unclerichard wrote:
>
> Hi Folks: I'm about to replace my old 56K winmodem. I have 3 PCI slots and
> one PCI/ISA slot free and 2 serial ports.
>
> What are the pros and cons of external versus internal modem in terms of
> speed, reliability, and durability?
>
> I have a PIII 500, with 256 RAM, and 21GB HD dual booting WINME and Linux
> (Mandrake 8.0).  I know external are all Linux friendly, as are some PCI and
> mist ISA modems.
>
> TIA
>
> Richard Innes
> Auckland New Zealand
> [log in to unmask]
>
Richard:

Although there are some who will disagree, my opinion is that there
really isn't much difference between them. One caveat, however: I'm
taking external modems to those that are connected via a serial port.
USB modems are another matter, particularly where Linux is involved
(some do and some don't).

1. Speed won't be any different; reliability and durability is more a
function of quality than of internal vs external -- in other words,
cheap is as cheap doe. I suppose, though, that it could be argued that
if lightning should come in on the telephone line and you don't have
some form of protection, then you would lose only the modem and not run
the risk of having your system fried.

2. External modems have signal lights than can be of help during trouble
shooting.

3. External modems use power warts, and it sometimes it's a pain to find
the space on your surge protector or UPS. On the same theme, finding a
place to put the external modem can be a challenge.

4. Modems don't dissipate much power, but internal modems do add to the
heat load inside the system box.

5. An external modem can be moved from one system to another without
going inside the case.

6. At the same level of design, internal modems are cheaper -- no case,
no power supply.

7. All operating systems support (non-USB) external modems; that's not
always the case with internal modems.

8. Internal non-winmodems -- particularly PCI types -- can still be
difficult to configure, and you end up doing the slot juggle dance. Even
ISA types can be a hassle. I have a Zoom 2919, and the only way that I
could get it to work in Windows was to set the jumpers to com2 -- pnp
didn't work. I've heard of the same problem with other ISA modems. (The
good side was that it worked like a charm when I installed Linux later.)

9. If you do decide to go with an internal modem, I'd suggest that you
get a PCI modem. Many of the new motherboard designs don't have ISA
slots, and it's reasonable to expect that trend to continue; why paint
yourself into a corner when you decide to upgrade? It's not unreasonable
to expect the modem to outlast the mainboard.

10. For other listers who are considering installing Linux: Before you
start the install, verify that your modem is a real modem and not a
winmodem. While it is possible to get some winmodems to work under
Linux, it isn't simple, especially if you have no idea of how Linux
works. The best source for this information is at:
        www.idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html
The first page (a long one) contains a lot of excellent information, as
well as some very good links to other sites. Towards the bottom, you'll
find a link to a second page (a very, very long page) listing just about
every internal modem known and its status vis-a-vis Linux.

Regards,
Carroll Grigsby

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