suspect "external" modem is really internal modem

[sharon]

hi

my old netcruiser modem has died. so i bought a new external usb modem, a
netcomm 56 rave. when i opened the box, i thought they have given me an
empty box.

after carefully checking, i finally located the modem. it's about the
size of a credit card. it does not make sounds like my previous modem. it
does not have light indicators like: pwr, mrd, cd etc... it only has one
light indicator to show whether it's on or off.

after using it for a while, i noticed it's not as fast as my previous
modem. maybe this is all in my imagination. to ascertain the truth, i
found two reliable websites to test the speed of my modem. in downloading
a big file, my modem averages speeds of about 43kbs. i know that 56kbs is
a theoretical value that is unattainable in real life,but i used to be
able to clock from 48kbs to 50kbs.

i suspect that this "external" usb modem is really an internal modem
housed in a blue plastic shell. it's well known that external modems are
faster and more reliable than internal modems. i really doubt that this
little "external" modem has its own processor. i suspect that it's just
another winmodem, although with a shell.

have i been short-changed? does anyone have a credit card-sized external
modem that runs really fast?

thanks for your replies

 

[suppaman]

i suspect that this "external" usb modem is really an internal modem
housed in a blue plastic shell. it's well known that external modems are
faster and more reliable than internal modems. i really doubt that this
little "external" modem has its own processor. i suspect that it's just
another winmodem, although with a shell.

Yes, probably it is a winmodem while not being "internal" at all. After
all it is entirely outside your computer.

have i been short-changed? does anyone have a credit card-sized external
modem that runs really fast?

I have got a Compaq 56k USB Express, not credit card sized but always
ran at max. That was a "real" modem, it was ACM compliant and in fact at
the time I had no problem using it with linux with 2.4.x and 2.2.x .
It was really a good buy for about 75 euros in 1999 or 2000.

thanks for your replies

bye

 

[kony]

hi

my old netcruiser modem has died. so i bought a new external usb modem, a
netcomm 56 rave. when i opened the box, i thought they have given me an
empty box.

after carefully checking, i finally located the modem. it's about the
size of a credit card. it does not make sounds like my previous modem. it
does not have light indicators like: pwr, mrd, cd etc... it only has one
light indicator to show whether it's on or off.

after using it for a while, i noticed it's not as fast as my previous
modem. maybe this is all in my imagination. to ascertain the truth, i
found two reliable websites to test the speed of my modem. in downloading
a big file, my modem averages speeds of about 43kbs. i know that 56kbs is
a theoretical value that is unattainable in real life,but i used to be
able to clock from 48kbs to 50kbs.

i suspect that this "external" usb modem is really an internal modem
housed in a blue plastic shell. it's well known that external modems are
faster and more reliable than internal modems. i really doubt that this
little "external" modem has its own processor. i suspect that it's just
another winmodem, although with a shell.

have i been short-changed? does anyone have a credit card-sized external
modem that runs really fast?

thanks for your replies

There's no reason a winmodem can't be as fast as your old
external, but yes, it's a softmodem as (all?) of the USB
type are. Since your present modem is software driven, see
if there's a driver update. Generally speaking though,
you'd have been as well off to just buy another external
like your old one if that's what you wanted. The
distinction of "external" isn't really whether it's in the
system case or not, there have been hardware modems in PCI
and ISA too.

 

[kony]

The
distinction of "external" isn't really whether it's in the
system case or not, there have been hardware modems in PCI
and ISA too.

Correction:

I meant, distinction of "external" being a hardware modem
isn't really whether...