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Sharon Day
Tl Posts:
1

Posted - 4/29/2000 5:38:11 AM  Show Profile  Email Poster  Edit Message
Thanks for modem information. I'm no techie but for years I wondered why my connection speed says: 26,400bps & I have 56kmodem. I live in rural area; no cable TV, no AOL, no MSN, etc. So, what modem should I have for optimum performance? We have Ameritech phone, Dell XPS 233, & USR factory-installed. ... Or do I need a whole new computer system? Which computer/modem?
SARGE
Tl Posts:
743

USA
Posted - 4/29/2000 8:55:58 PM  Show Profile  Email Poster  Edit Message  SARGEs Homepage
I wouldn't spend $ on anything yet. Your lines may not be capable of 56k. Hopefully, you can get a good tech to test your lines. Ask if you're on a "shared pair", meaning, if you have 2 lines in house, are both on same pair. If you're on a "pair gain" system, depending on version, forget 56k. Only a tech can tell you.
Online-Admin
Tl Posts:
1

Australia
Posted - 5/1/2000 9:46:59 PM  Show Profile  Email Poster  Edit Message  Online-Admins Homepage
Thought you might be interested in knowing that one of my customers was running on a 33Kb modem and only getting 12-16Kb connections - however, we put in a 56Kb modem and now they are regularly getting 23-28Kb connections now. Why is this interesting/relevant?
Well they are on a farm in the bush about 150Km from Melbourne (bush=forest - for you non-Aussies), and are a fair distance from their (very ancient) exchange - they also have an electric fence that runs over the cable and quite an audible tick can be heard over the line because of it.
The point of this is - a 56Kb modem may not give you 56Kb.. but any improvemnet has got to be better'n nothing :o) These guys are very happy because now they can double their throughput without having to go to ISDN (expensive in Aus). There is no possibility of them getting Cable or ADSL (their exchange is way too old) - but they can still work!

I would suggest that, like them, your problem has nothing to do with your modem (just like your PC probably has nothing to do with it either), it is simply that to get the conveniance of your telephone+modem such a distance may suffer in attenuation of the signal - thus lack of bandwidth. I would suggest that you are lucky - I have another customer who cannot even get a modem connection from their farm > 14400! No matter what we try!

I hope this eases some of your quandry. :o)

Best Regards,
Michael
Online-Admin
Melbourne, Australia.

v.Richard
Tl Posts:
6222

USA
Posted - 5/2/2000 8:35:43 AM  Show Profile  Email Poster  Edit Message  v.Richards Homepage
Sharon:
Before you go buying another modem, check to see if your line has more than 1 a/d conversion. Since you have a 3Com/USR modem, you are able to do the check with the modem you have!
See - Link

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