Re: dial-in server - modems

[Alvin Oga <aoga@Maggie.Linux-Consulting.com>]

hi ya nathan

yuppers...

the "good modems" i was referrng to are those that have
	- a uart chip ( 16550 or equivalent uart ) 
	- if you do NOT see a uart, stay away from it cause it probably
	is a "software modem" and brings lots of fun with it

for those that like to get into the gory winmodem details,
rick has some rants on winmodems and more detailed references
	http://www.linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/#internalmodem

c ya
alvin
http://www.Linux-Consulting.com/PPP_Server

On Tue, 8 Oct 2002, D. Nathan Cookson wrote:

> A few words about modems:
> 
> First, the Winmodem term is actually copyrighted and trademarked by
> 3com/USRobotics.   They at least are honest about labeling their modems as
> such.    Other makers label them as, Host-based modems, Controllerless
> Modems, the most notorious for issues, the chips for them are manufactured
> by PCTel, and sold under the name HSP (host signal processor) modems.  These
> should be avoided at all costs.   Even zoom manufacturers some.
> 
> 1 - External modems are almost always hardware modems, the few exceptions
> use the USB interface.
> 2 - If a Modem states it supports DOS it is probably a hardware modem.
> However, some "winmodem" makers have caught on to this little trick and will
> says, "Supports DOS within the Windows environment", ie it is a winmodem.
> 3 - Most internal modem makers make both "soft"/winmodems and hardware
> modems.  Generally speaking anything under $45 is a soft modem, anything
> 45-60 could be a softmodem, and anything over $60 is a hardware modem.
> 4 - There are 4 "parts" to a modem, I forget exactly what they are, and a
> hardware modem has a chip or chips that peform all 4 functions, software
> modems have at least 1 function fulfilled by software.  The "partial" soft
> modems are often the cause of the biggest headaches for people setting them
> up under Linux.  They will often do things like dial, but not handshake.
> 5 - There are some "drivers" available for softmodems under Linux, but I
> have not got them to work as reliable as a hardware modem in any instance I
> have tried.
>