[ale] Share my frustration: what do you do for fax/data modems?

Byron A Jeff byron at cc.gatech.edu
Tue Jun 13 15:38:35 EDT 2006


Hi folks!

Modems used to be a simple affair. Attach via a serial port, open up a
terminal program (or configure ppp) and off you go.

Then to streamline (and probably to cut costs too) modems were internalized.
A bit more problematic (IRQ conflicts and the like) but not so difficult as
to give a headache.

And then came the Winmodems like stormtroopers across the plains. Sigh. Now
you need a driver and judicious finger crossing for any hope of getting a
modem to work.

My current battle is with the machine I'm trying to set up for my 
Mother-in-law. Or more accurately, the machine I'm setting up for my kids to
use when they visit my mother-in-law. In an attempt to go back to the good
old days, I set up a PII 233 with 96MB ram and 8G HD to act fundamentally
as a simple dial up terminal. I threw in an old 56K ISA internal modem for
good measure. I'm testing with Kubuntu Dapper (flight 6 I think).

Slower than molassass on a freezing January Vermont night. Ouch!

So I'm going to have to bite the bullet and use a faster machine. However
that scratches my modem because it's ISA and as we all well know the chance
of finding a modern MB with ISA is 0, nada, zilch, nothing!

Over the years I've purchased external modems via Ebay and surplus with no
good results. I'd really hate to have to spend nearly $50 just to get an
external modem that works.

So I'm looking for ideas. As you can well guess my preference is to have
a modem with a controller that functions standalone without additional
driver software. I hope to get 56K dialup and fax functionality.

I figure I'm just looking in the wrong places. So I'm asking for advise.

Thanks.

BAJ



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