Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
What's the best modem?
-
30-03-2001 2:39pm#1
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by OJ:
well I don't think that Diamond are the best ..
the modem I use is a Elsa Micromodem
it seems grand for me, and I usually get about 140 ping to games of tf
</font>
Just wondering OJ how much did that modem set u back?
WhAt are we going to do tonight Brain?0 -
Advertisement
-
Is that Micro link one USB???
Where do u live and how far from the exchange??
I got a lucent DSP 'Winmodem', get around 200ping on a 28.8 connection. need to get wiring in the house redone totaly
But now thanks to the new netcdoe in HL i get around 250-350 anymore
So I'm not a happy bunny any more........ SH007 M3H Pl33Z >>>>>>>>>I is not really an 1337 scriptkiddie yet....and hopefully never will be if I want to pass English in Levaing
[VTi]SyxPak
No-one ever suspects the Duck
Play Counterstrike.
Meet interesting people.
Kill them.
All of them.0 -
Ive got a 56k Mr Modem.
Its external and serial and at 4 in the morning gives me pings of 130-140 on a 50 foot phone extension...on no limits too.
of course before 10pm im usually around 250-300.
Dont blame HL netcode for just how bad nolimits has become in the past few months during peak times(assuming your on nolims
Snaga0 -
Everyone in the industry (people like me) know that USRobotics are and always have been the best. Get a USR external, and you can't go wrong...
that said, you can't go far wrong with any external serial modem.
tribble's right about serial being best, but the reason he give is complete tripe
okay.... forkit... now you got me started...
of the current modems on the market, there are five main types... unfortunately, i know NOTHING about USB modems (except that i wouldn't trust them as far as i could throw my granny), so i'll ignore them in this article. i shall now list the remaining four in order of tastiness...
1) external serial modem
2) internal HARDWARE modem
3) internal DSP software modem
4) internal HSP software modem
external: basically, if you want a modem that works, with the same kind of reliabilty as a desert eagle to the head, then get an external serial modem. you plug it in, you turn on your computer, you dial up. that's all there is to it. it's a common misconception that modems need drivers. they don't! (at least hardware ones don't) all the software they need is programmed into the ROM onboard the modem. the computer simply throws raw data at the serial port, and the modem does the rest. most modems come with "drivers", but they're more like just the standard settings that windows should use with them... so in this respect, getting the latest "drivers" can make a difference... but they don't do any of the actual "driving".
internal hardware: this is the full kaboodle, exactly the same as an external modem, minus the case and flashy lights (mmmm.... flashy lights
), and with the addition of a built in serial port, and all the things normally associated with a serial port (like a UART). unfortunately, most internal hardware modems died along with the ISA modem. i'm sure they exist, but i just don't know of any specific hardware PCI modems at the moment. go check USR's website or something.
DSP: stands for Digital Signal Processing. yeah, the same thing in soundcards and so on, cos it does the same thing. This converts the digital 1s and 0s from your PC into an analogue waveform so that it can't be sent along your phoneline (this is the fundamental point of a MoDem, or Modulator/Demodulator, and also the reason why cable "modems" and dsl "modems" aren't really modems at all... cos the signal remains digital), and vice versa. now all internal and external hardware modems also feature DSPs, but they're not called "DSP modems". the difference between a hardware modem and a DSP modem is that hardware modems have another chip in them besides the DSP, called the controller. this is what tells the DSP to do. it holds the instructions that the modem carries out in doing what it does. In a DSP modem, this controller is emulated in software. Since its demands on the system are very low, there's not any real problem with this style of modem, especially if your CPU is faster than, say, 200MHz.
HSP: This is one you should definitely steer clear of... it stands for Host Signal Processor... and what that means is that the Host (your computer itself) emulates not only the controller, but also the DSP... so your CPU has to do all the hard work for the modem... not that 56 kilobits in one second is difficult for a CPU... but the problem arises when one process is monoplising the CPU, and starving other processes from getting their job done.... when this happens, the modem can often be left with no data to send, or with too much receive, and it can't cope and drops the connection. Again, theoretically, on a relatively modest CPU, these modems shouldn't be too bad... but i certainly wouldn't buy one.
there are really only a handful of modem chipset makers...
USR make their chips, and their modems, and that's that. (much like Ferrari F1 and their engines).
Rockwell (now known as Connexant) make chipsets (both hardware and software) for more modems than anyone else. at least they did a coupla years ago. now with all these HSP modems included in the family's new PC, things may have changed.
Lucent (LT) also make chipsets. again both hardware and software. their "LT winmodem" is a hugely popular chipset these days.
PCTel made the first popular HSP modems. kill kill kill. then kill some more. don't go near 'em.
Motorola, once renowned for top quality modems, turned to the dark side with their "SM56" HSP modem. again. shoot it til it stops moving, then shoot it some more.
There are a few more chipset makers, but you're unlikely to come across them. and i'm too tired to continue, so goodnight.
as always, making statements without backing them up is dumb. so here are my links for more information on the subject:
www.modemhelp.org
www.56k.com
have fun buyings modems, folks! they won't be around much longer
gotta learn how to write short posts
0 -
Join Date:Posts: 8888
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by [SKT]Raven:
Just wondering OJ how much did that modem set u back?
</font>
£110
but I got it for £90 a discount off it
also I am on NTL so i connect at a full 56k though.
0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by OJ:
£110
but I got it for £90 a discount off it
also I am on NTL so i connect at a full 56k though.</font>
Cool Ill die the day I see myself connecting at the full 56k on IOL nolims, 49,333bps used to be my regular conn speed now im lucky if i get 45,333!
WhAt are we going to do tonight Brain?0 -
stephen and syxpak.... instead of saying it's crap, or good, why not let us know -why- it's crap or good... that way you're actually being useful
and raven, exact same for me.. i used to always get either 49,333 or 49,666 and now i usually get 45,333... but the thing is, 45 ain't bad.... it's pretty good, and 49 is brilliant... it is 100% impossible to get exactly 56,000, for a number of reasons... firstly, v.90 is heavily dependant on the distance between you and your local exhance, secondly, and more importantly, phonelines are actually limited by law to 53k. anyone who claims to get higher than that is bull****ting. the highest i've ever seen was 52,000, to AOL, in england.
gotta learn how to write short posts 0 -
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Balfa:
stephen and syxpak.... instead of saying it's crap, or good, why not let us know -why- it's crap or good... that way you're actually being useful</font>
Well okay then... Generally connect speeds are sh|t - it won't go higher than 37333 bps unless i use some init strings to force it higher, and even then if i connect any faster than 41333 bps the connection is generally very lossy and unrealiable.
Pings in games with this modem (on Irish servers) are generally manky - with a variety of ISP's. I never download faster than 4kb/sec (I presume that's got to do with the low connect speeds). With my old ISA modem (no isa slots in this machine) I used to get a sweet connection and download at up to 5kb/sec... boo
- Munch0 -
-
![[SKT]Raven](https://w8.vanillicon.com/v2/82a0851b1bb32155fefe8d955552c5a2.svg)
Advertisement