Where to Buy Cheapest Modem

The auto industry and the computer industry have a lot in common. There's a lot of hype, they both try to dazzle you with "extras", and there are a lot of folks who tell you that "cheaper" doesn't mean, well, "cheaper." No surprise, then, when you see advertisements for modems that look like something peeled off the window of a car dealership. Buying a modem isn't nearly as bad as replacing the old junker, though -- as long as you stay focused on the basics.
There are three things to worry about when you go looking for a modem: speed, quality, and whether to get an internal or external unit. For the vast majority of humanity, everything else in or on the box is irrelevant.

A Need for Speed

These days (late 1996), "speed" means at least 28.8kbps (28,800bps-- see the sidebar note). You can save a few bucks -- not many -- by buying a 14.4kbps modem, but it's not worth it. Sure, if you're only going to spend a few hours per month doing a little email on the local free net, even an old 2400bps clunker will do the trick but, if you plan on "surfing" the Internet or playing around on one of the commercial online services, a fast modem will pay for itself in time saved, convenience and reduced online fees. "User friendly" means "lots of graphics" and everyone is trying to be user friendly anymore. And, although a picture may be worth a thousand words, it also takes a lot longer to download to your computer. (OK, OK, the guy in the propeller beanie just asked about 33.6kbps modems. Read on.)

Pay for It
All modems are not created equal. If you live in a country with a solid telephone system, you probably won't see much difference in performance between a cheapo and a more expensive modem but you will very likely encounter a difference in reliability. Cheap modems don't last as long. I've seen some real dogs that died in less than a year. There's a pretty tight relationship between price and quality. And quality doesn't cost that much more -- less than $50 in most cases. I won't cast aspersions on any specific manufacturer but, if you see two 28.8kbps modems on the shelf, one produced by a Corp. for $99.95 and the other made by, say, Practical Peripherals (PPI) for $20 or $30 more, buy the PPI unit.

Inside/Outside

While you are wandering around the store, you'll also notice that modems come in two basic flavors: internal and external. (Sounds vaguely obscene, doesn't it?) As you might expect, an internal modem is installed inside your computer whereas an external modem is cabled to an extra serial port and sits next to the machine in some convenient spot.
     Most folks buy internal modems. Physical installation is a mild hassle, but they typically cost $20 to $50 less than external modems, you don't have to worry about serial port performance issues and you don't have an extra piece of gear cluttering up your desk top.
     On the other hand, external modems have two big advantages over internal devices: The display panel lets you see what's going on and, if a dial-up session gets really snarled up, you can turn off the modem instead of rebooting the whole computer. However, you must have a spare high-performance serial port (see sidebar on UARTs). If your serial port is not up to snuff, you can't run an external modem reliably at speeds much above 9600bps. If you don't know what type of serial port your computer has, find out. A lot of people have gotten burned by this one. MS-DOS and Windows users can boot to MS-DOS (do not use a DOS prompt from within Windows) and run a program called MSD. If MSD says you have "16550A" serial ports, you're OK. If not, either buy a high-performance serial card (another $30) or get an internal modem. And you need to buy a shielded serial cable, too, by the way -- a $5 to $10 investment.
     All that being said, I like external modems. I spend a lot of time online and like being able to see what's happening on the phone line. Internal modems give me a pain in the nether regions but, then, I'm not exactly a "normal" user, either. It's your call (pun intended).
A Movable Beast

What about modems for portable computers? Well, PCMCIA card modems are subject to the same speed and quality issues as conventional modems. There are only two significant differences: They cost more and they are all, in effect, "internal."

A Word or Two about "Extras"

Fax modems - These days, saying "fax modem" is like saying "new car with air bags." It would be most unusual to find a decent high-speed modem without fax capability.

Software - Just about every modem is sold with a generous handful of software of problematic utility. If you can't decide between two different brands and one includes a software package you like, buy that one. The only important question here is whether or not the modem is already supported by your operating system. If not, then make sure the manufacturer supplies the necessary drivers and utilities.

33.6kbps modems - The extra speed is nice, but not a critical issue. The 33.6kbps protocol (known as V.34 annex 12, if you really care -- see the sidebar on protocols) has recently become an official standard. If your local service provider has dial-in lines at this speed (mine does) and if your phone lines are clean enough to handle it, it's nice to have. Over the next year I imagine that all of the modem manufacturers will either upgrade their existing 28.8kbps models to 33.6kbps or bring out "new" models, dropping the price on the old ones.
Better yet, many of the newer 28.8kbps modems are field upgradeable to the higher speed -- i.e., they just need to be reprogrammed. Typically, the upgrade package is a free download from the manufacturer's web site or bulletin board system. (Or they'll send it to you on diskette for a nominal fee.) The package includes an application that reprograms your modem to handle 33.6kbps and some updated files for your operating system.

56kbps modems - [Updated 10 Mar 97] Speaking of upgrades, 56kbps modems are looming on the horizon. Expect to start seeing this capability in early 1997. Remember, though, that these higher speeds are somewhat academic to a lot of folks. Without a first-rate modem and a pristine telephone connection, you'll be lucky to do any better than 28.8kbps. Furthermore, your local telephone office must use digital switching. If they are still using the old electro-mechanical switches (not uncommon in rural areas), you can forget about 56kbps.
Here's another little detail: These 56kbps modems aren't really 56kbps modems. Right now, it looks like we'll get around 53kbps incoming and 33.6kbps outgoing. This is still a pretty good deal -- most people spend a lot more time doing things like viewing web pages than uploading files -- but the "56k" designation is still a little deceptive. Mind you, the engineering types originally thought that they would get 56kbps, so don't start sending nasty-grams to the manufacturers.
Speaking of manufacturers, there are presently two competing "56k" standards. US Robotics and their allies are pushing one approach while another group is betting on the Rockwell chipset. So, be warned. "Early adopters" (myself, for instance) are only going to see "56k" speeds if they connect to a modem that uses the same 56k protocol. If you don't want to put up with this hassle, wait until the standards shake out.

Plug and play - PnP is a nice feature; potentially, it lets you avoid some configuration hassles. But don't let it divert you from the basics. A good modem without PnP is a better buy than a cheap one with PnP. Automatic device configuration is definitely the wave of the future, but it's not a tsunami yet.

Voice mail - Private voice mail capability could be rather handy, especially if you are running a small business. There are a few significant caveats here, though: You need the appropriate type of distinctive ringing to discriminate between data, fax and voice calls, you probably need a good chunk of free hard drive space to store incoming messages, you must have sufficient computer horsepower, and you have to leave your computer on all the time. There is also a fair bit of open territory in the area of software support. How well, for example, does the voice mail software coordinate with your existing dial-out applications? It will cost you an extra $30 to $60 to find out. Voice modem standards have not shaken out yet. If you just want to climb on the net and maybe do some faxing, save the extra money and send it to me, instead.

Modem Mantra

So, here's the basic modem mantra: "speed, quality, inside or outside." Chant this under your breath as you browse the latest catalog or wander through Fast Freddy's Computer Barn and you won't go too far wrong. I wish I had something like that for used cars.

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