tlug: Linux telecom nexus

["J. David Beutel" <jdb@example.com>]

Hi y'all!  I'm here to stay, and the ISDN line comes Wednesday.
I've got grand telecom plans centered on my Linux box, but I could
use some advice on hardware.  I want Linux to support:

	1. TV
	2. voice mail
	3. FAX
	4. LAN
	5. mobile phone/PDA

I've got:

	1. 17" multiscan VGA monitor
	2. mini-stereo with AUX input
	3. Pentium 133 mini-tower with several free PCI and ISA slots
	4. ATI Mach64 PCI display board
	5. some SCSI storage devices and an old Adaptec board
	6. Toshiba Tecra laptop w/ SCSI & LAN cards & 28.8 voice/fax modem
	7. US Robotics Sportster external 28.8 (33.6) fax modem (no voice)


TV Phase:

  plan:
	Buy a used Japanese HiFi VCR to record shows and play NTSC tapes.
	Buy a frame grabber board and use the BTTV driver beta
	(as demonstrated at a recent TLUG meeting) to display TV
	on my monitor.  Run Linux constantly to avoid boot time.

  questions:

	1. In Akihabara and Shinjuku, I haven't seen any of the supported
	   boards given as examples (i.e., Hauppauge Win/TV PCI, Miro
	   PCTV, STB TV PCI, Diamond DTV2000, Videologic Captivator PCI,
	   AVerMedia TV-Phone, Matrix Vision MV-Delta).  However, I have
	   seen several boards using the proper chip (Brooktree Bt848).
	   
	   Where can I buy a board that is known to work?  Has anyone
	   tried a local board?  How compatible are they apt to be?

	2. I need bilingual audio.  (second audio program?)  Can the VCRs
	   here do that?  (to their audio line out?)  Or, do I need to 
	   get a board that can do it?

	3. Current boards (e.g., Hauppauge) are around $100 and have
	   cool features like decoding various data sent in the VBI.
	   The Japanese TV boards are more expensive (around JPY20,000).
	   Do they decode similar data?  (Closed-captioning and such?)
	   I think it differs from country to country, but it would be
	   really trick to have my box scan the captions for keywords.
	   Otherwise, I am favoring the cheaper boards without tuners.

	4. Some boards have S-VHS input.  What is the advantage over
	   composite video RCA jacks?  (I.e., how much is S-VHS worth?)


Voicemail/FAX Phase:

  plan:
	Buy a slow internal voice/fax modem and use the mgetty beta (w/
	vgetty) to do voice mail and faxes.  I won't normally use it
	for data, so a 14.4 or 19.2 should be cheaper.  Later I may get 
	a scanner to fax hardcopies.

  questions:

	1. The recommended modems for voice/fax are ZyXEL 1496,
	   ZyXEL 2864, MultiTech MT 2834ZDXv, and maybe TKR TriStar
	   (actually an ELSA 28.8).  Less recommended for fax
	   is ELSA MicroLink TQV, and less recommended for voice
	   (but still some functionality) is US Robotics Sportster
	   33.6 Voice Fax.  I haven't seen any of these brands in
	   Akihabara nor Shinjuku, except US Robotics.  I think the
	   others are German (so would they work here?).

	   Where can I buy a cheap internal modem recommended for
	   voice and fax?  Can anyone recommend a local brand?

	2. Is there a better way?  E.g., using a sound card?
	   Or, using ISDN somehow?  (E.g., many TA modems use the
	   AT command set.  Do any emulate voice modem capabilities?)


LAN Phase:

  plan:
	Buy an external ISDN TA with a serial port and 2 analog lines.
	Use my Linux box as a router.  Buy a board of some kind to
	connect my laptop (will decide later), since both serial ports
	and the parallel port of the box will be occupied.

  questions:

	1. Where will the PPP daemon run, on the TA or Linux?  Both?
	   I.e., how does the TA do MultiPPP, BOD, etc?  Does Linux?

	2. I think I understand dialing out, but how can I dial-in to
	   my box at home via a digital channel?  (E.g., see the Mobile
	   Phase below.)  Do I need to rent a second phone number from
	   NTT?

	3. How can I get, or do, a permanent IP address from Internet,
	   without a leased line?  I.e., I would like to be able to
	   connect from anywhere on the Internet to my box at any time.
	   Is there an ISP here which will dial-up my box when someone
	   sends it a packet?

	4. I think number 3 can be had with AO/DI (Always-On/Dynamic
	   ISDN), which uses the D channel for a trickle connection,
	   without a leased line.  But, I don't know if it's available 
	   yet (even in the US).  Has anyone heard of it here?

	5. How shall I connect my laptop?  I could add another serial
	   port to my box, and run PPP over it, but the box might be
	   getting pretty busy at this point.  Or, I could get a 10bT
	   LAN board, but would I also need to get a hub in order to
	   connect to my laptop's 10bT LAN card?  Or, could I get a cheap
	   IrDA or USB board and run a link over that?

	6. If I buy the DSU separate from the TA, are all DSUs the same?
	   Or, should I concern myself with DSU features as well?


Mobile Phone/PDA Phase:

  plan:
	Buy an ISDN TA that can do PHS and PIAFS too.  Buy a mobile PHS
	PDA that also works as a phone (all in one). 
	1. Use it as a cordless	phone at home, and also for syncing 
	   the PDA part to my Linux box.
	2. Use it mobile to my ISP for reading email (preferably via
	   IMAP).  (Or, read email from my box, if I can get a 
	   permanent IP address.)
	3. Use it mobile to dial-up my box, for reference (especially for
	   kanji dictionaries, or possibly to read books if the screen is
	   nice enuf).  Requires Japanese web browser, terminal,
	   or telnet.
	4. Automatic notification of email and voice mail.
	5. PDA stuff like address and phone book, scheduler, notes.

  questions:

	1. How does the PHS sound quality compare to a cordless phone
	   when using the PHS locally (like a cordless phone)?

	2. Can I have one phone number ring both my PHS and 
	   analog (voicemail/fax) line?  I.e., can I give people
	   only one phone number?

	3. Would the PHS provider's voicemail be better?

	4. Which is the best PHS company?

	5. Is a keitai an option for a mobile data PDA?

	6. I've seen the Astel AI-15, Toshiba Genio and MC-01
	   and Kyocera's DataScope DS-110 and DS-320 via DDI Pocket,
	   and the J-Phone SkyWalker.  Are any of them open platforms?
	   Which would best suit my needs?  Are there any others?
	   (I.e., what's NTT got?)

	7. They all use PIAFS?  So, is there anything else I would
	   need to consider before buying a PHS ISDN TA?

	8. Does the NEC Aterm IW60 HS DSU have any competition?
	   (And, what does HS mean?)  It's a bit pricy, so I'd
	   like to be sure.

	9. When using any of the PDAs to call an ISP equiped with
	   a PIAFS TA or to call my own PIAFS TA, I would pay the
	   same as a PHS voice call?  (plus regular ISP usage fee)
	   Since many ISPs offer 64K ISDN dialup at the same rate
	   as analog, do they charge extra to do PIAFS on the ISDN?

	10. Which PDAs have web browsers?  Are they all abbreviated
	    (e.g., HDML or WAP or something versus HTML)?  Are any
	    dependant on some service from the PHS carrier?

	11. The Toshiba Genio looks the best, at least from last year,
	    but I heard that it's been discontinued.  I'm worried
	    about support, especially software support, especially
	    if it's a closed platform.  Is there any 3rd-party software?

	12. Ideal would be a PalmPilot III with a PHS phone/modem
	    attachment that could do voice calls, since the Pilot is
	    so open.  But, I doubt that there's any all-in-one thing.
	    Still, I see that 3Com makes a PHS PIAFS PC card, to
	    interface with a mobile phone.  And, they've entered
	    an agreement with Qualcomm for CDMA with Pilot.  So,
	    there's hope.  Any guesses how long it will be?

	13. This mobile PDA, subscriber contract, and PIAFS PHS TA
	    seem to be the big-ticket item.  

--
11011011   J. David Beutel   jdb@example.com

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