What is a good 56k hardware modem?

[XGamer]

Ive heard Hardware 56k modems with Rockwell chips are better than software modems, which is what I have. What are some good ones?

 

[SloppyB]

I got a US Robotics Courier 56K on EGay that is solid as a rock. It is external and was about 1/4th the price of a new one.

 

[nino]

There are only a couple of PCI hardware modems
1) US Robotics usually around $60
2) SmartLink 5634PCV found at Mwave for $38
the rest are typically winmodems to some extent

there are many more ISA modems and if you are only surfing the web (ie no gaming) then I'd get a US robotics ISA winmodem. These things use practically no CPU time otherwise there are a number of good ISA hardware modems. I'd probably get a Lucent based one because they support their drivers very well.

 

[S0me1X]

I absolutely love USR Courier V.Eveyrthing Modems: bought a 28.8, flashed it to 33.6, 56k and still kicking....

 

[Motero]

I have a 3Com/USR hardware modem with voice (# 2976) that runs smooth. It ran around $60.

 

[Durron]

If you can find a cheap Smartlink ISA modem based on a Texus Instruments chip, those are great. Problem with smartlinks is it's very hard to tell what the hell kind of modem is inside the box (they're basically all the same box).

Nice thing about TI based modems is you can usually use US Robotics drivers with them (same chips afterall)

 

[RodeoClown]

Diamond Supra Express External ROCKS...and looks cool to boot mwave.com has it for around $68 - I would be wary of being able to buy a TRULY hardware modem for less than $60-70 - some claim to be hardware, but are not in actuality.

 

[Athlex]

I've used lots of modems, and I can't reccomend external modems enough. They're all hardware based, don't need any drivers, don't need to operate on COM 3 or 4 (which can cause interrupt conflicts). Diagnostic lights are quite handy and the ability to kill the power on the modem without resetting your computer is also nice if something gets screwed up. Like these guys have mentioned before, the USR Courier is the Cadillac of modems. It's also available as an internal model.
If you're looking for something less expensive, make sure that you don't end up with a controllerless modem too. Controllerless modems are somewhere between software and hardware modems because they don't rely completely on software, but do rely more on your CPU.
Good luck modem hunting!

 

[Erasmus-X]

I'm surprised Modus hasn't dropped in yet.

The clock is ticking..........

 

[CichliSuite]

when you people say "winmodem", what does that mean?

Is it different from a regular modem?

 

[Skyhack]

I just bought the USR 56K PCI Modem Pro (hardware) and it really kicks. Downloaded Netscape last night and got a sustained data rate of 5.1 the whole time...

 

[XGamer]

Yeah, thanks for replies. I have had a diamond supra express isa for about 5 years. I ping around 130 or so in multiplayer games during the night(which needless to say, is very fast for a 56k modem ). But my logic was this, PCI hardware modems are supposed to be faster, so I was thinking maybe I can get into the 80-90 pings with a good one. I have tried a few pci hardware modems, and they dont seem to give me any better ping in games at all. I acctuly ping about 20-30ms higher with them, than my supra ISA. Anyways, I have just seen new adds for the V44 compression(or whatever its called, I forget), v.92 modems comming out. I think I will just grab one of those.

 

[blackhawk]

I've got both USR isa and diamond isa but my new mb doesn't have an isa slot so I've got to go external or pci. Its a shame.

 

[Rick014]

"when you people say "win modem", what does that mean?"
It sucks power from the processor cycles, which is OK for web surfing, but not so good for online gaming.
A regular (hardware) modem works independent from the processor.

 

[rpr]

I recently bought an A-Open PCI modem at a computer show that was being sold as a "hardware" modem. However, I'm skeptical. How can I tell the difference?

 

[classy]

Another vote for Performance Pro from USR. It is a really good modem.