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| Author |
Message |
nestene
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New Modem Advice Sought
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Aug 14 19:33 UTC 1996 |
I've decided the 2400baud special that came with my system is for the birds,
but I don't know anything about the newer modems. What features should I look
for; what brands should I avoid? Phone-lines in my neighborhood are old and
prone to static, so error-correction is definitely a priority.
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| 11 responses total. |
ajax
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response 1 of 11:
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Aug 15 03:45 UTC 1996 |
Some questions that would help refine the search: are you looking
for an internal PC modem, an external modem, or either one? What's
your price range? Do you want a 14.4k or a 28.8k/33k modem? New
or used?
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arthurp
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response 2 of 11:
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Aug 16 01:13 UTC 1996 |
14.4 is the bottom of do-able IMO. They can be had for $70 or less. They
almost always include fax along with data compression and error correction.
28.8 is much nicer but I think about $140. I would avoid at all costs
anything called a WinModem. It needs a Windows driver to work. You *can not*
use it in DOS. I very much dislike the Plug and Pray (R) variety of modems.
After building computers every day as a source of $$$, I still dislike putting
those buggers in a system.
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scg
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response 3 of 11:
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Aug 16 03:51 UTC 1996 |
Yeah, Plug and Pray is a pain. It's not because I like to do jumper settings,
but because the Plug and Pray stuff generall doesn't work, and is hard to
override.
Normally I'd agree with Charles that 28.8 is much nicer than 14.4 (and that
33.6 would be even nicer), but you said that you have a lot of problems with
line noise. If you can get Ameritech to clean that up, by all means go with
a 28.8 modem. But, 28.8 modems need farily clean lines to run at high speeds
on, so if your lines are noisy you probably won't be able to run it at
anywhere near full speed anyway.
Another thing to think about in terms of modem speed is what the fastest
modems you're going to be connecting to are. Since a modem connection will
never be faster than the slower modem involved, there would be absolutely no
reason to buy a 28.8 if all you were going to use it for was calling Grex.
Since Grex has no plans to increase its modems beyond 14.4 any time in the
near future, that would be somewhat pointless.
As for what kind to get, most people I've talked to seem to like both USRs
and Supras. The Supra 28.8 I used to have at work was a really nice modem,
and is probably what I would buy at this point if I were buying another modem.
In my own computer I have a USR Sportster 28.8, which is also a reasonably
nice modem, but doesn't seem to work as well in somewhat noisy conditions as
the Supra did. I also discovered, after finding out that I had gotten an
early USR 28.8 with a bug that caused it to drop carrier after about five
minutes of running at 28.8, that USR was rather unhelpful about gettnig that
fixed. They had a ROM update out by that point, but it took eight weeks and
several phone calls before they finally sent it to me. That was a year and
a half ago, and you aren't likely to find any new USR Sportsters out there
with that bug, but it makes me worry about how USR would respond to other
problems.
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nestene
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response 4 of 11:
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Aug 16 07:56 UTC 1996 |
Re #1: I think after reading these I'd rather have a 14.4; probably internal
but I'm sure I could find room on the desk for an external model; and I know
I'd be less worried about a new modem than a used one. Price is one of the
things I'm open on--since this is something I'm planning to save up for over
the next few months, there' not much difference between $100 and $140. I just
wanted to avoid buying somthing overpriced or useless.
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rickyb
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response 5 of 11:
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Aug 16 22:40 UTC 1996 |
If you can't find an internal 14.4 fax/modem for under $50 forget it and go
to a 28.8. I got my 14.4 about a year ago for $45 (new), and the prices keep
coming down. a couple of months ago I got an internal URS 28.8 for a group
for about $170. The USR WinModem was about $120 for the 28.8 (but don't get
the windows only version).
In the past I've had pretty good luck with Practical Peripherals, but I don't
see them around much any more. I've also used BEC and Best Data modems with
no problem. My next one will be 33.6, as soon as the prices come down a
little bit more (by then the 14.4's will likely be under $40).
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ajax
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response 6 of 11:
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Aug 16 22:40 UTC 1996 |
Internals are generally cheaper than externals, don't use a power outlet,
don't use a COM port, and don't need a modem cable. On the down side, they
don't have status lights or speed displays, and you can't shut it off as
easily to physically cut the connection (not very important). I find an
LED or LCD display to indicate the current connect speed quite useful on a
V.34 (28.8k/33.?K) modem, because as line conditions change, your connection
speed is adjusted from its initial connect speed. My Supra 288 is usually
between around 16k and 27kbps.
I don't have a recent Computer Shopper, but as of March, generic 14.4k
internal modems were under $40, and generic 28.8k modems were under $110.
Prices are lower today. My advice is if you get a 14.4, get a generic, if
you get a 28.8, get a known brand with a halfway decent reputation. The
reason is that the added complexity of a V.34 modem allows more room for
bad quality. And definitely heed the "avoid WinModem" advice above :-).
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arthurp
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response 7 of 11:
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Aug 17 19:24 UTC 1996 |
Yeah, I have a Dallas Fax 14.4. Generic is fine. Works great. Has for
several years. (Internal, BTW). They were easy to deal with back then, too.
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gull
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response 8 of 11:
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Aug 21 06:21 UTC 1996 |
I have a Zoom Telephonics V.34 modem, and it works fine, though I don't
think it's very tolerant of noise. If you have an older serial port that
doesn't use a 16550 UART chip, *definately* get an internal modem. An old
serial port combined with a fast new modem will drop characters like
crazy, I've seen it happen.
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scg
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response 9 of 11:
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Aug 22 05:06 UTC 1996 |
Either that, or get a new I/O card.
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tsty
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response 10 of 11:
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Aug 23 01:09 UTC 1996 |
or use hardware flow control ... <g>
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gull
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response 11 of 11:
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Aug 29 17:56 UTC 1996 |
In my experience, if you're using an old 8250 UART with a 28.8 modem,
hardware flow control doesn't help enough. It still drops packets.
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