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Navas 28800-56K Modem FAQ^TM

(Answers to Frequently Asked Questions)

Cable modem/DSL users: see Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide^TM

F. PURCHASING

Copyright 1999-2017 The Navas Group^SM, All Rights Reserved.
Permission is granted to copy for private non-commercial use only.
Send mirror and commercial license inquiries to John Navas.

Posted as <http://modemfaq.navasgroup.com/faq_f.htm>.

Important Notes:

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The author has no present connection with any modem company (other than as a customer), and does not endorse the products of any company. This information was compiled by the author and is provided as a public service. Neither the author nor any organization mentioned herein are responsible for any errors or omissions, or for any consequential problems that might result. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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Breaking News

A. TROUBLESHOOTING
B. GENERAL INFORMATION
C. MODEM FEATURES
D. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES
E. MICROSOFT WINDOWS
F. PURCHASING

Which 28800 modem should I buy?
Navas' Best of the Best^TM!
What about magazine reviews?
Where can I get a good deal on a modem?
Where can I get a 16550 UART?
Where can I get multi-port serial cards?
Where can I get multi-modem cards?
Where can I get PCMCIA/PC Card cables?
Where can I get a good telephone line surge suppressor?

G. NON-MODEM DRIVERS
H. BRAND-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
I. MODEM COMPANIES ON THE INTERNET

Which 28800 modem should I buy?

Medium-High End

USRobotics Courier V.Everything: In the opinion of the author, this is quite simply the best reasonably-priced data modem available. (It is not as good for fax -- see "How can I make fax work better?") It's a particularly good choice if you have poor phone lines, if you have to make difficult connections, or if you have to connect to a wide range of modems. A strength that the Courier shares with the Sportster is that its DSP code is stored with its firmware (in Flash in the Courier, ROM in the Sportster), so that it can be easily updated (unlike most modems, which have fixed "datapumps"). A firmware update (7/5/95 or later for USA modems) that supports Selective Reject and draft V.34 speeds up to 33.6 Kbps is now available. The Courier is a good choice for a small BBS, and USR has an attractive SYSOP program. Otherwise the best way to get a good deal may be to find a cheap used 9600 bps or above Courier and take advantage of the USR upgrade program.
Motorola: An excellent company with ISO 9001 registration and a reputation for excellent products. Not evaluated by the author:
Microcom: A reputation for very good modems. Not evaluated by the author.
Bay Networks/Penril: A reputation for excellent, if pricey, modems. Not evaluated by the author.
Telebit: A reputation for excellent, if pricey, modems. Not evaluated by the author. Does not support V.FC.
Zyxel: The Elite 2864 is feature rich (although it does not support V.FC), Flash upgradable, and has the added advantage of being user-upgradable to ISDN (Elite 2864I). However, in the author's tests it does not yet measure up to other modems in connection speed and reliability.
AT&T Paradyne: A reputation for excellent, if pricey, modems. Not evaluated by the author. Does not support V.FC. Supports a proprietary V.34 extension for speeds up to 33.6 Kbps. (Note: Paradyne is reportedly up for sale, so its future is uncertain -- see "AT&T Seeks Buyer For Paradyne" and "PC Magazine Newswatch for Thursday, October 19, 1995")

Consumer Grade

Motorola: An excellent company with ISO 9001 registration and a reputation for excellent products. Reports on the PowerClass and Lifestyle modems (distinguished from each other only by features) are mostly positive. However, there have been reports of a few problems (e.g., Motorola's Customer Note of July 27, 1995, which Motorola is to be commended for publishing). Limitations include a maximum speed of 28.8 Kbps, no V.FC, and no Class 2 or 2.0 fax.
USRobotics Sportster 28800/33600 and 56K: The popularly-priced Sportster is a good data modem. (See "SHOOTOUT: Sportster vs. Courier") (It is not as good for fax -- see "How can I make fax work better?") A strength of the Sportster is that it supports several optional V.34 features (notably split speed) that are not supported by some other popularly-priced modems. Be sure to get firmware dated 4/18/95 or later for USA modems; if necessary, call USR (847/982-5151) to get an upgrade. Certain 28800 Sportster models can be inexpensively upgraded to 33600 (including Selective Reject). Current versions of the Sportster do not support V.FC.
Diamond/Supra: In the opinion of the author, Diamond/Supra is the probably the best bet among the Rockwell chipset-based modems, particularly now that it has released firmware that supports split speeds. All 28800 Diamond/Supra modems can be upgraded to 33600.
Hayes: Although Hayes has made excellent modems in the past, of late it has been slipping, and its 28800 products have exhibited interoperability problems. Because Hayes (inc. PPI) has now emerged from Chapter 11 (Bankruptcy) protection, the author no longer recommends against the purchase of Hayes products, but still advises caution for at least the next few months.
Practical Peripherals Inc. (PPI): PPI is owned by and has been folded into Hayes. The same general comments apply.
Multi-Tech: Although high-end Multi-Tech modems have a good reputation, the author cannot recommend the popularly-priced MT2834ZDX. In the author's head-to-head real-world tests against the USR Sportster 28800, the MT2834ZDX was consistently one step slower, worse on difficult connections; in addition, operational idiosyncrasies caused problems with certain comm apps (e.g., HyperACCESS for Windows).
Zyxel: The Omni 288S is the consumer grade version of the Elite 2864. Not evaluated by the author.
AT&T: AT&T has bailed out of consumer modems. Although good liquidation deals may be found, support could be a problem. Also be warned that there were two completely different AT&T consumer modem lines with similar names. The Dataport was based on AT&T's own modem technology; the low-cost Dataport Express was essentially a Rockwell "Glue 'n Go" clone (see below).
"Glue 'n Go" clones: In the opinion of the author, companies that simply slap a modem chipset on a board are a poor bet.

Additional Information

For other modem companies on the Internet see "Modem Companies on the Internet."
Whatever modem you decide to purchase, the author strongly recommends that you get a return privilege from the dealer (in case you run into problems).
Note: No consumer grade modem should be used for a large BBS or an Internet service provider. In the long run the savings in maintenance and support costs with rack mount modems more than offsets their higher initial purchase price. The author recommends the USRobotics Total Control system.

Navas' Best of the Best^TM!

These products received the highest overall ratings in the author's testing and evaluation, based on the criteria of quality, reliability, performance, and value. While there are other good products on the market, in the opinion of the author, these products stand out.

Navas's Best Runner-up logo

Navas' Best of the Best and Navas' Best Runner-up are trademarks of The Navas Group, and may only be used with permission. Manufacturers whose products are listed here may use these symbols for product promotion purposes on the Internet without charge. Click here for specific requirements and sample HTML code. Manufacturers are invited to submit products for review. These ratings will be updated periodically.

Desktop external/internal serial/parallel:

Best modem for data (all-around): 3Com Courier V.Everything (not without flaws, but still the best); Runner-up: Diamond SupraExpress 56
Best modem for fax: ZyXEL Elite 2864

Universal Serial Bus (USB):

N/A

PC Card (PCMCIA):

Best modem for data: TBA
Best combo (modem + Ethernet): TDK Global Networker 3410 (excellent modem/good networking)

What about magazine reviews?

Take magazine modem reviews with a grain of salt -- few if any magazines perform the kind of thorough interoperability and real-world tests that are needed to properly compare modems.

Note that the apparently diverse computer magazine publishing field is actually dominated by a relatively small number of publishers, particularly Ziff Davis. Reviews from different magazines owned by the same publisher tend to have a shared editorial bias, if for no other reason than that testing is often done by a shared facility (e.g.,ZD Labs). The publisher is noted in parentheses.

Analog Modems:

BYTE Magazine (McGraw-Hill)

c|net

January 1996

Computer Life (Ziff Davis)

October 1995

Computer Shopper (Ziff Davis)

COMPUTERS.COM (c|net)

Data Communications (McGraw-Hill)

June 1995

MacUser (Ziff Davis)

1995 Product Index: Modems

Network Computing (CMP)

June 1995

PC Computing (Ziff Davis)

July 1996

PC Magazine (Ziff Davis)

October 1995

PC World (IDG)

Top 10 Modems (November 1995)

Windows Magazine (CMP)

ISDN:

BYTE Magazine (McGraw-Hill)

June 1996 (Note: The author considers this to be a particularly poor review)

c|net

1996

COMPUTERS.COM (c|net)

MacWEEK (Ziff Davis)

July 1996

PC Computing (Ziff Davis)

February 1996

PC Magazine (Ziff Davis)

PC World (IDG)

August 1996

Where can I get a good deal on a modem?

In the opinion of the author, 28800 modems are still too immature to shop on price alone. If you run into (all too common) performance or interoperability problems, the best way to deal with them may be to return the modem and try a different brand, which may not be possible with a low price source.

The author recommends WH Networks Communications.

Other sources on the Internet include:

Low-price Internet search engines:

Please note that the author has no connection to any of the sources listed here.

Where can I get a 16550 UART?

If your 8250 or 16450 UART is a single chip mounted in a socket, it is easy to replace it with a 16550 UART chip. (Replacement of "multi-I/O" chips is usually not practical.)
The standard serial port (UART) on a PC-compatible computer is limited to 115.2 Kbps, which is adequate for V.34 (28800/33600) modems but a bottleneck for 56K modems (see "What are 56K modems?") and ISDN (see "What is ISDN?"). Some serial ports feature clock multiplier (2X-4X) technology that lets them run at speeds higher than 115.2 Kbps without special drivers; e.g., with the port configured (through jumper or software) for 2X clock doubling, when the port is set to 115.2 Kbps it actually runs at 230.4 Kbps. However, this will only work with modems that specifically support such higher serial port speeds.
A source of I/O cards with 16550/16650-type UARTs and clock multiplier technology is:

Byte Runner Technologies

TC-200-S5-1 ($20):

One 16550 serial port

TC-212 ($32):

Two 16550 serial ports (COM1-4) with "high" IRQ support
Enhanced parallel port supporting ECP & EPP modes (LPT1-LPT3)
Winbond W83787F chip (not SMC!)
Clock multiplier capability

TC-212-SP-S6-2 ($46):

Two 16650 serial ports (COM1-4) with "high" IRQ support
Enhanced parallel port supporting ECP & EPP modes (LPT1-LPT3)
Clock multiplier capability

TC-420 ($62):

Four 16550 serial ports (COM1-8) with "high" IRQ support
Two bi-directional (not enhanced) parallel ports (LPT1-LPT3)
Startech ST16C552CJ chip (not SMC!)
Supports sharable or independent interrupts
Clock multiplier capability

Other configurations are available

Quickpath makes:

A good, albeit pricey, "multi-I/O" card called the "4 Serial 2 Parallel" that is available at retail (e.g., $100 at Central Computer in Santa Clara, CA, 408/248-5888), featuring:

Four serial ports with "high" IRQ support that use real 16552 chips.
Two parallel ports

A more complete, albeit pricey, "multi-I/O" card called the "Port-Folio 550E" that is available at retail (e.g., $120 at NCA Computer Products in Sunnyvale, CA, 408/739-9010)

Pros:

Four serial ports with "high" IRQ support that use real 16552 chips
Two parallel ports
Four floppy support
IDE and game port

Con: Floppy support is only 1.44 Mb, not 2.88 Mb (inexcusable in a product at this price in the opinion of the author)

Another good high-end "multi-I/O" card is the GSI Model 32, also available at retail (e.g., $120 at NCA Computer Products in Sunnyvale, CA, 408/739-9010).

Pros:

Two serial ports with (limited) "high" IRQ support that use a real 16552 chip
One bi-directional parallel port
Supports four floppies, up to 2.88 Mb (4 Mb unformatted), with drive remapping
Enhanced IDE support for two drives (including large drives)
On-board Flash BIOS

Con: BIOS, IDE, and floppy support cannot be disabled

SIIG (Fremont, CA) makes I/O cards that are available at retail (e.g., Fry's Electronics in Fremont, CA, 510/770-3797), including the "IDE Professional" (Model 2404, about $70 on the streeet).

Pros:

Two 16550-compatible serial ports (COM1-4) with "high" IRQ support
One EPP/ECP bi-directional parallel port (IRQ 7 or 5)
Supports two floppies, up to 2.88 MB (4 Mb unformatted), which can make your "floppy tape" (e.g., HP/Colorado Jumbo 250/350) twice as fast as a 1.44 MB controller.
IDE controller (hard disk or CD-ROM, primary or secondary channel)
Game port

Con: Uses the SMC FDC37C666GT "multi-I/O" chip, which can cause lockups under Windows 3.1. (Warning: see "Why does Windows lock up when I try to access my modem?")

Where can I get multi-modem cards?
Where can I get multi-port serial cards?

Where can I get PCMCIA/PC Card cables?

Try the manufacturer of your PCMCIA/PC Card modem.
Try the manufacturer of your cellular phone.
1-800-Batteries.com (TDK)
MobilePlanet
PCMCIAcables.Com
SupplyNet

Where can I get a good telephone line surge suppressor?

Many surge suppressers, particularly the inexpensive ones normally found at retail, can interfere with modem communications. They also tend to do a poor job of protection. Surge suppressors built into quality uninterruptable power supply (UPS) products (e.g., APC) tend to be better. For best results, use a commercial grade surge suppressor -- more expensive, but worth it. Good sources of commercial grade surge suppressors include:

Good sources of power line only commercial grade surge suppressors include:

At a minimum, make sure that any point of use surge suppressor is UL 1449 Second Edition listed/recognized at a suppressed voltage rating (SVR) of 330 volts. For endurance, the surge suppressor should also be Classified in Accordance with ANSI/IEEE C62.41-1991, Recommended Practices. UL 1449 listed products are not necessarily classified for endurance.

Trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Navas 28800-56K Modem FAQ^TM

(Answers to Frequently Asked Questions)

Cable modem/DSL users: see Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide^TM