Whats the difference between a winmodem and a hardware based one?

[DotheDamnTHing]

are there anyother differences other than making the processor do most on the work on a winmodem?

 

[Zepper]

Winmodems can only be used in Windows and any other OS that they may have written a driver for. A hardware modem doesn't care what the OS is, though it may have some special features that require a driver or utility to access. I use and recommend external serial (RS-232) modems as they are OS independent and provide an added layer of protection for lightning pulses that may come in over the phone line. Now that you can find them for less than $20, there's no excuse...
.bh.

 

[John]

Unless it is for a <133MHz system, a PCI winmodem will do the job.

FAQ by Modus

 

[sisooktom]

I recommend broadband

 

[Tostada]

Zepper: I've seen many, many machines get the modem hit by lightning, and only one actually damaged the motherboard (and that was a Jet-Way Socket 7 board). I know two people who have each had their PCI modem fried 3 times without damaging the rest of the machine.

The cheapest external serial modem is still more than twice the price of a good PCI winmodem. It's just not worth paying $20 more each time, taking up the extra space, and having to deal with a serial port just to protect you from the miniscule chance of your PCI modem getting hit by lightning and taking the board with it.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the Zonet Conexant v92 winmodem on NewEgg for $12.50 delivered.

 

[dullard]

I'm a fan of any free after rebate v92 winmodem. Then put $5 more into a surgeprotector that also protects the phone line.

 

[phray]

Originally posted by: sisooktom
I recommend broadband

i concur.


however, if you HAVE to use dial-up and you plan on using one of those blessed "alternative os's" (read: Linux) you want a hardware modem.

Years ago, when i was stuck living out in the sticks at my parents house (where dial-up is the only option) i bought 4 different winmodems and each was worse than the one before. they all had driver problems, and none worked really well. i finally broke down an bought a $75 USR hardware modem. and it is still working to this day. i can confirm that it is on and connected at 52kbps at this very moment, as it has been for the better part of a decade. we leave it connected 24x7. only time it is turned off is when the power goes out.

thats just my experience from way back in the day, when winmodems were still pretty new and had lots of driver issues. I'm sure these have been long since corrected.

 

[Davegod]

phray, next time you're stuck in the sticks, have a look into ISDN
On paper, 64k isnt much better than 56k, but its a world away. its more like double the bandwidth (64k is 64k, not "up to", and 64k is both ways), ping is probably half, the line doesnt drop and connecting takes about a second (digital line). Bonus: you can still have a line free for voice calls... or go multi-link for 128k (both ways).

Cant wait for telephone exchange to get upgraded to ADSL in November though...

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: phray

Originally posted by: sisooktom
I recommend broadband

i concur.


however, if you HAVE to use dial-up and you plan on using one of those blessed "alternative os's" (read: Linux) you want a hardware modem.

Years ago, when i was stuck living out in the sticks at my parents house (where dial-up is the only option) i bought 4 different winmodems and each was worse than the one before. they all had driver problems, and none worked really well. i finally broke down an bought a $75 USR hardware modem. and it is still working to this day. i can confirm that it is on and connected at 52kbps at this very moment, as it has been for the better part of a decade. we leave it connected 24x7. only time it is turned off is when the power goes out.

thats just my experience from way back in the day, when winmodems were still pretty new and had lots of driver issues. I'm sure these have been long since corrected.

My situation is the same as yours . I have a great collection of winmodems and external modems.

I live in the sticks and have connect speeds as low as 1.2Kbps (yep, you read that right) even with hardware modems. Winmodems are lousy here.

Consequently I now use the USR Performance Pro on all my computers and at least connect at 44.0 or 45.2 with more or less consistency.

 

[Zepper]

When I worked as a tech in Florida, more than half the machines I saw with lightning fried modems also had sustained other damage.

External RS-232 modem $15. . All you have to do is look around. I use this and even though parts of its v.92 features don't appear to be functional, it works find for me. Comes w/ everything you need incl. a serial cable. Maybe even less from gearxs.com - $11. plus shipping. (Scratch GearXS - they break stuff out that is part of the package and make you pay separately - ends up costing the same.)

..bh.

: moon;