Pace asks: Best modem?

[Pace]

Just going through my system, eliminating every POS component in there. The main one is my modem...a 56k generic PCI software thingy. Bought it cheap, and it has served well enough. But, I need a more reliable connection, and a little more speed would be nice too.

I have a poor line, with a fair amount of noise, which limits the modem to 36Kbps, at the moment I'm at 26.4Kbps - which has somewhat prompted the new modem talks, it's been bad for the last few months (with any ISP).

So, I'd like to get 36K or more, but I want reliability too! My current one might connect at 36k, but will cutoff within 10mins which is no use. All atempts to get BT to improve the line have failed, so...it's time to choose that modem!

The 2 options I was looking at was a Diamond PCI V.92, and a USRobotics External V.92. They cost £28 and £70 respectively. The latter is obviously very expensive, but would be worth it for improving my connection (as my Uni degree relied on getting online this week!). I expect the USR to be good, but just how good?

This essay will now cease, hopefully before I've bored you

Thanks,

Paul.

[Greebe]

USR all the way!

[rubank]

Pace,

I´d go for an external USB modem. I have one myself, built on the ST 7554 chip, and there are several brands with this chip inside.

Pros:
small
reliable
fast
no external power needed
leaves you with a free PCI slot
drivers for WinXP
relatively cheap

Cons:
no drivers for Linux (yet)

Go get one (you do have USB don´t you?.

rubank

[Greebe]

ack... USB modems bite!

Creative Labs make a PCI 2meg hardware modem also that's very good... and less than the USR

[rubank]

Care to explain that, Greebe?

[Dilitante1]

my $.02.......

the issue at hand is line noise....no matter how good your modem is, you wont connect any faster/better due to the noise.....how do I know this you might ask?.....been there with my local telco....they guarantee only 14.4k connect for faxing.....i run a 33.6 modem as after getting no better a connect after putting in a USR 56k premium modem in...............................my best connects are 28.8k




-Dil

[Greebe]

That's easy enough rubank.

Patrick most likely will be running a miriad of OS's... and possibly Linux, find drivers for that. Most every USB modem is a software modem.. ie it's takes your cpu to run it... not good for online gaming at all.

tho they're good enough for those whom don't do much more than surf the net and chat (actually this is even problematic) and doing email.

[xortam]

I agree with Dil ... its hard to do much with a telco line that's CRRRAP (said in my best Stuart Mackenzie Scottish brogue)! I'd pursue some sort of broadband solution if you're able.

and Mike ... USR good, USB bad? ... how about a USR USB?

[Wombat]

Originally posted by xortam

and Mike ... USR good, USB bad? ... how about a USR USB?

I think somebody else had a great quote. "That's kind of like winning the gold medal at the Special Olympics. Sure, you're the best, but you're still retarded."

[xortam]

Special Olympics

Funny line but it doesn't apply to my USR Voice Faxmodem Pro: I haven't seen any difference in performance between using its serial or USB connection.

[Gurm]

You MUST use a U.S. Robotics. Any other brand is a complete crapshoot. End of story. As for line speeds...

It has to do with your distance to the CO. Just like DSL. If you're nice and close you can get up to 54,666 on a clean line (yes, I've honestly gotten these speeds, in Brighton Massachusetts, with the CO about a block away). Otherwise, it's a toss-up.

As for fax speeds, since 14.4k is the fastest accepted fax standard, I wouldn't expect the phone company to offer any faster fax speeds. If you bought a 28.8k or 33.6k fax machine you were taken for a ride.

- Gurm

[Greebe]

Gurm... the problem is, all that the telco's will support upto is 14.4kbps for a modem connection, Period. This is the stardard for the typical business fax machine... we're not talking about Fax machines that support higher speeds per se.

Legal cost analysis has proven to the telco's long ago that while the majority of regular folk have modems... supplying them with a crap lines is cost effective... but piss off a business and you'lll end up in court, hence the 14.4kbps Fax standard.

[xortam]

USR is a must

The USR is still going to be crippled by the CRRRAP line. I used to get 49,300 mainly and many times 50,666. The telco played with the lines by my house and now the best I get is 45.2K and many times lower, some times much lower. The telco can screw up your line at any time by rerouting you and adding repeaters and such. PacBell was trying to get us a steady DSL signal and swapped our noisy line with another at the local hut. The poor sap that inherits that line is going to have troubles (not that they ever managed to get us a good signal).

AFA guaranteeing 14.4 fax speeds ... I'm surprised they guarantee anything above voice grade. I was told you have to pay extra for a business line here when I asked about data rates.

[Greebe]

Lordeeee people!... True while a CRAP line can't be fixed by any modem, USR modems can handle a slightly noisy line better than the rest.

[DentyCracker]

Greebe is correct in that some modems handle noisy lines better. I had two Jaton ISA modems before I moved in 1999. We had crap lines then. The Jaton modulator (Rockwell chipset) consistently connected at 26400 while the Jaton Communicator (Cirrus Logic chipset) connected consistently at 44000.
Now I have a "POS" CNET 5614RV (Conexant chipset) winmodem that is consistent at 50667 with occasional 52000 and 53333 connections