Here's One For You Geeks - Modem Issues

[Docker_Brat]

Put together a system for a friend in Adelaide and sent it over. She plugged it in and it worked no worries but couldn't log on for some reason, I was over there for a couple of days and had a look myself, on the phone to BigPong tech support to see if they could help, no joy. I tried a reinstall of the drivers, tried the modem from her old computer but for some reason neither modem worked in this thing, even though the first one worked fine here in Perth. Ended up buying another modem and away it went.

When I bought another modem, the dude who sold it to me recommended an external modem as the internals had connection problems in the southern suburbs. He claimed they worked OK in the northern subs but the south needs an external modem as the connection is more stable. I wrote it off as him trying to sell me something more expensive, I had to go with the internal as I knew she couldn't afford the extra for an external.

But does that sound reasonable for one type to work better in one area? I always thought one modem is as good as another?

 

[jim boy]

dunno really. It's true that a phone line isn't just a phone line, if it's a pair-gain(?) then the quality isn't so good, so maybe the cheaper modem gets confused by extra static etc Or if the modem is set to try only at a high speed (56K) then it won't work on the slower line. Internal modems, in theory, shouldn't be any worse than externals.

 

[Saint4Life]

external modems will and are always better than internal. i dont understand why, but they are! I have a netcomm roadster 2 USB external modem (56K) with,56K Flex and V90 i fink it is. Best modem u can get. Im actually trying to sell it . Just dont by cheap brand modems i think. Get big brand names, you always do that with Computers, you get bring brand names. For modems, all i can think of is Netcomm, Rockwell (i fink it is), and hmm i donno what there is since i have cable.

 

[Seb]

Just get an external, internals aren't worth your time.

 

[Dave]

Crap. Had an internal for three+ years, never had a problem with it. Dialled in from various points, never failed. Had it in two different systems running 98 & XP, never failed.

What can happen is that if you don't have the correct driver you wont get a connection. The other is what has previously been mentioned re connection speed.Try reducing the speed and see if that works.

 

[Mr Eagle]

Sounds like Mr Modem Sales Dude needs to learn how to spot his suckers better. While there could certainly be issues between older and newer modems, the internal/external thing is generally a moot point. The only difference I have ever heard of is that a fried internal modem can screw your whole mo'board, while externals do not. That, and you can actually see the pretty lights on an external

 

[Bomber12]

have an internal modem and do have connection problems. I to have been told that these connection problems are to do with the internal modem and the area i live in (southern), can i switch to an external modem?????? cause the connection is giving me the ****s somtimes it stuffs up every 5 mins and i have to reconnect costing more money.!!!

 

[M29]

Originally posted by Mr Eagle
That, and you can actually see the pretty lights on an external

That's the only reason I have an external.

No difference at all.

 

[Docker_Brat]

Thanks for the input people.

Asked her how her connection is going, still getting the odd dropout but no where near as bad since ditching BigPong. Reckons she even scored a 5 hour online stint before disconnecting it herself, 1 hour was unheard of before.

 

[Docker_Brat]

Originally posted by Saint4Life
external modems will and are always better than internal. i dont understand why, but they are! I have a netcomm roadster 2 USB external modem (56K) with,56K Flex and V90 i fink it is. Best modem u can get. Im actually trying to sell it . Just dont by cheap brand modems i think. Get big brand names, you always do that with Computers, you get bring brand names. For modems, all i can think of is Netcomm, Rockwell (i fink it is), and hmm i donno what there is since i have cable.

The original modem was a Netcomm, never had a problem with it until this incident.

Put it in my current system back in Perth, it works. Go figure.

 

[Mr Q]

Originally posted by Mr Eagle
Sounds like Mr Modem Sales Dude needs to learn how to spot his suckers better. While there could certainly be issues between older and newer modems, the internal/external thing is generally a moot point. The only difference I have ever heard of is that a fried internal modem can screw your whole mo'board, while externals do not. That, and you can actually see the pretty lights on an external

And its much easier to detach when you want to put it on another computer. That said the difference is from my experience fairly marginal.

 

[Ripper]

Havn't had a modem issue since I got ADSL.

Sometimes if you are running win9x and have a via chipset you need to install the IRQ routing program for an internal Modem (and Sound card & network card) to operate at all.