phone company packeting system, or other arcane factors). In practice, you will get the fastest transfer rates with direct, or "normal" connections at any baud rate, unless you are transferring text.

Conclusions
The Boca 14.4Kbps is a well engineered unit, with enough configuration possibilities to fulfill any requirements from the simplest of terminals to advanced customized BBS's. Although I could not test the FAX options with my SupraFAX software, I have no reason to doubt it works with the supplied programs under DOS and Windows.