Ah, actually most Rockwell ISA modems have ..ACF/SP.. chipsets, while most Rockwell PCI modems have HCF host controller ('winmodem') chipsets. They are completely different except that they are both made by Rockwell.
If you shop round you should be able to get an unbranded (you can find out who actually made it by cross referencing its FCC number at the FCC website) 'hardware' jumpered Rockwell ISA modem for about $30+ if its old stock left over from when 56K ISA modems were the bees knees. Beats paying for a brandname modem & a what could turn out winmodem at that.
Make sure you check to see that there are jumper switches on the modem to change its built in comport, as apparently ISA softmodems do exist.
My unbranded Rockwell ISA modem was US$37 including GST & delivery & it was old stock too. I checked the FCC number on it & it turned out that it was made by Puretek & was a 56KFlex modem that was pre-flashed to the V90 standard. Whether it's related to the fact that I was upgrading from a PCI Lucent Winmoden, I wouldn't know, but my connections went from a
maximum of 46kbps to a
minimum of 52kbps.
Also it helps if you get the same type of modem as what your ISP has - if your ISP has 3Com/USR modems (X2 & V90) its better if you you yourself also has a USR/3Com X2 + V90 modem. While if your ISP is using Rockwell 56KFlex + V90 modems, it's best if you also use Rockwell modems too. This is because the underlying technology (56KFlex or X2) effects the V90 output.
This is why, up until relatively recently 3Com/USR modems always performed much better in the US (in magazine reveiws, etc), where there's was a high use of them at many Nth American ISPs. However in places like Australia, where USR/3Com modems are relatively rare & just about all ISPs use Rockwell modems, Rockwell modems have much better performance.
I found this out when I read a modem reveiw article in APC magazine & they noticed that all the Rockwell modems performed much better when tested on the ISP that also used Rockwell modems. While the 3 USR/3Com modems in the test (there were only about 3 then avaliable in Oz) performed much better when they were tested on an ISP that also used 3Com/USR modems (apparently it was about the only decent sized ISP in Oz that used USR/3com modems). Where as in the US at that time (about 2 years ago) most ISPs used 3Com/USR, so consequently in American reveiws, USR/3Com modems did much better & always seemed to end up being the winner in the test.
At the time I was using a tech student ISP,
SIA, & on their support page they recommended to its clients to use Rockwell modems that utilised either 1 of the 3 chipsets they mentioned, they then listed all avaliable modems with those chipsets. The list had about a 70 different modems on it list. While they specifically recommended that their clients should not use the 3 USR/3Com modems (that were then avaliable in Oz) as their V90 setup, wasn't totally in sync with the V90 setup that their Rockwell modems used (unless they already owned a 3Com/USR modem, in which case they said that they'd of course were compatible, but just wouldn't perform to their full potential).
, I decieded to take a chance. How bad could it be? Pretty sure it is controllerless but has a speakerphone, TAD and so forth. Someone will get some use out of it. Wish it was the ISA version but those slots are going the way of the dinosaur. Would only work in one of my machines now anyway and I like external modems the best where possible. Anybody need a 14.4 external viva? Remember when they were the hottest? May still have my 2400 US Robotics external somewhere.
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