Help me tell if this modem is a Winmodem :(

[Clinth]

I got a 3com 56K Voice Faxmodem PCI model 5690. The drives that came with it were for a Winmodem. I hope I just didn't get a winmodem. If IT is does any one know of a Good PCI hardware modem?

Thanks
Clinth

 

[Deeko]

What's so bad about a Winmodem? Modus will come in here and educate you real good on this subject, if you're lucky

 

[Wallysaurus]

Clinth,
The USR 5690 is a Winmodem. I have the Actiontec Call Waiting modem and I'm real happy with it. If you were wanting to stick with a USR product, then the model 5610A Peformance Pro Modem would be what you need.

 

[cockeyed]

Pre-Pentium, WinModems were hard on the system because they need the CPU to do their work. With todays high power systems, this is not much of a concern. I use a USR hardware modem right now, but I've also had a cheap $5 WinModem that worked well. A good web site to visit to learn more about WinModems is > HERE

 

[erikiksaz]

heh, do what i do. i'm not totally positive if the results will always be correct though. i just take a look at the card to see if it has lots of hardware types of things like transistors and whatnot. you just need to take a look at a hardware board compared to a software board. my way is crude, but it gets the work done (most of the time anyways, heh heh)

 

[bonkers325]

simple if i has jumpers on it its hardware if not its software

 

[nortexoid]

winmodems are ok, but my motorolo sm56 is a piece of garbage...

right now, it's use is callerID, answering machine, and extension so my phone reaches my pc desk.

your USR winmodem should be relatively high-quality...nothing to worry about w/ cpu utilization.

don't change it unless u want to run an operating system other than win 9x.

 

[MGMorden]

I have had bad experience with the Motorola winmodems. My Lucent Winmodem works just as well as my older 33.6 hardware modem though, and even has Linux support.

 

[Modus]

USR winmodems are unfailingly average 3Com undoubtedly has the technology to push them to the heights achieved by Lucent with their LT chipset, but to do so would drastically cut into their hardware modem sales. You should be OK with that modem.

Modus

 

[HeinekinMan]

If you still want to stick with US Robotics, then the one that you want to try and get is the 2976 model (not sure if its still available); this unit is a PCI voice/data/fax HARDWARE modem. I only use mine for faxing purposes and had a HELL of a time getting Winmodems to work RELIABLY with Symantec WinFax Pro v10 (this one works like a champ!). Also, most ISA models from US Robotics are most likely hardware-based...

 

[HeinekinMan]

Here's a USR link that I came across. I noticed that neither the 5690 or the 2976 that I'm using which is an OEM (forgot to mention that, sorry!) is listed so this list might be dated...the ones that indicate controller-based are h/w modems.

http://www.usrobotics.com/products/home/compare-home.asp