Below is a history of my dealings with modems and BBS systems. Yes, I know there are a few spelling and grammer errors, it was done just out of the blue one night.

The BBS, or Bulliten Board System, was my introduction to on-line computer systems. I called my first BBS in 1989 with a 2400 bps internal modem and a 286 10 Mhz PC. At first, all I found was the shareware type BBS's that allowed me to download programs. Soon, that 2400 bps modem seemed REALLY SLOW for the new larger programs I was downloading. At the time, around 1990, the best thing on the market was the US Robotics 14400 HST external modem. Yes, 14400 bps, but only in one direction at a time. The "back channel" was only 450 bps. Good enough for typing commands to the BBS, but useless for bi-direction transfers. With this modem, my download speed went from 240 CPS max, to a blazing 1,730 CPS with a little tweaking and the use of Y-Modem-G. Z-Modem could only get about 1,650 CPS, which was still great at the time. For at least 2 years, this was THE modem to have. All the big BBS's had them. So it was easy to find a BBS that could support the 14400 USR robotics HST modem. Then USR upgraded the HST to 16800 bps at the time that the new V.32bis 14400 modems were comming out. The new 16800 HST modem would get a max of about 2,010 CPS with all the proper tweaking. Of course, HST was still fast one way, slow the other way. Enter the V.32bis modems. This was a standard for the 14400 bps modem. Supported by all the modem companies, it was the the end of the road for the USR HST standard. Even with the slightly faster 16800 speed, the HST, supported only by US Robotics, was nearing the end. V.32bis was 14400 in both directions, unlike the HST. And a much wider support from modem companies. USR came out with a new protocol shortly after, that was called "V.32terbo". It had a bi-directional speed of 21600 bps. Too bad it never really took off. Waiting in the wings, Rockwell just came out with the "V.Fast" standard. This "non-standard" standard could do up to 28800 bps bi-directionaly. Soon after, the V.34 modems come out. These were the standard for 28800 bps modems that quickly replaced "V.Fast". The V.34 protocol was great. It could have up to 28800 in one way, and up to 28800 in the other. It could vary the speed of each channel independantly, depending on phone line quality. In this way, it could connect at the fastest speed that the phone line could support. Way better the the "V.Fast" protocol that would slow down both channels if the line quality went down in just one channel. Shortly later, the V.34+ protocol was introduced. This was a slight upgrade to a max of 33600 bps operation. This is pretty much the fastest standard we are using today for analog phone lines. Yes, the newest modems are now boasting 56,000 bps. But this is in download only, and ONLY if you are connected to a digital source like an Internet Provider. They must have a digital T1, ISDN Pri, etc, with the same type of modems as your modem. Right now X2 and K56Flex are the two "standards" for 56,000 bps download operation. Your ISP must support the one your modem supports. Oh, then there is a law that prevents the ISP's modems from having a voltage higher than that allowed by this law. What this means, is your "56k modem" is really a "53k modem". Geeze. Oh, they may ditch that law, and then you will get up to a max of 56k for now. Later, we could have up to 64k download speed, the MAX a phone line can support. Welcome to the end of the line... hehe Next step? Well, you can join two or more modems with the multilink protocol, and two or more phone lines. But your ISP needs to allow that, and there is the added expense of two or more modems, and two or more phone lines. That brings us to ISDN. ISDN does a max of 128,000 bps when you join the two "B" channels of 64k each. This is like the way you can join two analog modems, but it works much better. This is where I stand now. Having gone through every one of the modem standards described above. I love my ISDN 128k the most. The Internet needs speed. And ISDN makes web surfing a LOT more fun. Plus the 15,500 CPS max speed. And it's fully bi-directional at 128k each way. ISDN is not the end yet... There is ADSL, DSL, and even cable modems comming at your in the near future... Welcome to the Information Highway. And the BBS? Well, they are almost all gone now. Being replaced by The Internet. There will always be a place in my heart for the BBS. It was my start. The Internet was not "ready for prime time" yet. Now it is, and the BBS's are almost all gone. Wanna go back in time? Pick up a copy of Computer Currents or Micro Times (EDIT: it looks as if both of these are now out of business)(EDIT 2: Computer Currents is now called Computer User, and is still around, plus online at computeruser.com) and look in the back. They have listings of a few BBS's that are still around. But hurry... They are going fast... PS: Thanks to all the SYSOPS (SYStem OPerators) for putting so much of thier time and money into the BBS's I have called over the years. You guys were great! :)

PS: The newest ITU standard for "56k analog modems" is now finished. It is called "V.92".

UPDATE: Modems are just too slow. Get rid of it and get DSL or a Cable Modem. You can get 3 Mbps download DSL for under $40 a month now.