[plug] Modems and lightning

[Leon Brooks]

Len Bird wrote:
> All right, but to get to the point of the original posting,
> Internal Modems have a bad reputation mostly because if they
> are left "On-line" during a thundertsorm or similar the
> Computer itself is put at risk.

It is anyway. It's just a little _less_ at risk with an external.

Internals are more subject to noise, and make more noise on the buss.
They also have a bad name for sometimes being software modems, which
soak up CPU horsepower, are not reliable (especially under Windows, I
guess), and will not be supported forever. Those that aren't software
modems can have configuration issues, whether from undocumented jumper
settings or mystery-laden PNP registers, that prevent them from being
used on non-Windows (sometimes even non-specific-version-of-Windows)
machines.

> I bought an Acer
> v 90 External Modem recently for $100 if I remember rightly and to
> date it has performed flawlessly.

Some cheaper modems will appear to be working fine, but will actually be
connecting at much lower rates than their more expensive friends. "As
far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." (-:

A specific item to watch out for is cheap plugpacks which run hot (they
fail early and are also a fire risk).

> I have had a few unscheduled disconnections, but cannot attribute
> this to the Modem. bear in mind it takes two to tango, and Iinet
> are not blameless in this area. perhaps they have shares in Telstra.

Well, Telstra _does_ go around resetting exchanges from time to time.

-- 
If life is merely a joke, the question remains: for whose amusement?