56k modem advice

[Darkhawk28]

Hey guys,

I'm finally giving up on my Diamond SupraMax 56K USB modem. It was taking 80%-90% CPU usage on my Duron 750 when in use and I'm sick of it. I'm now looking for a hardware based modem for a PCI slot. The v.92 is fine, but not necessary right now. Basically I need a decent little modem for cheap.

I called up Diamond Multimedia about the problem and they said, pretty much, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's your system. Try a hardware-based modem." Complete friggin' idiots. I told them that it definitely will NOT be a Diamond product. It's a shame Diamond has gone downhill so badly. They used to be sooooo much better than that. Oh yeah, PLUS, after blowing me off, they then asked for a credit card number so they could charge me $19.95 for the call. I laughed at them and hung up.

Anyways, thanks for the help. Merry Christmas and all that.

 

[Darkhawk28]

slight bump

 

[Mem]

I`ve two 56k modems both PCI and hardware, one is the Diamond SupraExpress 56 v PRO and the other is the Elsa 56k Microlink both give me 48-49.2k connection speed

Not sure if the Diamond one is still made but the Elsa model I only got about a month ago here`s their info on it Elsa Microlink info .

I should point out they do a software model as well ,the hardware one has product no. 500 and is the one in my link .

 

[tristramshandy]

If I were you, I'd get a USR Courier V. Everything external off eb@y ('cause that's just what I did six months ago and it's the best d@mn 56k modem I've every had) but that will put you back about a century.

Cheap-wise, compgeeks.com appears to have nothing but winmodems right now but you should check out the cheap stock at axiontech quicksell: Axiontech Quicksell

 

[VBboy]

You should be fine as long as the modem you buy is not a "software-based" or "HSP" (Host-signal procesing). Those modems of course use your CPU for most of their internal operations such as parity checking/generation.

Sometimes they are tricky, it will say something like "Uses the power of your PC, blah" - it still means the same thing. A couple of years ago it was easy to tell: a "soft" modem was marketed as a "Windows" modem.

I would definitely buy one at a local Staples or CompUSA store. You will probably spend $10 more, but you will be able to return it if it sucks for you.

 

[RSI]

Get a $5 lucent winmodem and you'll be happy. If you refuse, fine, your money... but you should have no problem with any modem, honestly. I have a piece of total garbage Diamond SupraMax PCI modem, it halts the whole system 100% for like 0.7 seconds when you connect, and lags it for ~0.2 seconds halfway through connecting, and then it's over. that's kind of annoying, but since I remain connected all the time or I'm connected through my network, it doesn't bother me.

If the modem took 90% CPU, something was wrong, period. WTF is the point in using a modem that will hog all that CPU power? And for what reason? none. It doesn't take lots of power to do what a modem does!

The only true hardware PCI modem I know of is the U.S. Robotics 56K PCI, one of the models. It'd be best to contact them and ask them for a true hardware modem and how much it will cost. I will guess $70-90cdn. You would likely get equivalent performance from a $5 Lucent winmodem... I used winmodems in my P83, that is 83MHz, it's a 486 with a Pentium overdrive. And it was perfectly fine. The modem that is in there isn't a hardware modem, and it connects and runs perfectly, NO lag. It's the server for my home network... I prefer to use the net through the P83 because that modem is faster than my PCI modem.

So you see, a modem being a PCI modem or a Software or a Winmodem, has nothing to do with it being good or bad. At this point, winmodems can be just as good as hardware modems, just a lot cheaper. If you have problems - then the modem sucks, or your computer has problems, or the driver is bad. Period. There are such things as bad hardware modems too, y'know.

I say just find the best deal on any 56k modem you can find and use it. Use an internal one. If you don't have good luck with that, you are very unfortunate.

-RSI

 

[PreDatoR]

Get a Lucent Winmodem.... I got one for 15 bucks about 6 months ago and love it... Actually bought another one and ran them in multilink for a while. It would lag for a sec when connecting and that was it... Very minimal CPU usage while connected. My ping time in most games is in the 150-200 range which for dialup is doing pretty good. i get 44k connects... Before that i had a USR winmodem... Connected at 26.4 and it just all around sucked. Lucent updates their drivers pretty frequently which is nice... U don't get that kind of support from any other modem manufacturer.

 

[veryape]

I don't get it. I have a SupraMax PCI model 2750 and it connects at 52k everytime, well almost everytime, sometimes it only connects at 49k but you know what I mean. Also, my cpu usage is very low, there is something wrong with your modem or your system for the cpu usage your talking about.

BTW, my CPU usage fluctuates between 1 and 2% according to Norton System Doctor.

 

[JOSEPHLB]

US ROBOTICS/3COM OEM # 2977 (56K FAX/DATA HARDWARE MODEM)
US ROBOTICS/3COM OEM # 2976 (56K FAX/DATA/VOICE HARDWARE MODEM)

should be around $45.00 - $50.00
You cant go wrong with one of these

 

[SonicTron]

I had a nice intel 56k modem I got from e*ay a while back, I sold it just yesterday. It was a nice PCI modem, and it was special

It was not 100% host dependent, but it was also part winmodem. Somewhere I saw it said it used 90% onboard 56k DSP, and 10% host cpu usage. I had a winmodem before this one, and it too did the 1 second lag before dialing. This modem barely made my mouse jump when my system was already under load, and if my system was freshly started I didn't even notice it.

 

[Davegod]

i use an ELSA USB fun (v92 'ready' pah), cant say id reccomend it, system slows right down on connecting and disconnecting, hard to use the mouse even, and MP gaming is a joke cos i always get 'transfer interrupted' at most inopportune moments... thinking of trying to swap it for a USR.... last USR i had (a 28.8) was great for me

 

[Darkhawk28]

Thanks for your help and for your clarifications. I just see the "for Windows" thing on the boxes or descriptions and cringe (probably unjustifiably). Today, I read a review about a guy that ran the same modem I have with some other modems (internal, external (serial and usb) and he showed up having to use around 55% CPU usage in a Pentium III 700. I believe it's probably a combination of bad modem design and bad drivers. Diamond has been notorious for bad drivers lately (Viper II anybody?). Anyway, I'm going to try out a CHEAPY little internal Lucent Winmodem and see how that goes and move to hardware modems from there. But, you guys are probably right in thinking a little Winmodem will be best for now. Thanks for the great response and have a Merry Christmas.