On Tue, Mar 16, 1999 at 04:12:15PM +0200, Alex Shnitman wrote: > Baruch HaShem Adonai writes: > > > Instead of getting an internal Modem why not just get an external one. After > > working for years at a comm software company I came to prefer the external > > modems, for various reasons: > > > > 1) They are portable. > > 2) They work with just about any type of system (if it has an R232 > > I can do something with it). > > 3) They generally have better diagnostics (i.e. those little red > > lights) which truly are an aid, especially when hooking them up > > to non pc hardware. > > > > Are these too hard to find and in HaEretz? Its hard to find internal *true* 56K modems (which aren't controllerless) and supported by Linux . All modems priced less than 500 NIS are controllerless modems (or as they called "winmodems") and aren't supported by Linux since naturally its just a couple of chips pushed together onto card and are able to handle simple and basic tasks with telephone line - such as signalling , retransmitting and so on . All other tasks are handled by software and their 56K speed is also achieved in this manner . If you will ever see it working under Win you will definetely notice how much CPU time it eats . True 56K modems in Israel are represented only by 56K U.S.Robotics internal modem which is priced as high as 600NIS and its external version costs even higher . True that external modems are portable and can be connected to any computer/device equipped by RS232 inetrface (by the way AFAIK with 56K modem it has to be at least UART 16550A , otherwise it will work just as 33.6K ) but they're not worthing their price for my opinion . Very good 33.6K modem costs less than 200NIS and since almost in any case you'll never see maximum of the speed even when downloading from Israel hosts - who needs 56K ? Best wishes, Mike. P.S. The real advantage of external modems is that in case of some electrical problems on telephone line it will burn-out alone , without your system board :) ( This is the reason why ISP's and skilled users in Russia use external modems :)
