Best Dialup modem?

[fleabag]

I'm looking for a Dialup modem that has v.34bis Group 3 fax capability, Voice, and of course V.92 compatibility as well. The best Fax modem I've been able to find are all limited to 14.4k which sucks and is confusing and I'm wondering if there are better fax, voice and data modems out there for the PC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax#Class

Even though some of these modems claim V.34bis support, I believe that is only on the data side and not the Fax side because they claim a max of 14,400 which totally sucks. So I'm wondering, where can I get a good dialup modem?

This is the best that I could find:http://www.allproducts.com/ee/wofamous/fm560.html and that is a PC card when I need either an external or internal (preferable) part.



If you're wondering about my motives, I'm looking to turn a computer into either an PBX, utilize the modem features of Windows 2000 such as fax and remote network hosting via dialing in (you dial phone # in order to get into network) or both.

 

[g8wayrebel]

Have you considered keeping the system as it is and running a virtual system for other purpose on the same machine or vice-versa?
Windows functions fine as a fax and you can have both on the same machine using either Microsoft's virtual machine or VMware.

 

[fleabag]

Originally posted by: g8wayrebel
Have you considered keeping the system as it is and running a virtual system for other purpose on the same machine or vice-versa?
Windows functions fine as a fax and you can have both on the same machine using either Microsoft's virtual machine or VMware.

I don't want to use virtualization and I wouldn't need to be keeping any system as is since I'd be doing this all from the ground up.

 

[RebateMonger]

The old US Robotics V.Everything modems were famous for being very reliable. They are external, serial modems, so if they freeze up, you don't have to reboot the PC just to get the modem functioning again.

They aren't Plug and Play, so be prepared to manually install them and their drivers. If you haven't done that in a few years, it can be challenging. (I know).

 

[mcveigh]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
The old US Robotics V.Everything modems were famous for being very reliable. They are external, serial modems, so if they freeze up, you don't have to reboot the PC just to get the modem functioning again.

They aren't Plug and Play, so be prepared to manually install them and their drivers. If you haven't done that in a few years, it can be challenging. (I know).

ahhh the good ol' days!

 

[TheKub]

Yeah an external hardware modem is about the best you can get. In my experience serial tends to be a bit more bulletproof that USB. Also, the 14k fax limit isn't that bad as alot of physical fax machines are limited to 14k.

 

[Lemon law]

You just hit my per peeve and what do you mean by best?

But when you are stuck in some area where a dial up modem is the only real option, I have one and only one criteria, namely modem actual throughput.

After all, your phone line noise is a rough constant, if you are really close to a central switch, you may not have much line noise, and any modem should get you connected at the max speed of 53 K.

But as your feet of copper line heads past 15,000 feet and may grow to to over 30,000 feet and above, you are going to have line noise and signal degradations.

And the question becomes, which modem maintains its speed better at a your line noise level?

And I have sure tried a lot of different modems and I get wildly differing results. And modem price is absolutely no predictor.

On my given phone line, using the same actual throughput software (and not initial connection speed ), I have gotten as low as 10 K with some modems, the average modem delivers 25K, better than average ones deliver up to 40k, and the one I use now delivers up to 44-48 kilo/bits a second actual through put almost anytime.

Its an old agere el cheapie with a scorpio chipset, sadly no longer made, and the old ageres with a Mars or Venis chipsets are not worth a damn. ( look at the agere chip which will say V92P or V92PP to tell if its scorpio or google it for further information )

 

[fleabag]

When I said best modem, I meant one with the fastest fax, has voice capability, good connection speeds, low CPU utilization, yada yada yada. I understand that you can achieve 50K with a Winmodem from Lucent, it just depends on how noise free the lines are, and I have first hand experience with that. I'm just sick of all these computers being coupled with 14k fax modems when it should be capable of 33K which is far better.

 

[Lemon law]

If I want 33 K fax capacity, I go with a specialized fax machine with its own internal modem. Great for outgoing faxes and no printing capacity or expensive cartridges needed as long as you do not receive incoming faxes. But you want voice capacity with anything based on a 56 K modem???????????????????

Anything VOIP requires something on the order of 112 K actual throughput as an absolute minimum.

 

[fleabag]

http://www.modemsite.com/56K/voice.asp

"Voice generally means that the modem is capable, with appropriate software, of supporting telephone answering machine functions: the modem can 'record' and 'play' to the Windows wave device. The answering machine software will also use the sound card on the machine to play and record. The software may also include functions to dial or answer calls using your sound card's microphone and speakers or headphones."

So no, that would not be voip.

 

[Lemon law]

Fleabag, when you put it that way, I grant that it does not involve VOIP. But I still question any value in having the set up you advocate over having a separate standalone fax machine able to send and receive faxes
at 33.6 k without a computer. To get what you want in the first place, involves paying your telephone company a fee for call waiting service, and even then answering the call for any length of time usually loses your internet connection, and worse yet, ever since broadband options became the norm, R&D on modems has ground to a dead halt.

 

[tcsenter]

There were very very few (if any) PC modem chipsets ever produced or marketed that supported 33.6K fax modes.