[plug] modem recommendations?

[Matt Kemner]

On Thu, 16 Nov 2000, Bruce Fountain wrote:

> Can anyone recommend a replacement (external) which will
> work well with my redhat system?

I'd recommend a "Directcom" modem, which is cheap, but seems to work well.
It's the modem that we found worked best with the Cisco access servers we
had at Networx, and works best with the Ericsson access server, and Digi
modem cards, we have at WASP.

I've also been told by an iiNet network engineer that they performed some
tests on various modems, and also recommend the Directcom.

> Prices seem to vary wildly,

Depending on the greed of the manufacturer, and the retailer.
I wouldn't pay more than $100 for a Directcom, but I know people with
computer shops that sell them for $180 or more (more than double what they
pay for them wholesale)

> from an $85 mitsubishi that a dealer near the canning bridge
> offered me to somewhat over $200 from a Arrow over the other
> side of the bridge. Is there really that much difference?

Yes, modems suck, but some suck less than others :)

There are a LOT of bad modems out there, and a very large percentage of
support calls at an ISP are due to people buying dodgy modems (and often
paying a fortune for them)

Don't even get me started on Genius modems
(or the Motorola Lifestyle *shudder*)

 - Matt

P.S. my favourite modem is still the Lightspeed 33.6, but then I'm
     probably biased after running 180-odd of them on a dialin pool :)
     Shame the 56k version isn't in the same league
     (still not a bad modem though)