External or Internal?

SuperKitten

Huraah, another modem discussion.

Basically i was told i'd get better speed from internal modem cause serial ports are slow. Though i got myself an internal and an external, my external gives me 120ms ping to Barrysworld (using callnet0800 ISP) whereas the internal gives me 240ms ping with sometimes 25%loss to Barrysworld (using callnet0800 ISP).

Now i was using Dos prompt "ping 194.88.93.10" so the loss isn't too accurate but the average pings are since i pinged it about 5 times using each different modem.

My external is a rockwell chipset and my internal is an ESS chipset, so perhaps its just the chipsets (though rockwell gives me awful packetloss when i'm playing HL).

Anyways, could someone clear up for me whether or not internals should be faster than externals?

Thankee

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[-SoF-]SuperKitten

mara_skywalker97@hotmail.com

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SantaHoe

I'm not complaining or anything, but their is a Tech forum for this kind of thing.

But yeh, the modem should be able to send and recieve data from the system at a faster rate if it's on the PCI or ISA bus, as opposed to the serial.
But this is only the DTE speed, so it's not going to make that big a difference.

You can also get a nice little proggie that allows you to use your serial ports at higher baud rates (ie > 115,200), can't remember what it's called though, and you need a new(ish) computer for the ports to operate that fast.

But I'd say it's just a wànkered chipset, ESS are a bit low-end from what I've seen of them.

SuperKitten

Geez, tech forums, i have the half life section book marked, can't be bothered going other places

Thanks for that, when i tried them multi-linked i think the ESS let down the conn since max download speed i got was 1.4k/sec and thats on one of the most fastest ISP's in britain (Freeserve).

Maybe i'll go find another internal modem to play with.

As for a newish computer, i have K7, it should be new enough (says (C)2000 on the POST screen oooh ahhh)

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[-SoF-]SuperKitten

mara_skywalker97@hotmail.com

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FrEaK On A LeAsH

Go to www.lagless.com they have a good modem guide, and a modem tweaking guide as well

Dr_Teeth

Super - the most important thing to realise is that 90% of PCI modems are 'winmodems' - ie they have no brains and make the PC's CPU do all the modulation, demodulation, error correction, compression etc. This makes them cheap (there's sod all hardware on the card) but crap (as the PC has enough to do trying to run the game) they're very popular with OEMs like Dell/Gateway etc.

External modems are in NO WAY hampered by the serial port - modern serial ports run at 115200 bps, where as most modems are lucky to connect at 44000 (even though they say they're '56K') so, stick with the external modem. Or get an ISDN line.

Teeth.

Stephen

Topic moved to technology board from Half-Life.

SantaHoe

modern serial ports run at 115200 bps, where as most modems are lucky to connect at 44000 (even though they say they're '56K')

WTF are you talking about?
115,200 = DTE speed
44,000 = DCE speed

Also, providing you have a compatable UART, that software will let you run serial ports at up to 921,600 baud. Which apparently lowers ping by about 10-15ms.

Er, and you'll never get a true 56K connection from a modem using standard phone lines, it's just called '56k' because 56kbps is the theoretical maximum of the v.90 modem.
Achieved only in lab conditions.

MiCr0

my modem generally connects at 115200 and its a lot faster than when it connects at 38000 or 44000
&

the VoiceSurfr is a hardware modem so this will work with any IBM compatible
PC with a ISA slot, it will also work in any operating system that supports
Hayes modems or communicates directly with the comm port.

Dr_Teeth

Umm Santa are you desperate to sound smart or something? You seem to be critising my post "WTF etc" but you're not actually saying anything - yes you can speed-up serial ports above 115200, and if that reduces latency slightly, fair enough.

However the issue here is external vs internal - and given that nearly every single internal modem you can buy is a winmodem, even if the dealer DENIES POINT-BLANK THAT IT IS (this happened to a friend of mine, grr..) then externals are the way to go.

WTF are you talking about?
115,200 = DTE speed
44,000 = DCE speed

Read my post again.

Er, and you'll never get a true 56K connection from a modem using standard phone lines, it's just called '56k' because 56kbps is the theoretical maximum of the v.90 modem.
Achieved only in lab conditions.

That's what I said.

Teeth.

amp

hmmm but there's a growing trend for software external modems. Most of them (the cheapo ones from the east) use the Lucent chipset (in software).

To think that I bought my external motorola voicesurfr kflex56 (I flashed all of a year later when motorola released the upgrade) from Virgin who now don't sell that stuff anymore and Motorola don't make consumer modems anymore.

Yet the wee lump of biege works with every O/s I've used.

On the subject of ISA winmodems. Dell used to ship some of there units with an ISA US Robotics 33.6 Winmodem. Couldn't find a driver for it ANYWHERE, not dells site, not 3coms. And it didn't have an FCC number so I couldn't search for it on windrivers.com....
etc. etc. ramble ramble. I need a drink.

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Lunacy Abounds! Play GLminesweeper!

SantaHoe

</FreakOut>

Bleh, sorry if it seems like I was attacking your post Teeth.
I think we're just on different planets here.

High blood pressure sufferers. Simply cut yourself and bleed for a while, thus reducing the pressure in your veins.

logic1

IMHO kitten (which usually doesn't count for much) it doesn't matter whether u get an internal or external modem as long as its a hardware modem. The uart on an external modem is exactly the same as the uart on an internal modem as long as they're bot ns16550an which is the standard then your flyin... modems to avoid are lucent winmodem, motorola also have a dodgy k56 flex type yoke... PCTel which are also lucent but can be sold under either name.... generally anything that states win modem in its name and costs less than £40 or £50 squid...
personally I have a USR 3com 56k external modem... previously i had a USR 28.8 sporster both of which have served me brilliantly.....

MiCr0

i got one of them motorola ones
there#'s a v90 update available on there site

WhiteWashMan

theres no difference between internal and external. its the different chipsets that will give you the different speeds and theres no guide to what chipset will work well internal or external in a certain area under certain conditions
to be honest its pure luck if you get a modem that is kick ass on your system. i have one of the more reputable modems, an external pace, which gives me 44,000 connection. having said that, it often disses at important moments of gaming. my mothers modem which is a reputable piece of crap, gives 53.000 connection and never disses. go figure. its all in the luck. or just get isdn

Canaboid

He he. Me has vision of Amp as old man, sitting wizened in his rocking chair, mumbling repeatedly, "I'm waiting for cable"

amp

Ack!! How did you know you young whippersnapper!! Nurse! Nurse! What are all these people doing in my bedroom!!

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Lunacy Abounds! Play GLminesweeper!

amp

I'm waiting for cable

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Lunacy Abounds! Play GLminesweeper!

SuperKitten

Think i'll wait till i get ADSL till i play CS again, gettin sick of the lag.

So really i don't need something that won't touch my CPU just something that gives me good download speeds

As for CPU, does it really matter if my modem is using my k7/700 ? Surely it can process modem things while doing simple task like running HL

Thanks btw guys, though in my own little study i get better pings on my crappy little external than i do on new internals being PCI or ISA.

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[-SoF-]SuperKitten

mara_skywalker97@hotmail.com

Hugs and Kisses (for a better world)