Pace asks: Best modem?

[agallag]

I like my connection better

More seriously though, get yourself a USR Courier. Best modems ever built, period. A used courier is better than a new anything else.

[Electric Amish]

I've had good luck with Lucent Chipset modems.

Had a Rockwell chipset that connected at 31k. Got the Lucent and connected at 37k. Not bad for <$20 including shipping.

amish

[Gurm]

Amish,

On that same line, a USR would have gotten in the mid 40's, I guarantee you. Lucent = Crap. Rockwell = SUPER Crap.

- Gurm

[VJ]

US Robotics !

I flashed my 33.6 Sportster Flash to V.90, it virtually always connects at speeds around 52 k.

Be sure to stay away from winmodems, they cause a lot of trouble both in configuring and using.

I personally like external models, but this depends on what you'd want to use it for (I often connect it to my Psion 5mx, much faster for reading mail than having to boot and connect a Pentium 166 with Window NT4). Of course, it is an additional socket, more cabling, additional power button ...


Jörg

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by Gurm
Amish,

On that same line, a USR would have gotten in the mid 40's, I guarantee you. Lucent = Crap. Rockwell = SUPER Crap.

- Gurm

Yeah, but not for 20 bucks.

amish

[Pace]

Looks like USR then...

More on my WinModem: I hate it interrupting my system. Hard drive, WinAmp, DVD - all stop when the modem initialises. While any hardware modem will eliminate this, why should I buy more crap?

More on my broadband: I will have to rely on BT making the Falkirk exchange ADSL capable, and hope that their 6-mile range works too... Alternatively, hope that ntl/Telewest will put a trunk line past my house (I live out in the sticks), and that my daddy will pay for them to make a branch into my house. Oh, or satellite... quite unlikely, hence I'm maximising my modem

More on me: I've got brown eyes. (You'll see them when I take the shades off )!

Thanks for the USR endorsements,

Paul.

[KvHagedorn]

Though it's a chorus now, I'm gonna pipe up and recommend US Robotics as well. I have owned two modems, period. Both have been USR and both are still going strong. I have one of the original 56k USR Sportsters in my old computer and a 56k V.everything Courier in my current computer (both ISA modems, btw). Having worked with cheap crap at work forever, I decided cheaper just wasn't worth the hassle and got the best components for my system. Whaddaya know, it worked!

I never connect slower than 49k now, and I'm ~3.5 miles from the CO, 1 mile from the new fiber cabinet. (Yes, the fiber cabinet going in helped. I went from 45k to 49k.) This is an odd discussion, though.. here we are still debating which is the best buggy to hook to your horse when everyone else is buying cars!

[VJ]

Pace:
-
More on my WinModem: I hate it interrupting my system. Hard drive, WinAmp, DVD - all stop when the modem initialises. While any hardware modem will eliminate this, why should I buy more crap?
-

My system doesn't interrupt when I connect using my modem (USR Sportster Flash, external voice modem, flashed to V.90). I can even connect while writing a cd (on a Plextor 4220, scsi, but no burnproof ), without getting a coaster.
So I would think these interruptions you experience ought to be finished with a decent modem...


Jörg

edited for bad sentence construction...

[Gurm]

Absolutely - the interruptions you mention ARE WinModem related. My father-in-law's USR Winmodem, while it always connected nice and fast, caused these momentary hangs whenever it was connecting or disconnecting... and the whole machine slowed down noticeably when it was transferring heavily. Ugly thing, winmodems.

- Gurm

[cjolley]

I put a Motorola Voice winmodem on my entry in the "Worst Hardware" thread.
It was evil incarnate.
Chuck

[RichL]

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

I wish I could agree with that 100%.

I have a cheapo 56k Zoom PCI modem with a Lucent chipset.
It's cheap, reliable and fast (consistent 52k connects with the right init string)

Then I "upgraded" to a 56k 3Com / USR PCI voice faxmodem.
It wasnt as cheap, it wasnt as fast (48k) and it died not long after I lost the reciept. I'd have least thought getting drivers from a big name modem maker would be easy. Nuh-uh!
After misplacing the drivers CD, I had to scour the UK and US support sites using the Part number, chipset type and colour of damn plastic used to eventually find a driver.

Normally I'd recommend 3com /USR Sportsters, but after card I'll just buy any damn thing as long as it has a known brand-name.

Of course, now I have cable so I only need a modem to RAS into work

[Johnny Ray]

Let me provide my experience with USR here. First of all, I currently own 3 USR hardware modems. One is an old 33K Sportster (can't be upgraded to V90). Two or three months after I got it, it died. They warranty repaired it. It's been fine ever since. The second one is an ISA PnP 56K Sportster. Had it two or three months......it died. Sent it for warranty, worked great for 2-3 years. It would always conncect at 49K. Then it started having another problem. It would connect, then disconnect 15-30 minutes later. Try to reconnect, port in use, won't initialize, etc. It's done. Sometimes if I pull the card out and put back in, it will work for awhile (I tried different slots, systems, etc., with the same result). Purchased a new PCI USR Sportster Pro (or something along that line; it's hardware too) within the last 6 months. What an absolute POS. It was like $100 USD. Figured I'd get the best. On the same exact phone line, same system, It won't stay connected for longer than 15 minutes at 40K. There's nothing wrong with it, it just won't stay connected. I ended replacing it with a Hayes V92 PCI fax modem. It always connects at 44k, and will stay connected indefinitely.

So I recently moved. The phone line is so bad, it's amazing I can use a modem at all. How do the modems do?

Hayes: connects at 24K, sometimes 26.4K, and stays connected indefinitely.

The flakey V90 USR Sportster: will sometimes connect at 38-40K, usually over 30K, until it craps out due to the hardware problem.

The USR "Pro"? Forget it. Will occasionally connect at 40K, but disconnect shortly there after. Even when it connects at 24K it will disconnect in in less than an hour.

So if I could get any modem, I'd try to find a old ISA V90 Sportster.

John