Buying a cheap external modem in Galway

phobos

Right folks,

I'm looking to buy a cheap external modem in Galway ASAP (meaning probably this weekend). Now this isn't going to be an easy one because you would have to take the following in to consideration.

1. The system is an old DX2/66
2. There are no free PCI slots (hence the external bit)
3. There are no USB ports
4. It is needed ASAP, an has to be bought in Galway, no time for ordering or any sh1te like that.

Since the machine doesn't have any USB ports, the interface will have to be either parallel or serial. The box has 2 parallel ports, which are both free, and the serial is free too. It's running Win98SE and it's doing it fine too, which isn't bad for a 486 with 20MB of RAM. The machine isn't for me, it's a present for my grandfather, who just needs a browser and mail client. So a powerhouse isn't required.

But back to my question. Apart from the usual Compustore (which seem to be charing in excess of €100 for something basic), is there anywhere I can get one cheap. Jaysus if anyone had a spare one lying around I would take it off them, granted it was in good nick, and had drivers for Win98.

Cheers lads
;-phobos-)

leeroybrown

http://www.quicktec.ie/

Based in ballybane, probably a bit cheaper than Compustore if you want something quickly.

sceptre

Last time I was in Galway COmpustore were selling a Trust v92 external modem for about eur72 - cheaper than the Limerick price of eur79

Good modem. Might be able to get it cheaper elsewhere but not bad even at eur79 (or higher, within reason - just as good as the non-handsfree 3com offerings imho)

Bubbles had one for sale in the ForSale forum a while back - might still have it

phobos

Cheers lads I appreciate that. But it looks like I'll be heading for Compustore. I didn't actually want to be spending more on a modem that I would sell the computer for. lol

But the trust modem, sounds reasonable, so I'll have a look.

;-phobos-)

phobos

Right, I've managed to get my hands on a modem (in Curry's of all places). I went in to Compustore, and the guys in the (you have to love their chancing wit). I had a look for a modem that met my requirements. Picked up the box, and had a good look. It said that it needed a P166 MMX to work. I thought, why the hell would I need a processor like that to use a modem. I then though that it may be a winmodem, and require the extra processing power. So I grabbed one of the store chancers, and asked him some questions. But unfortunately he was one of those guys that read the box back to me very quickly with a stutter (basically revealing he hadn't a clue what he was holding in his hands). So I asked to speak to one of the technicians.

The technicians had more of a clue, in that they knew what I was talking about, but still went on to say that all modems need at least that spec to run these days. Still not happy with what I was hearing I went over to Curry's (coz Electric World, wouldn't know what a modem if you opened one their display boxes and ripped one from it's PCI slot). Currys on the otherhand had a similar spec modem, but this time the box actually said it only needed a 486 to run. So happy I was.

I know this post is getting long, but it's now going somewhere...
I installed the modem, no problems under win98 & Plug n' Play. The device uses a serial interface, so I connected it to the only serial port on the back of the machine (COM1). But the problem now lies when I try to use phone dialler to test that it works. It goes to dial, and then tells me that either some other piece of software is using the port or the line is busy.
So further I went in to Control Panel/Modems/Diagnostics Tab. Clicked "More Info", and hey presto when it tries to communicate with the modem to get some info about it, I am presented with a dialog box telling me that the port is already open. So what I'm guessing is that something else is trying to use the serial port. But if you remember I have just installed Win98, and no extra software (just the OS). The mouse/keyboard are PS2, so neither of them are causing the port to be opened when Windows boots. I had a look through system.ini, and found a entry that looked like it was loading somethign to do with the com port. So I REMed that out, and restarted the machine. This time when I clicked on More Info, it actually got the modem details, and everything seems OK. But if you click on driver info, it tells me that it cannot open the file. Anyway, when I go back in to phone dialler, it still tells me something is using the line.

So then I thought that the land line in the house (my grandparents) would have Call Answering service on their line. So I called support, and had them disable it, which they did instantly. I confirmed that by trying to access it from the normal land line phone.

I'm stumped, as to why the com port is being opened before I try and access the modem. I have written software before that uses a modem to send info. And I know that you first open the com port before dialing a number, and close it when you are finished (e.g hanging up). I even though of switching the modem to a different COM port, but how can I do that when there is only one port on the back of the machine, and it's an external modem. I also thought of getting one of those serial to parallel adapters, so I could use one of the two LPT ports on the system.

Help please

;-phobos-)

po0k

That's almost deffinately a winmodem
Just about every external serial one needs only a 486SX33 I think to run.
that was a winmodem if ever I saw it.
Did it state windows as a requierment on the side?

flamegrill

To be honest i ahve never seen an external win modem other than USB modems. if it connects via serial and works with any os using a standard 56K V.90 driver its not a winmodem.

One thing i have found with serial modems and some winmodems is that if you use 4 core phone cable they dont work. I dont know why this is, but once i slice 1 of the 4 cables, one of the 2 outside ones, it works perfect. *puzzeled*

Regards,

Paul

leeroybrown

A serial external modem that still needs CPU power ...

The ultimate hardware oxymoron.

phobos

The guy in Compustore said it wasn't a Winmodem, but I still have my doubts. I asked him straight out, because it's the first thing that popped in to my head when I saw the spec originally. Anyway that's not the issue anymore, because we can be pretty sure that he knew, that I knew what a winmodem was and tried to cover it up with sales pitched lies. :rolleyes:

Anyway I don't have that modem, I have a proper US robotics that only needs a SX/33 (like Syxpack said). The modem is properly installed, and all that. Now that I think about it a little more, I don't think REMing the line

comm.drv=comm.drv

from the [boot] section of his system.ini was the right move. I think it's more of a serial port driver as apposed to being affiliated with the device connected to it. Of course it will have some effect, but it was this little bugger that was causing the port to be opened when windows started.

Also flamegrill I don't think cutting the power in the phone cable is going to do anything. I am guessing you simply use the data lines (red/green). Somehow I can't see that working in my instance. But it's worth a try. But has anybody any other suggestions that I should try. I would really like to get this working, because my grandfather's face really dropped when I didn't get this working today, he was all excited coming out of town after buying the modem. It's something small, and stupid I know, and I also know I've seen the bloody problem before. But I don't know where, and I don't know how I fixed it, but I know for a fact it didn't involve modifying the phone cable.

Anybody

;-phobos-)

leeroybrown

Did you check for any wierd settings/usages in the ports section of Control Panel/System? It might show if something else is using the COM port.

phobos

leeroy would you believe I don't have a ports icon in my conrol panel. I only noticed this yesterday myself when I went looking for it. I installed 98SE (using typical install), and by default there is no ports option. Now you can by all means go in to CP/System/Device Manager, and see the ports, but nothing else is assigned to that port apart from the modem. When I click on CP/Modems, I can see that the modem has been properly assigned to COM1. Also if there was any resource conflicts I'm sure I would see errors in Device Manager, and at the moment everything seems hunky dory. As far as the OS-Modem relationship is concerned everything seems OK.

I have pondered the problem a bit, and I'm going to try a few things like, trying to get the modem to dial, without detecting a dial tone. That way if there is something else hogging the line, it will dial out over it.

Anywy I know I've seen this message before, and I think it was acually on this machine I'm using now (but about 1.5 years ago). I fixed it by switching phone cables from the modem to the wall. As far as I was concerned the cables were exactly the same, but fobbed it off as being a faulty cable, and thought nothing more of it. But the cable I'm using now was just bought yesterday too.

I'm still stumped and running out of time. I would really like to get this working ASAP. Appreciating your help so far, but if you think of anything else or preferably if you've seen this message before, let me know. Just to show you guys the message I'm seeing, I can bring it up on this machine, by trying to use phone dialer (while already online), ie. the modem is already in use.



At this stage the symptoms I am describing, are nearly describing the problem, and giving ideas regarding a sollution. But the funny thing is that nothing I've tried seems to be working.



;-phobos-)

eth0_

If you look here: http://www.idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html
you can see if it IS a winmodem or not. Sounds exactly like one to me. I don't think you can get a proper modem for less than 80-100 euro.

flamegrill

its not a fecking winmodem. we have established this already. thats hardly helpfull in all fairness. READ the other posts first.

phobos : try the following.

install a new modem from the menu. use a default windows driver for it. and pic what ever com port its on. make sure u disable the current driver first as windows will freak out otherwise. give that a try.

Regards,

Paul

eth0_

Sorry Flamegrill 'We' didn't establish anything, YOU decided yourself it's a winmodem.

If it's serial only it's very unlikely to be a winmodem but some have usb and serial ports on them, so we can't be sure unless phobos posts the make and model of the modem.

Maybe you should read the thread and think before shooting your mouth off at someone who is just trying to help. You're are very aptly named.

Hellrazer

Can anyone tell me what the BEST/MAKE and model of external hardware modem specifically for gaming is.Since Im not being offered broadband for another 6-12 months I need to get better pings than this crappy winmodem(pci) which I have at the moment.And what is the best way of telling whether a modem is a winmodem or hardware modem.
Thanks,
Richie.

Inspector Gadget

...if it's a serial, external modem, then it's definitely not a Winmodem. The combination is physically daft, as leeroybrown deftly put it.

Let's see. You've got a clean install of Win98SE on this machine, and nothing else, which means that the likelihood of software grabbing the port is quite low.

Firstly, if it's an old machine, are you sure it's only got one port? Many older machines came with one 9-pin and one 25-pin serial port - the 25-pin one is the same size and shape as your parallel port but is male, like the 9-pin serial (the parallel port is female). If you see one of these ports, and have (or can get) a suitable adaptor, give that a lash.

Next, try and dial a number (say, a mobile or a landline) yourself by issuing commands to the modem directly. Open up Hyperterminal, select "Direct to COM <whatever>" from the list and let it try to connect. If it doesn't report "Connected " in the bottom-left-hand corner of the window and start counting time it can't connect. If it connects, however, try the following.

The commands you should try are as follows (if you mistype something, press <return> and start again - backspace doesn't work here):

ATV1<return> (this tells the modem to return a text-based rather than numeric result code for what you tell it)

...to which you should get the response:

OK

Then, type the following
ATDT<number><return> (where <number> is the number of a phone you'll be able to hear ringing)

You should hear a relay click in the modem and you may hear the dialing process (I think ATM1<return> should turn on the speaker if it's off - see this MSKB article for more AT commands)

Now, if it works, your phone will ring, at which point you type:

+++

then wait a second, and type

ATH<return>

...to hang up.

If this works, your modem is functional. If it doesn't, you'll get a message (only one) like:

NO CARRIER
NO DIAL TONE

...or similar from the modem. This should give you an idea why the modem can't dial out. If it does fail, type:

ATZ<return>

...to reset the modem, and repeat the above sequence, replacing ATDT<number><return> with ATDP<number><return> (to try the same test with old-style pulse dialling (the "P" in the ATD dial command) instead of normal tone dialling (the "T")). The primary reason for this rigmarole is that modem messages are notoriously vague - especially if a program is using the Windows API to talk to the modem (as Phone Dialler is).

Hope this helps,
Gadget

phobos

Would you believe the phone cable was damaged. As a last resort, I tried switching cables, and straight away it started dialing, and there was no problems.

I also got the results from my exams today, and I got my honors degree

Oh, why isn't everyday like this. I'll probably get hit by a bus tomorrow just to level things out. Feck!

;-phobos-)

Techead

Lads if you go into Compustore and they tell you the modem isn't going to work why fon't you believe them, it's there job. What makes you lot such geniuses. The boxes are almost always 99% correct. So stop wasting everyones time whining and get a REAL pc.:D

po0k

po0k

Also, re: compustore.
The people who do know something simply don't care because they have to deal with moron customers/staff/management, and the people who do care are morons.
There's a GeForce 32Meg SDR for sale in Compustore in galway for ~€200,
That's what you're dealing with.

sceptre

:rolleyes:

Bah, beaten by some hoore in Galway (Syx)

po0k

And I managed to slight Compustore while I was at it.

Tekkit.