Hoyt wrote:
> OK, you gave us the "bad" news, now recommend a good
> internal modem (based on your experience) that is
> affordably priced (<US$100) and works well with Linux.
The best seem to be based on the US Robotics chipset.
USR does not manufacture chips; they contract them out
to Texas Instruments. Thus a "TI" chipset modem with X2
technology (besides V.90) is a USR- workalike.
You can buy the genuine product, the USR Sporster internal
(or external). Be careful of the internals as they also
have WinModems of the same name (Sporster WinModem, but
many catalogs conveniently drop the 'winmodem' part of the
name). These run $80-$105 from places like Warehouse.com
or pcmall.com or pricewatch.com The externals are quite
good, and the blinking lights help, but they cost about
$30 more than the internals. With USR/3Com you also have
to buy the serial cable.
A clone modem is made by Phoebe Micro. The Phoebe's use
the Texas Instrument chip set, and sound just like the
3COM/USR. In fact, the same "driver" will work for both
brands. Phoebe makes them in internal and external versions.
You want to be SURE you get the TI chipset ones, because
they also make cheapo Rockwell and Cirrus winmodems.
The internal is CMV1456VQH-X
the external is CMV1456VQE-X
and tell the salesperson it is the one with X2 and TI chip.
I get them for about $43 internal, $51 external from
www.hitech-usa.com (Hi Tech USA). Call their sales
department and ask for a Saleswoman by the name of
Phoebe Qin. The name is pure coincidence. Tell her I
sent you to get those modems as she is familiar with them.
They do not usually stock them, but will ship them to you
within 24-36 hours.
The internals come with COM2 IRQ 3 out of the box. Go
into the BIOS and disable your COM2 port on the motherboard,
plug this modem in and you are all set to go. You can also
put the jumpers in PnP mode, but I have had mixed results
with that in Windows 95/98 and of course, PnP is terrible
in Linux. But these have jumpers.
The externals come WITH the serial cable, wonder of wonders.
Both the Phoebe's and the USRobotics Sporsters are wonderful
performers and reliable under adverse line conditions. Often
a Rockwell will show a higher connect speed, but the throughput
will be higher on the UsR/Phoebe.
--
Ramon Gandia ============= Sysadmin ============== Nook Net
http://www.nook.net [EMAIL PROTECTED]
285 West First Avenue tel. 907-443-7575
P.O. Box 970 fax. 907-443-2487
Nome, Alaska 99762-0970 ==== Alaska Toll Free. 888-443-7525
