Re: The Perfect Debian / Personal Computer
b3 wrote:
[...]
> External modems have the best chance of NOT being a winmodem (I haven't seen
> an external winmodem - do any exist?) - so a new buyer might be less likely
I have seen external winmodems. They are usually labeled as such,
though (unlike internal winmodems).
> to come home with a winmodem than if they went to CompUSA/BestBuy/wherever
> looking for an internal modem (I've noticed employees at these places are
> typically VERY clueless, and even had it suggested to me that a winmodem was
> "better" than a hardware modem because "it's made for Windows" (this after
> I'd already asked the guy about linux compatibility, just to see what his
> response would be ;P ).
My recommendation: Don't go to those places unless you know EXACTLY what
you want (i.e. Brand, Model, etc) because, as you said, they are
clueless. When I went to get a modem for my laptop (PCMCIA), the guy at
CompUSA just gave me a blank look when I asked if the model he showed my
was software-based (ie. a winmodem).
>
> I used to do phone support for a dial-up ISP, so I can tell you with
> certainty that the problems people had with external modems were MUCH easier
> to troubleshoot than internal ones. (If only for the fact that we could ask
> "What kind of modem is it?" and get a MEANINGFUL response, rather than "It's
> in my computer", and the afore-mentioned diagnostic lights =) )
>
> Internal modems can work well - especially if you know what you're doing.
> They can also be a pain in the arse, like most anything, if they don't work
> right. BUT I will grant you that an internal modem would generally be
> cheaper than a comparable external modem. I, too, have a couple old USR
> internal modems (pre-winmodem days) that can still work quite well. That
> doesn't mean that were I to buy a modem today that I would buy an internal...
My opinion is that internal modems make up in convenience what they give
in ease of troubleshooting. Really...how often do you have to trouble
shoot something with your modem? Probably not very often.
--
Morgan Terry
mterry@acsbps.com
It is easier to move a problem around (for example, by moving
the problem to a different part of the overall network
architecture) than it is to solve it. --RFC 1925
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