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Re: Lanpress

Dave Althoff <dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us> wrote:

> Phil Beesley (PB14@le.ac.uk) wrote:
> 
> (after noting that a Lanpress or other printer gateway wouldn't work)
> 
> : One plug-in box that *might* work is the Farallon Etherwave that plugs
> : into a Mac LocalTalk port to connect it to an ethernet network. These do
> : work on the Mac but are noticeably slower than a proper ethernet
> : interface. However you would need to write a driver for the device,
> : assuming you could get enough info on how it worked. 
> 
> Noticeably slower makes sense; if I remember correctly, Ethernet is
> 10,000,000 bits/second while LocalTalk is 57,600 bits/second. 

LocalTalk is 230,400 bps (and is synchronous, so has less overhead than
asynchronous comms as used with modems).  Note that Ethernet and
LocalTalk speeds are theoretical limits - due to the protocol
requirements, you cannot actually achieve this level of throughput over
any useful period (more than one frame).

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand