Can anyone tell me if there are any advantages or disadvantages with
regard to whether you use a External modem (USB or Serial) or Internal
modem?
Thx
Lee
From a performance and build quality perspective, very little. But I
always found external modems to be more convenient, they leave a pci
slot free, and you can wait for the little LEDs to flash when your
websites are slow :-P
Mind you, cable rocks for me now hehehehe
Rafe Mc
On 24 Sep 2001 06:46:38 -0700, [email hidden] (EagleDriver)
wrote:
Quoted text (7 lines)
>Can anyone tell me if there are any advantages or disadvantages with >regard to whether you use a External modem (USB or Serial) or Internal >modem? > >Thx > >Lee
just make sure its a hardware modem if you intend to play online games
"Rafe McAuliffe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted text (21 lines)
> From a performance and build quality perspective, very little. But I > always found external modems to be more convenient, they leave a pci > slot free, and you can wait for the little LEDs to flash when your > websites are slow :-P > > Mind you, cable rocks for me now hehehehe > > Rafe Mc > > > On 24 Sep 2001 06:46:38 -0700, [email hidden] (EagleDriver) > wrote: > > >Can anyone tell me if there are any advantages or disadvantages with > >regard to whether you use a External modem (USB or Serial) or Internal > >modem? > > > >Thx > > > >Lee >Oh, yeah :)
Most internal modems are what's called "Soft" Modems. They are also known
as "WinModems". They aren't real modems per-se. The board itself is just
the analog/digital and vice-versa converter.
The actuall modem is EMULATED in software. There is no true hardware modem.
Some run the software on the main processor. Some use a Dedicated DSP chip.
Either way, they do not perform anywhere near as good as real hardware
modems do. Most are terribly sensitive to Line Noise and Line Quality.
The majority do not have WinNT, 2K or XP drivers. Some do, but not many.
They are bloody worthless if you ask most tech's. The number of support
calls they generate is staggering.
Why do manufacturers uses them? Because they are CHEAP. No other reason.
Performance and Customer Satisfaction are NOT part of the equation with
these puppies.
There are a couple of true hardware internal modems, but I think you can
count them on one hand. Maybe even two fingers.
I recommend true hardware based Serial Port based modems. In particular,
the USR Courier V.Everything. It's pretty pricy, but it will be the last
modem you ever buy.
I've never used a USB based Modem, but I can think of many reasons why I
wouldn't want to.
There's one real benifit to a standard serial-port based Modem. You can
make it work anywhere, anytime, under ANY operating system. That cannot be
said at all about WinModems or USB Modems.
BTW... If you are into online-gaming, avoid the WinModems like the plague!!!
You will NOT be happy.
JMHO...
-Larry
"EagleDriver" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted text (7 lines)
> Can anyone tell me if there are any advantages or disadvantages with > regard to whether you use a External modem (USB or Serial) or Internal > modem? > > Thx > > LeeI use an external serial modem and I could never go back to internal. As has
already been said, it's virtually impossible to get an internal hardware
modem. I tried a USB modem but that seemed to be a software modem too.
I have had an internal ISA modem (hardware) which was great but got burned
out in an electric storm! I tried to replace this with a PCI modem but they
were all software (winmodem) and I got worse pings to game servers than the
ISA modem. Returned the PCI modem and tried a USB modem but it was software
too and pings were bad. As soon as I tried an external serial modem I got
great pings, and I got a few extra fps in GPL too!
Save your PCI and USB slots for something more useful, I mean, what else CAN
you stick in the serial port anyway!!
Lol SpeedFreek
I disagree that hardware intenals are hard to find - at least here in
Australia they're not. I'm talking most brand name makes, like
Netcomm, US Robotics, Banksia, etc. all make reasonable quality
internals.
That said, you are all quite right, avoid winmodems like the plague!!!
Rafe Mc
On Mon, 24 Sep 2001 21:07:08 +0100, "SpeedFreek"
<[email hidden]> wrote:
Quoted text (16 lines)
>I use an external serial modem and I could never go back to internal. As has >already been said, it's virtually impossible to get an internal hardware >modem. I tried a USB modem but that seemed to be a software modem too. > >I have had an internal ISA modem (hardware) which was great but got burned >out in an electric storm! I tried to replace this with a PCI modem but they >were all software (winmodem) and I got worse pings to game servers than the >ISA modem. Returned the PCI modem and tried a USB modem but it was software >too and pings were bad. As soon as I tried an external serial modem I got >great pings, and I got a few extra fps in GPL too! > >Save your PCI and USB slots for something more useful, I mean, what else CAN >you stick in the serial port anyway!! > >Lol SpeedFreek >
"EagleDriver" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> Can anyone tell me if there are any advantages or disadvantages with
> regard to whether you use a External modem (USB or Serial) or Internal
> modem?
That question has a lot of variables.
Usually, external modems are SLIGHTLY slower than internal modems,
due to the limitation of the serial port. However, the difference is not
really
noticeable.
As many have mentioned, internal modems often are "winmodems", which
are also known as controller-less modems. Those are cheaper to make and
often costs only like $25 or even less (occasionally "free after
rebate"). You
CAN get real internal modems, but expect to pay $70 or more.
External modems can be reset without rebooting the computer. It also has
those indicator lights, but those to me at least are pretty useless. If
you have
3COM modems you can get a "soft" panel onscreen display that does the
same thing. :-)
Internal modems are generally cheaper since it costs less to make, but
it
takes up a slot.
--KC
