modem suggestions

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Sat May 17, 2003 8:18 pm

Hi, I need some suggestions on what modem to buy. Please recommend me some 56K modems, preferably V.92 ones from your experience. I am very, very unhappy with my Intel 536EP V.92 modem ever since it came with my computer. What should I consider when I buy a dial-up modem? And what's a difference between a "software" modem and "hardware modem?" Thanks.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Sat May 17, 2003 10:53 pm

I've always been able to put in a good word for USRobotics Sportster modems. They've always been good reliable devices and are well supported by all versions of Windows.

The big difference between a hardware modem and a software modem is the communications protocols for software modems are as the name suggests, software based. This results in two very important differences: 1. They are usable in windows only. You will often find these types of modems referred to as 'winmodems', and most modems supplied with PC's are of this type as they are much cheaper than hardware modems. 2. When creating or disconnecting a dialup service, you will notice CPU utilisation spikes. This is because the communications side is run directly from the CPU, so it will slow your system down a bit.

Hardware modems have all the communications systems built in and as such are OS independant. I also have found them to be more reliable as they do not require any CPU time to operate properly.

Hope this helps.

KidD01 · Post by **KidD01** » Sat May 17, 2003 11:08 pm

Just to add some info. 3Com acquire US Robotics a while back. their prods mostly got 3 Com brand now

humanflyz · Post by **humanflyz** » Sun May 18, 2003 10:09 am

Thanks. Those suggestions helped a lot.