"Hank Oredson" wrote in message
...

Does Flexnet implement large window / slow-start / selective nak?
If not, it cannot come near the best transfer rate over a poor channel.

I don't have any idea, Hank. It's a proprietary protocol, not open-source
and there is not much discussion of FlexNet's internal workings that I would
be privy to. If I was privy to discussion of it, there's question as to how
much I would understand. It's a freebee, download a copy and see what it
looks like to you. You'd know what you were seeing better than I would. Get
two FlexNets talking to each other, see what they do if you are interested.

Over a good channel most anything will give near max transfer rate.


Most anything *can*, but in most cases with traditional static-parameter
setups, hams tend to play with the bare minimum required to get them on the
air, and leave the rest at default values. Those default values are
compromise settings, optimized for general use-ability under almost any
operating conditions.

FlexNet's AI will optimize your link parameters for you, in fact it does so
continuously, as far as I can tell. If everybody is using FlexNet, then you
don't have to worry about parameters causing problems and everybody is
running at or near optimum all the time, automagically. TXDELAY is really
about the only link parameter that you can maladjust and mess up. There's
not much left to argue about after that, except SSID's I guess.

User-settable parameters include: Mycall/SSIDs, TXDelay, Speed.

Some of the drivers have additional parms such as COM port numbers,
addresses, etc..

Note: There is an option on FlexNet nodes to disallow connects from stations
running too much TXD, sending them a short message about the problem and
disconnecting. It detects TXD, and shuts out stations using more than 100 ms
unnecessary TXD. This is not used much here in the US, but personally I like
it. - If you have too little TXD, you cannot connect. If you have too much,
the node tells to to take a hike. It makes it easy to sneak up on an optimum
setting, and keeps anybody from operating with really bad TXD, slowing
things down for everyone else.

The main thing about a packet net is that it is a social critter. You have
to figure on a small number of experts, not nearly enough to go around and
hold everybody's hand. By using expert system software though, appliance
operators like myself can at least simulate having an expert sitting in at
our packet stations. FlexNet greatly simplifies the setup procedure and at
the same time vastly improves average link performance for individuals, and
by that token for entire networks.

Charles Brabham, N5PVL