Poll: What is the best dialup modem you have used?

[Kwad Guy]

I have had the best success with the Actiontec ISA Master, which
is a Lucent chipset hardware modem. Great connection speeds, and
holds the connection very well...Also, reasonably priced compared
to other hardware modems.

Worst modem: Anything based on the PCTel chipset. These work OK
if you have a great phone line, and work like total crap otherwise.

Kwad

 

[NOS440]

US robotics external Pro USb. I loved it and still use it to fax and when the cable Modem goes down.

 

[Lord Gwynz]

I think the only modem I used to drool over was from back in the day of "Elite" BBS's when those US Robotics Dual Standard/HST modems were most common. The external models in particular were my favorite, they were black, flat and wide looking boxes and damn did they looked intimidating.

 

[BassDominator]

Viking 56K

 

[cowpoos]

Hi I live in rural New Zealand and we have some pretty crap phone lines and connection speeds i can't get broardband so i tweak and tweak my settings and then i brought a DYNALINK rural modem took the connection speed from 24kps to 33400kps and thats using a downloaded program to measure it [two of them acually as i didn't beleive the first one]

web site is: http:www.dynalink.com

 

[Peabody]

I have a USR 2976 hardware modem that works great. I have the driver on a floppy drive and if you need it I would be glad to ship it to you free.

LMK

Wade

 

[BigLance]

Creative Modem Blaster 56k PCI
US Robotics 56k Hardware PCI
Diamon Supra MAX 56 PCI

 

[skemlawn]

it was an external (serial not USB) U.S. Robotics Sportster 56k V.90

 

[Soccerman]

wow I'm surprised to see so many 3com 2976 modem users! I have one myself, it's a trouble free modem, though I wish my original SupraExpress didn't die on me :-(

the ONLY problem I had with it, was getting it to work in Linux, seeing as it's PCI, and therefor Linux doesn't detect it properly (or at least didn't when I installed Linux Mandrake 7.2). I still don't quite understand linux, so I had to call for help. luckily there were others out there, and I got it running..

My Supra Express 33.6 was detected automatically with Linux Mandrake 6.2, which is one reason why I liked it so much!

btw, when it comes to naming a modem Full Duplex, does that really mean it can send and recieve data at the same time?? I'm sure I could upload and download with my Supra Express without one transfer effecting the other (maybe I was delusional?), but now with my 3com (or USR, I don't really care) 2976, I get a major download speed hit when uploading at the same time.

 

[PhaZe]

3com gaming modem...w00t

 

[RanDum72]

My best modem was the USR 33.6 ISA internal but my present MB has no ISA slots so I now have a Supramax 56k internal. Its a winmodem, the thing I like about it is that it consistently connects with AOL at 50-52k. It worked very well with less than perfect phone lines.

 

[Johnnie]

My Smartlink modem works nicely... TI chipset..

 

[skriefal]

Even amongst modems using the same protocol (i.e. v.90, X2, etc) there are sometimes incompatibilities. This used to be quite common, and was even mentioned in modem reviews in PC Magazine and elsewhere. With the advent of Winmodems I suspect this is even more true than ever, although the increasing rarity of modem reviews probably is responsible for the lack of knowledge of these incompatibilities.

Speaking of modems, my old Cardinal 3480 external modem has never given me any problems. Picked it up cheap (less than $80) several years ago, after Hayes bought Cardinal. Was originally an X2/K56 modem, and after a flash upgrade is now V.90 and (I think) X2. I believe the modem is just a rebranded USR Sportster, which probably explains the presence of X2...

There there was the old 14.4 Digicom modem that I shelled out $200 for back in 1992. Yes, $200... which at the time was CHEAP. That thing lasted me through nearly 5 years of very heavy use, and then served another 1-2 years in my parents' machine. Was still working reliably when it was removed.

 

[Modus]

For a fact, full duplex is present on all 56k modems. Prior to that, I'm not sure.

Modus

 

[geeman]

zoom 56k isa

 

[Chad]

No matter what anyone tells you, stay away from any winmodems!

Best modem I have used was a USR Sportster.

 

[BeeVo]

Someone mentioned Rainbowsix. Dang what a great game! I think I am gonna go play now.

 

[AncientPC]

?!? where'd that reference to R6 come from?

 

[Mem]

My current Diamond SupraExpress 56i v Pro (OEM) is still my best modem, still giving loyal service now well over 2 years old,always connects at 49,333 bps.

 

[Soccer55]

US Robotics Sportster 56k.....hardware modem that I flashed from x2 to V.90 It was a great modem.....but then RoadRunner came along and I don't need it anymore

-Tom

 

[Soccerman]

For a fact, full duplex is present on all 56k modems. Prior to that, I'm not sure.

modus

you're sure about that? ok.. maybe my ISP is limiting me.. I have been able to hit 42000 bps though, so that means they have 56k capable modems..

sigh, I wish I could get broadband. living in the boonies has it's disadvantages!

oh, BTW, I noticed from some popular mechanics issue a while back, that in general, modems that were designed around 56flex were faster when running V.90 protocols, compared to modems that were designed with X2 in mind.

I don't know if this is really true, but they concluded that the Diamond Supra Express modems were pretty much the top dog.

I wonder what this means for modems that weren't designed with any standard besides V.90 (if there were any, I think mine even is X2, even though it was I think made AFTER V.90).

skriefal

Even amongst modems using the same protocol (i.e. v.90, X2, etc) there are sometimes incompatibilities.

hmm could that be what is causing my problem when it comes to full duplex?? I've often wanted to try getting a Diamond Supra Express 56i, and sell this modem to test that theory, but I don't know who would buy it for anywhere near the price I got it (close to $100 Canadian, which is like $64 US).

 

[skriefal]

<< hmm could that be what is causing my problem when it comes to full duplex?? >>



It's possible, but I don't think there's any easy way to verify that without actually trying a different modem. Remember that v.90 modems have a slower upstream connection (33.6kbit max) than downstream (53kbit max). You may be connecting at 42kbit downstream, but that doesn't really tell you what upstream speed has been negotiated between the two modems. Does anyone know if there's any way to determine the upstream speed?

Best best is to ask your ISP what modems they use, and then buy the same model... or at least a similar modem from the same manufacturer. At least then there's a chance that the manufacturer tested compatibility between the two modems.

Most of what I've just said is based on old knowledge, since I rarely use a modem now. Which is good, since the phone lines around here are quite old (max 40kb connects). But I don't think much has changed in the last few years.

 

[azeker1]

Wow! Am I the only guy on this board who still gets nostalgic for his old 300 baud Vicmodem? Commodores Ruled! ;-)

My first PC based modem was a rather expensive 33.6 USR voice-data-fax beast that I was supposed to be able to upgrade for free to 'x2' when it came out (which made the high cost seem worth it). Unfortunately, I was out of the country when 'x2' debuted and then when I returned, they wanted to charge me like $60 to upgrade it! I couldn't bring myself to pay for something that was supposed to have been free, so it is still stuck at a blazing 33.6 (though if anyone has the firmware upgrade, please let me know!).

I have a couple of USR ISA v.90 modems and an Archtek 5634BRS that I can't seem to upgrade to v.90 (despite the company's claim that I should be able to), and one external USR (which was really flaky, BTW), but I only have one ISA slot in my P3V4X and my SB AWE 64 gold gets it until I upgrade to a PCI-based SB Live.


In the meantime, my $5 winmodem with the much villified Motorola SM56 chipset always connects me at 50-53.3, and my 'net monitors tell me I actually often surpass this nominal rate so I can't complain. Unfortunately, my great ISP just sold out. Bummer. Maybe it is time to go broadband...

Edit: Oh, BTW, Thorin, thanks for making the point about digital modems not modulating and demodulating an analog signal! I thought I was the only one who thought it was rather strange that they called these things modems.

 

[Pretty Cool]

<< (though if anyone has the firmware upgrade, please let me know!). >>



What model (5 numbers) do you have? As determined by:

Control Panel/Modems/Diagnostics/Highlight your Modem/More Info

 

[TheVrolok]

I like my USR Voice/Fax 56k v90 PCI