IWETHEY v. 0.3.0 | TODO
1,095 registered users | 0 active users | 0 LpH | Statistics
Login | Create New User
IWETHEY Banner

Welcome to IWETHEY!

New Old fashioned hardware modems are disappearing
I was looking for a proper hardware modem with RS-232C port for my brother. Well, the choices have really gone down but the prices haven't -- typical price is about $90. And, at least half of the externals were USB based.

But, I did find an ELSA MicroLink external 56K modem at Fry's for $50. External modems really are nicer, although this one doesn't have as many lights as some (only Power, Tx/Rx, and OH -- but still beats an internal modem).

Tony
New Some are still around.
Multi Tech still makes low end modems, their ZDX series, though the price has gone up a bit. Street should be around $120 or so. US Robotics still lists externals for a little bit less than that. Both have a full compliment of blink'n lights.

Professional grade modems start at about $300 from Multi Tech, USR and others, and also have plenty of lights.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
New That's enough lights.
Most of the time, that's all you need: Power, Tx, Rx and OffHook. Carrier Detect is sometimes nice for problem solving, I'll admit, and so is Error Correct or Flow Control, if they implement it right (many don't) but High Speed and Auto Answer are pretty useless.

Wade.

"All around me are nothing but fakes
Come with me on the biggest fake of all!"

New For PCs, perhaps . . .
. . . but for other systems TR (Terminal Ready), AA (Auto Answer) and other lights are quite useful.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
New That is because it is cheaper to make a software modem
They can sell an Internal software modem for $20USD and have software do some things that the more expensive hardware can do. My favorite software modem is the Lucent Winmodem.

But hardware modems can be expensive, I wonder why the price of them haven't gone down? Perhaps because hardly anyone buys them anymore? Or that new systems are usually built with software modems these days?

Picking up the pieces of my broken life.
New Exactly.
In fact, the cost of hardware modems have actually increased - mainly because the economies of scale are no longer there. They are availible, but at a premium only. Software modems are cheap because they a) use much fewer components and b) are being manufactured in much larger quantities.

Just supply 'n demand, baby...
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
     Old fashioned hardware modems are disappearing - (tonytib) - (5)
         Some are still around. - (Andrew Grygus)
         That's enough lights. - (static) - (1)
             For PCs, perhaps . . . - (Andrew Grygus)
         That is because it is cheaper to make a software modem - (orion) - (1)
             Exactly. - (inthane-chan)

Keep your friends close, but independent consultants closer.
77 ms