56 modems

[leichaolan]

Hey guys, I'm still running on a old 56K modem (please don't laugh at me) and it's been conking out again and again recently. When it does work, I usually connect at about 41000bps. I really don't know anything about modems and have only had this one so I don't know if this is sub par performance or not. My question is: If I get a new modem (like one of them expensive USR ones) will I see a marked improvement in connection speed? I mean, it's a 56K, so shouldn't it connect at 56K? Please enlighten me here.

[rond36]

A 56K MODEM is limited by law to 53K and limited by your telephone line quality the most you can expect out of any 56K MODEM is around 45K if the wind is blowing in the right direction http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

[diurnal]

No dont go usrobotics, they are way to expensive, you can get one for 15+6.95 at www.tcwo.com. (http://www.tcwo.com.) And youll get the same speeds as usr. With the new one you should be getting around 60ks, provided if your isp is good.Go to www.google.com (http://www.google.com) and type in modem speed test. See what your surfing at.If its around 50k then i would stick with the one you have.56k sucks and i cant wait till dsl comes, yeah right one day. Dont be fool by isdn either, youll pay more for like couple ks.

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Sledgehammer will save the day!

[kayofcircles]

Good one, rond36 , and ain't it the truth?? I have ancient phones lines, and right this minute am getting a walloping 26,400 bps. So, leichaolan, you're already WAY PAST me. If you do buy a new modem, just ask/search for a hardware modem rather than a software one..less strain on your system and works better...but you'll still hit whatever limitations inherent in your area. We bought a hardware modem for my husband, but he is not getting any better on the bps...but at least he is not falling offline every five minutes either.

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

Personally, I wouldn't even venture to buy a new one just yet. A couple of things I would try is: 1) Have the phone company check your line for noise and, 2) use the shortest possible phone cord between the modem and the wall. If that entails moving furniture around, then so be it. If you have a twenty foot cord connected to your modem, you will never get anywhere near 50K bps.

If the above doesn't fix the disconnects, then it could be that your modem is getting tired and wants to be put out to pasture.

3Com USR modems are the only ones I ever use nowadays. Granted, they are steeper in price, but they are reliable.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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Life = Karma, or is it, Karma = Life?

[mjc]

The actual maximum is 54667, it was raised not that long ago, but many telcos still cap it at 53333. And yes for many there is no such thing as a connection approaching that speed, I thought I was one, 48000 to 52000 was typical. I recently got an external hardware modem, now I connect at the max most of the time and my actual speeds do match, I get very few retrains (where the modem renegotiates the connection speed) and those I do get work both ways (up and down), also dropped connections are a thing of the past...I used to drop the connection about every hour or so (sometimes half an hour sometimes three hours but never more than that), last night I was connected to the PCGuide chatroom for several hours and the connection was rock steady.

I had tried another external modem before and it showed no improvement, this one is a USR, so I think that there is something to be said about their quality (but it could also be that it is more compatable with my ISP - that would be something to check, which chipsets get the best connectios with your ISP). Yes they do cost more but there are several things that stand in their favor..they have a reputation for reliability and quality, they have a good warranty and half-way decent support.

Checking with your ISP for what chipsets work best with their equipment is problably the first place to start when you are looking for a modem. If you grab one of the $20 internals that isn't very compatable with your ISP your rates could actually end up being worse or you could end up with a large amount of dropped connections or both. There are also differences among the internals...some have the reputation for being very touchy (many Conexant-Rockwell ones) others like ESS chipsets can be very bad or very good depending on the ISP's equipment

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[leichaolan]

Thanks for your output guys. Now that I think of it, I'm probably going to move on to high speed. I'm tired of taking 20min to download songs. What are the inherint advantages/disadvantages between cable and dsl?

[diurnal]

Now your talking, go with dsl, i heard it was better than cable. I heard cable, during peak hours is really bad.

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Sledgehammer will save the day!

[Jumby]

I've got cable and love it. Of course I'm comparing it to a 56k. I think DSL is more available than cable (and also a little more expensive), so you need to check to find out what's available to you first. Just cuz they make it, doesn't mean you can get it. But either way, it's an amazing difference. AND GET A FIREWALL!!!

[Rick]

Well I can’t tell you much about DSL . Because it is not available in my area of town.
The phone company doesn’t support it here. Why? I have no Idea. It is available across town
at $79.00 a month but not on this side of town.
I think it has something to do with the wiring in my area.

I do have Cable (Time Warner-Road Runner) the price in my area is about $40 a month
Not bad for the price. If you do a lot of downloading It is well worth it.
But remember having the fastest connection in the world doesn’t do you any good when the server you are accessing is slow or the webs band width is clogged.

Regarding speed drops during Peek times.
It’s no worse than the web is during these times.
Unless you have an area where every house in town is on the line. And they are all on line at the same time.

Here are a few of my True Speed reports for example.

1 Thursday, September 27, 2001 15:19:29 (840.90k) 861080 bps
2 Thursday, September 27, 2001 15:25:48 (1436.41k) 1470880 bps
3 Monday, October 08, 2001 18:52:30 (465.82k) 477000 bps
4 Tuesday, October 09, 2001 08:09:29 (687.56k) 704064 bps
5 Wednesday, October 10, 2001 22:31:01 (848.45k) 868808 bps
6 Tuesday, October 16, 2001 08:39:48 (704.34k) 721248 bps
7 Friday, October 19, 2001 01:52:18 (1279.88k) 1310600 bps
8 Friday, October 19, 2001 02:09:02 (760.60k) 778856 bps
9 Friday, October 19, 2001 02:34:23 (971.37k) 994680 bps
10 Saturday, October 20, 2001 01:01:28 (510.50k) 522752 bps

Even at it its worst time or speed it still beats dial up, dsl, or standard modem

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To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !

[kayofcircles]

That's cruel, Rick. Already have a bad case of cable envy...sniff. 994,680 bps??? Not in my wildest dreams. Sob.

[Vic 970]

BigBlue66:

tell us more about this cable thing. I've just tested mine and got 16.1 (well short of a 28k) whilst my modem is 56k. (even after I have had BT (phone Co,) turn up the gain.)

The Pc is connected via an extension cable (about 20 foot long) which I can't really do much about it unless I sit on the front doorstep.

Is there a signal amplifier available or could I have the master socket moved? & why is that important, (seeing as it comes down a wire anyway!) is it to do with something in the master socket?

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for every question there's an answer. Then a load more questions.

Regards..,
Vic.

[YODA74]

It's like running electrical wire if you ever gone to a construction site and looked close to the connections they try not to make any run off boxes on the main feeder lines. your best bet would be run a solid cable from the main box that runs from the attatched box(phone) to where you need it with out splicing.actually pretty simple job. (the more junction boxes the less functionability<<<did i spell that right?? If you do have to have a juncktion box don't just tape or wire nut the splice pls. soldier them together.

tech.note: actually you get line or so called impeidence drop

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[jazziex89]

DSL is the way to go.. have had it for several months, cost $49/mo but it is definitely worth it always on line, no dial ups and downloads are fast. plus surfing is incredible...

[kayofcircles]

Vic : 16.1 does seem awfully low. When you talked to your ISP provider, did you tell them about that? I recently had to call my ISP techs and the tech walked me through a number of network setting changes and such..and I am getting a better bps now (sometimes up to the max here of 28.8..wow) and fewer disconnects on very old (phone repair guy said "fifties") phone lines.

On our main phone thing into the house, we have connected several separate lines to our puters and the kitchen phone. Means you do have to be able to crawl under the house or something though. And drill holes in walls.

Different areas are obviously different, but I remember Pianorak saying he got a much better bps than that..so I am kinda back to "call your ISP" and, uh, complain.

[Vic 970]

I use 2 isp's and have just checked connection speed of each of them at the pc end.

1. connected at 50 then 48 then 49 bps

the other at 46.6

does that mean its bottlenecking somewhere?

I have written to each isp.

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for every question there's an answer. Then a load more questions.

Regards..,
Vic.