Yes, you can attach an external modem through the 9-pin serial
port. I've done this a number of times.

There are two advantages for a PCMCIA modem. One - it is smaller,
two it has a 16550 UART chip built in. This allows for faster data
transfers compared to a 8250 UART.

If your notebook computer already has a 16550 UART for its serial port,
you can hook up a 33.6K (or faster) modem to it. If it is using a 8250 UART,
then the external modem can only transfer data reliably up to 9600 Baud or
maybe 14K BAUD at most.


Steven Walley

Internet email via [log in to unmask]

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> Hi everybody, I have two questions....
>  Can I attach an external modem to my notebook computer through the
>   9-pin serial port ?
>   What are the advantages of using a PCMCIA modem ?
>
>  Thanks,
> Adeeb Bamatraf
>