As someone who's old enough to remember the pain of trying to get early 14.4k modems to talk to each other, then suffered all over again first with the introduction of 28.8k modems, then 56k, and finally with 802.11 wireless networking, I have to say that my finger is pointing at the router manufacturers. The fact that a connection is made effortlessly with a Cisco box doesn't surprise me; enterprise-grade kit stands or falls on its compatibility. Consumer kit, otoh, sells mostly on stand-out features. Time and time again too many manufacturers have rushed out "draft-x" specs in a bid to beat their rivals, only to find later that a minor change during ratification has broken something vital.
Sorry for the minor rant, but this is a pet hate of mine. Standards are there for a reason!
Al (who still has a text file of common modem init strings filed away just in case)
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