Need new internal 56k modem

[ciggybreak]

HI!
After a countless number of disconnections with my Motorola SM56 Speakerphone Modem, I have just about had enuff of this crappy piece of junk. I am seriously thinking of getting a new modem VERY VERY soon. Any particular brands that I should look for?? Preferably ones that tend to be a bit more reliable. Any recommendations????

[exholt]

Had no problems with any 3com/US Robotics modems...both their hardware & software modems. I also have not had too many problems with Zoom, but some have had problems with the rockwell chipsets in these so you may want to weigh the pros and cons. Also, the Zoom modems I have used were all serial-based external modems.

Though I would not recommend you get any winmodems, both of the 3com winmodems worked great for me..though I'd spend a little more for the hardware for reliability. Those 3com winmodems were given to me...one through my "inheritence" of mom's PC...the other when a friend gave me his 56k 3com winmodem when he went to dsl.

Good luck on your modem buying quest...let us know how you make out.

[Platypus]

Are you sure it's the hardware that's the problem? My ISP is Optus and they get a lot of "pings" (attempts to find if your system has accessible ports) which will drop out the modem. A firewall stops the problem, so if you don't have a firewall on your system, it could be worth a try.

Like a lot of people, I run Zone Alarm, last week I forgot I'd shut it down to assess resources, went online & the modem dropped out 5 times in an hour before I realised what was going on.

[ReBoot]

Modem comparison article, with chipsets, more at: http://www.pcmech.com/showdoc/63/

[parning]

Originally posted by Platypus:
Are you sure it's the hardware that's the problem?

It's the hardware. Those SM 56 modems are NOTHING but hassle (as I say all the time - remember what the "SM" is for!). There's a good reason why Motorola neither makes nor supports them, and why they're so bloody cheap! They dumped their remaining inventory on the market, but just TRY to get them to help you with them! They won't work on a TAPI interface at all, and DUN isn't that much better.

I recommend anything by US Robotics except their Winmodems. Basically, you get what you pay for when it comes to modems. A USR Sportster 56K will run you about $US 99, but it is PNP with all versions of Windows and won't give you any headaches.

Lucent Technologies' LT Winmodem is OK, but needs an init string (AT&FX) and be slowed down to 38400 to really work at its full potential (such as it is).

[Wayward Clam]

Those Motorolas suck, we were stuck with about 40 of them a year and a half back and we're still cleaning up the messes they caused. Winmodems in general are a waste of hardware components but if you have to buy one USR is one of the better ones. We've had good luck here with Diamond Supras and ESS Smartlinks as well, but I wouldn't buy one myself.

[exholt]

My 3com serial external 33.6 sporster modem and the winmodems both perform well with little noticable processor overhead even on my pentium 100 box. Also, for some odd reason, I have had downloads on them clocking as high as 3.9K/s - 4.2K/s...not too shabby for obsolete modems that are supposed to go around 3.5-3.7 K/s...

A hardware modem should run you from around $60 to $150 (US).

Good luck

[3fingersalute]

I have always been a BIG fan of US Robotics/3COM modems!!!!!!!