A Core Competence Product Evaluation
Out of the Box: Hardware, Software, Documentation and Accessories
The IBM WaveRunner Digital Modem we evaluated was suitable for installation in a PC with one free full-length 16- or 32-bit ISA/EISA slot, a 386XS or faster CPU with DMA bus-mastering, and at least 4 (Windows) or 8 (OS/2) MB of RAM. Other variations of this card are available for installation in a full-length Micro Channel slot or PCMCIA Type II or III socket. We installed our card in an IBM Aptiva A50 (Pentium 150MHz) PC with 16 MB of RAM, along side the Aptiva’s factory-installed Mwave analog modem (more on this later). The WaveRunner does not have an integrated NT-1 (network termination), and thus offers a single RJ-45 jack for connection to an ISDN S/T interface.
To connect the WaveRunner to your ISDN subscriber line U interface, you’ll need an external NT-1, such as the IBM 7845 Network Terminator Extender. The Extended NT-1 supports up to 8 ISDN "terminals", daisy-chained to the same ISDN S/T interface "bus". It also offers a single analog port that allows you to dedicate one of your two B channels to an analog device (telephone, fax machine, or analog modem) connected to the Extended NT-1’s single RJ-11 jack. The 7498 is a killer NT-1, with battery backup to preserve ISDN service up to 18 hours (6 hours in-use) during a power failure, and chock full of custom calling features for the connected analog device, including speed dialing, last-number redial, repetitive dialing, call blocking and conference calls. As you might expect, there’s a price to be paid for these features: the 7845’s added cost (~$400) and hefty footprint (8.6"x8".1.8", 3 lbs with battery, plus power supply). For the PCMCIA WaveRunner, we think this would be impractical, but the Extended NT-1 could prove advantageous in a small business environment by allowing many single-user ISDN devices to share the same ISDN subscriber line.
The product is currently supplied with Windows 95 drivers, IBM Mwave drivers, WaveRunner applications (HDLC Async-to-Sync Driver, 14400 bps Modem Driver, V.120 Driver, ISDN Port Monitor), a third-party COM Port accelerator, and a Group 3 Fax Lite application. DOS, Windows 3.1, IBM OS/2 v2.1, and Windows 95 are all supported, but no Windows NT. We evaluated the unit under Windows 95 only, using the native Microsoft TCP/IP stack and Dial-Up Networking utilities. But the WaveRunner supports plenty of other configuration options, including WinISDN, an NDIS packet driver (IP over ISDN), SLIP, and X.25 (using IBM OS/2 Communications Manager/2). It also doubles as a V.32/V.32bis/V.120 analog modem with MNP4/5 error correction and compression. This amazing flexibility turned out to be important to us, as only one Mwave device can be installed in a PC. We were forced to remove our existing Mwave analog modem in order to successfully install the WaveRunner. Unfortunately, this meant we also lost our sound card – a function provided by our Aptiva’s factory-installed Mwave card but not by the WaveRunner.
An Installation Checklist, Guide to Operations, and NT Extended Installation Guide are also included in the box. The NT-1 Guide provides in-depth discussion of wiring options, but assumes that your ISDN line has not yet been installed. NT-1 programming descriptions are presented clearly, both in "cookbook" and index/manual formats. The ISA Installation Checklist provides an excellent alternative to the in-depth treatment presented by the Guide to Operations, but assumes DOS/Windows 3.1. During our evaluation, we downloaded a recent Windows 95 upgrade from IBM’s web site, and followed step-by-step instructions provided in the README file. Three cables were also included in the boxes: one with RJ-45 terminations to connect the card to the Extended NT-1, and two with RJ-11 terminations to connect your favorite analog device to the Extended NT-1. (We’d gladly have swapped the unused RJ-11 for the additional RJ-45 needed to connect the Extended NT-1 to our ISDN wall jack.)
What else do you need? An ISDN wall jack, of course – you’ll need to purchase an ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) from your local telephone company or other ISDN local access provider, and either have the inside ISDN wiring installed or do it yourself. And you’ll need someplace to call – the phone number of an ISDN access server and an appropriately-configured dial-in account. If you plan to use the ISDN to surf the web, you’ll need to purchase a single-host ISDN dial-in account from an Internet Access Provider. If you plan to use the card for remote access to your corporate network, you’ll need to chat with your friendly system administrator back at the office. You can’t get very far into the configuration process without these two pre-requisites, so take care of these steps before grabbing your screwdriver to install the card…
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