[lug] Modems for LINUX

[Mike Vigorita]

I don't have personal experience with RH, but I have an internal modem,
running with Slackware at home.

My opinions:

Internal modems are nice, in that you do not have to worry about the power
supply.  That's really the only advantage I can see.  I believe that all
modems are still working on the "UART" principles of the past; so it
probably doesn't matter if you go with an ISA or PCI.  You won't get any
faster CPU to MODEM transfers by using a PCI modem.

External modems have the disadvantage that you need extra cables (i.e.
serial cable), and it's got it's own power supply (another plug).  The nice
thing about external modems is that you can visually see if the modem is
connected and transferring data.  There is the added advantage of being able
to move the modem to another computer very easily (I have an old laptop at
home; and moving my external to my laptop was nice and simple).

Bottom line, whatever you do, do *NOT* get a WINModem.  Other than that,
it's really your choice.  Currently, I have an internal modem, and I don't
care for it just because I got used to looking at the modem to see if I was
connected, and transferring data.  I never saw a difference in transfer
rates, etc.  Like I said, internal modems actually have a UART on board, and
are treated by the computer as just another COM port.

Viggy


-----Original Message-----
From: lug-admin at lug.boulder.co.us [mailto:lug-admin at lug.boulder.co.us]On
Behalf Of David Willcox
Sent: Monday, November 15, 1999 3:33 PM
To: LINUX User group
Subject: [lug] Modems for LINUX


Hi Guys,

Need some help with selecting Modem for Linux 6.0 or 6.1. Should I go
Internel
or Externel , if Internel do I select one for an open 16-bit slot or do you
think I could go with a PCI Internel? If so what type would you suggest ?

Thanks ahead,

Dave Willcox :-)