Posted on behalf of Eric Greenberg <[log in to unmask]>
by List Moderator Mark Rode


At 08:45 AM 2/11/99 +1300, you wrote:
>Can someone tell me what a Winmodem is? I see it mentioned alot on the list.

A Winmodem is basically a modem that only has one processor on it instead of
two. I can't tell you exactly what the processors do on a modem, but I can
tell you that two are required. With a Winmodem, the one on-board processor
does it's job, while the duty of the second is performed by the main CPU of
the
computer. On a "real" modem, these duties are performed on the modem itself.
Hence, they leave your main CPU free to do more "real" processing.
The main pluses to a Winmodem are price. They are cheap to produce. With a
fast enough main CPU, you won't really notice the speed decrease that would be
present on a 486 or slower machine. This is why they "require" a Pentium or
higher CPU. Drivers are only available to allow these modems to work in
Windows. Here we come to the main drawback even if you have enough processing
power to run one....They will not work in DOS, Linux, Unix or any other
operating system besides Windows.

I have owned both Winmodems and "real" modems and I can tell you from personal
experience, it is worth it to spend a little extra a get a "real" modem.
Good Luck.
Eric

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