On 17 Aug 99, at 16:29, Dave Gillett wrote:
> On 14 Aug 99, at 23:28, Cesar Mendoza wrote:
>
> > - 56Kbps Modem. Any idea?
>
> Ordinarily, I'd recommend a Best Data "SmartOne" external. However,
> they've recently re-designed it, turning a useful little box into an
> unusable paperweight, and priced it almost as expensively as a USR -- so
> you might as well go USR and save yourself the hassle.
Here's a bit more detail....
I had to solve a problem at work last week with a not-quite-functioning
dial-up. One suspect was that the (external) modem was broken, so to
eliminate that possibility, I went out and bought a new modem. [I would have
preferred a 28.8 or 33.6 Kbps model, but couldn't find any. One of the local
surplus shops had a couple of 14.4 Kbps samples -- without power supplies --
but nothing faster.]
At retail, I found that the Best Data SmartOne 56K external was more
expensive than I was sure I had paid for mine at home. Most of the boxes
showed a new design -- it looks a bit like the saucer section of the USS
Voyager, or the blade of some kind of high-tech shovel. I found one box on
the shelf that still showed the old rectangular design, and bought it.
When I got it back to the office, I found that the actual modem inside the
box was of the new design, as shown on the outside of the other boxes in the
store. How much difference does that make?
Well, they've eliminated the on/off switch, and the second RJ-11 jack for a
phone. I supose that these features were not much used by many customers,
and eliminating them could reduce manufacturing costs. [However, I suspect
that the new larger and curvy plastic shell is probably more expensive to
make than the old one....]
But they've also replaced the DB-25 (female) connector with a DB-9 (female)
connector. This means that instead of a straight-through DB-25 cable or a DB-
9 (female) to DB-25 (male) "AT modem" cable, you need either a DB-9 extension
cable (useful with old CGA/EGA/MDA video cards or with serial mice, but not
something I expect to use with a modem) or a DB-9 (male) to DB-25 (female)
converter (not the most common configuration).
Back to the store. Settled on the converter, at $3.99. Back to the office.
It turns out that both the modem and the converter provide *nuts* for the
other piece to screw into. [This leads me to believe that most/standard DB-9
extension cables would have the same problem....] It also turns out that the
spread from 9 to 25 pins partially obstructs the RJ-11 (telephone) and power
connectors on the modem.
Long story short: Once I got dial-up working with the new modem, I was
able to reinstall the old modem and get it to a working configuration, and
return the new modem to the store for a refund.
It's entirely possible that we'll begin to see other external modems
showing up with DB-9 (female) serial connectors. My recommendation, to modem
vendors considering this change, is that they include a 3' or 6' DB-9
extender cable in the box, one that they've verified will connect properly to
their modem. If the cost of this were to leave out the short RJ-11 cable
that many of them include (that can be easily replaced at any Radio Shack), I
wouldn't mind -- I don't expect I'm the only one with more RJ-11 cables and
connectors than I need already.
I'll concede that I'm annoyed (perhaps more than most people) by designs
that manage to get into production apparently without any validation testing
against real-world use. And I'm doubly disappointed when a gratuitous mis-
design afflicts a product that I had personally been recommending to people
for some time.
Bottom line, though, is that I will not be recommending this modem to
anyone any more, at least for the foreseeable future.
David G
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