Best modem?

[Paradox]

Input please, thanks.

[Guyver]

My vote is for the 3Com/US Robotics 56K Voice Fax Modem Pro External USB/Serial...

Best modem I ever bought...

Guyv

[ALBPM]

I have the same modem as Guyver and love it!! Thunderchez has the best one though but it's a bit pricey.

Paul

[breezer]

My 3com/us Robotics 56k message modem ext is the best i've ever had, not the cheapest by far.

Make sure you get a hardware modem if you want the best performance from your system.

[SCompRacer]

I agree the 3Com Courier V Everything, either internal (ISA) or external. Think hard about your choice though.

I have an internal one, upgraded motherboards, and presently have an annoying problem with my scanner/Domex PCI card. So while an external is $30 more plus cable, it does not take up a slot you may need for something else. Got one on the way now, selling the internal so I can use an ISA Domex card for scanner.

Previously I had a US Robotics Sportster (hardware) and that was a great modem. It always connected at 50,000 or better and DL speeds were good. I was disappointed with the Courier at first as it would only connect from 26,000 to 44,000 depending on traffic. But the DL speed was as great or greater than the Sportster.



[This message has been edited by SCompRacer (edited 22 April 2000).]

[Thundrchez]

Similarly, my vote is for the 3Com/USR Courier V.Everything external. This modem kicks @$$! I can pick up the phone in the kitchen and hiss and whistle for 2 minutes, and it will not lose my connection.

[Dyre]

Diamond Supra Express Served me well. it was about .5k slower than my friends V.90 URS internal, but mine was only about $70...

So if your trying to save money, its very nice.

[Greebe]

Tchez has it hit on the nailhead! But if on a budget and want to go internal get a USR M#1749. They're about $70

[Paradox]

Thanks for the replies.

"Absolutely, unqualified - the USR Courier V.Everything external is THE SINGLE BEST MODEM IN THE WORLD."

why? It's over $200 on price watch . Whats the difference (in techy terms) between the Courier and other modems?

[R-u-Ready]

ok I know Im gonna get some flack for this but I bought a 30.00 digi-com modem from best buy about 8 months ago..Im telling you that was the best modem I have ever used. It downloaded faster than any other (including a usr/internal Isa one) 56K internal modem ive ever used and it wasnt very cpu hungry either. That would be my suggestion especially for the PRICE!!!

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Flux capacitor overclocked to 1.31 jigawatts

[Gurm]

Paradox:

Ok, here goes. What other modems advertise, USR modems deliver. If you're just connecting to your ISP over a relatively clean line, a USR Sportster is just fine.

However, if you are calling BBS's, or long distance... and you want the absolute best, most fault-tolerant modem available, it's the courier.

Always has been.

Make a connection. Now pick up the phone on another extension and yell into it. Have call waiting go off a few times.

Your Courier is still connected, and still synched.

It is absolutely the best modem you can get. But you do pay for it. If your phone line is fairly ordinary and you are just calling your ISP, the Sportster is just fine though.

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[Pace]

I've been using a crappy V.90 soft modem for a while now and it's adequate for web browsing but not much else (large downloads, gaming) so I was planning on getting a 3Com modem (after good experience with a Sportser 28.8 ISA). However, the V.Everything is a bit expensive - but my line is not very clean and I am quite far from the exchange so this would probably be my best option. I get a connect speed of usually 36K, which gives 2.5KB/s downloads (max!) and makes online gaming absolutely impossible (I jump all over the place incontrollably). What kinds of performance gains could be expected from going to a standard 3Com 56k (hardware) or to the Courier.

Thanks,

Paul.

[Gurm]

Pace:

1. Call your phone company. DEMAND that they tune your line. They will argue, and may even claim that it is impossible to do so. However, odds on says you're paying the same $1 a month most of us pay for "service". And they are contractually obligated to give you a crystal clear connection. I'm not saying they will make your line perfect, but it always helps and never hurts. At my last place I used to get 33.6k connects all the time. I had them tune the line and jumped to 48k. Not perfect but MUCH better.

2. The choice between Courier and Sportster is... well... hrm... do you have a lot of INTERRUPTIONS and NOISE on the line, or just not a strong signal. The Courier has better filtering, and better error compensation - but not better "connection". The sportster would probably be ok for you.

Oh, and the other big benefit of USR modems is the cool submarine noises they make!

- Gurm

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Listen up, you primitive screwheads! See this? This is my BOOMSTICK! Etc. etc.

[SCompRacer]

Make sure all your connections are good in the house too. Alot of sins can be found in phone line connections sometimes. I ran Cat 5 from my PC all the way out to the tele co connect box to get rid of the rats nest I inherited.

[This message has been edited by SCompRacer (edited 25 April 2000).]

[agallag]

About the couriers, the best thing about them is that they make other modems seem better. Regardless of what modem is on the other end, a courier will almost always get a good connection with it. I saw reviews where there was a modem that couldn't connect reliably to anything, including others of the same brand. But dial it up to a courier, and it would connect full speed every time, and never drop.

However, at work we use external sportsters for our remote mail dial-in modem pool. They will operate 24hours a day for weeks without any problems. So they're pretty great modems as well. Basically, stick with USR/3Com and you can't go wrong (avoiding the winmodems of course). Going with other brands is a little more risky, but there are some good ones out there.

Andrew