Rating: 
Summary: The Best Modem I've Ever Had
Review: "There are two types of modems: US Robotics and everything else..."PROS: Install is a breeze (it's great when Plug and Play really works). Connect speeds between 48000 and 52000 everytime (with no init string!). Great modem manager software. CONS: It did not come with a serial cable. I'd recomend this modem to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST MODEM of its day
Review: Can't believe that upgrading my generic 56k modem to this showed a performance gain of up to 250%. Yes, 2.5x!! The generic modem, which most of have nowadays is pathetic. The connection speed is greater and the hardware chip set is phenomenal.
Rating:
Summary: The Standard
Review: Have been using this modem for business for 3+ years. We have had 3 failures out of 15 units in the past. USR swaps them out, no questions asked. Reliable connections, what more do you want? You cant go wrong with this one.
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Summary: It¿s alive
Review: I am not going to teach you about MODEMS. This is a review of the 3Com U.S. Robotics 005686-03 56K V.90 External Fax Modem. Where I work we have used several types and brands of MODEMS. This is the one we settled on as a standard. For one thing the company is not going out of business soon. The MODEM handles all the standard Hayes commands and registries. Being external it is able to be moved to new systems and not move with old ones. The LEDs add the ability to trouble shoot. Also being external you do not have to worry about getting the warning that you need to turn your MODEM off and on. These MODEMS are used on NT, win95, and UNIX. The port rate on the NT to the MODEM is 115,200 BPS. Naturally that is not the phone line speed. Hasn't had a failure yet so I do not know about warranty service.
Rating: 
Summary: my experience with this modem
Review: I bought this modem because there was a $30 manufacturer mail-in rebate and because so many on this website praised it. Here are the problems I found with this modem: 1. When I send a fax using the Rapidcomm software included on the CDrom, after a few hours I find nothing works; I cannot send another fax or even connect to the internet. errors "no dial tone" or "the port is already open". Worse, I cannot kill the offending processes because they pop right back up. Tried switching off/on the modem. Not even a computer reboot would do it. I actually had to power down/up the computer to make it work. 2. It would often disconnect me from the internet (my ISP is MSN). 3. The Internet update wizard meant to update the modem somehow cannot dial the 3Com server. So I went to the website usr.com to see if I could download upgrades but found the inf file for this modem is o.l.d.! (1998). I could not believe it. 4. What is worst is when I called technical support (case #1728933), I was on hold for one hour and hold your breath - there is no toll free number provided - it is a long distance call. 5. The uninstaller does not remove all files eg. file 'usrwiz'. So when you reinstall the Connections software, you have to know the specific file names to delete otherwise a reinstall will not work.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine modem
Review: I built a system for a friend who's still on a dialup line and he's very pleased with it. Me, I've moved on to home LANs and cable modems... I'd like to say that the review by Mike Azzopardi is, in my opinion, very misinforming. Two main points: To quote: "External modems do give you the benefit of seeing the activity on the LEDs and you also save an ICQ aswell as a PCI slot." That's an IRQ, not an ICQ. ICQ is the much-loathed instant messenger program from Mirabilis. IRQ is an interrupt request and before the days of plug-and-play and smart BIOSes, hardware conflicts were problems. The downside to an external modem is that it takes up bandwidth on the serial bus. Point two: "Normally with an ISP you will get 4-5Kbps bandwith. However I have used 3-Com 56K modems on better lines with more bandwith and always get closer to 56K. These are the modems of choice and you wont find much better." This is complete garbage. 56K means 56 kilobits per second, not kilobytes. A 56K line theoretically gives you 56/8 (7 bits and one stop/parity bit for error checking), but the Federal Communications Commission does not allow the full bandwidth of the 56K line to be used because there has to be a small "buffer" on either end of the stream. If this guy is only getting 4 to 5 kilobits per second, he'd better consider a new ISP! No matter what modem you use (except if it's a winmodem...ugh...), on an unsaturated line you will typically get 4 to 6 kilobytes per second downstream bandwidth, depending on compression. Virtually everything is measured in bytes, except modems - modems use kilobits. Remember this! A 56 kilobyte modem is 448 kilobits, which is nearly one third of a dedicated T1 connection! This is a good modem, but remember that the numbers don't say anything. Ultimately you'll have to sit down with the unit and use it to see if you're satisfied with it.
Rating:
Summary: no cable included
Review: I chose not to purchase this item because it does not include the necessary connecting cable. This is like selling a toaster without the cord to plug it in.
Rating:
Summary: no cable included
Review: I chose not to purchase this item because it does not include the necessary connecting cable. This is like selling a toaster without the cord to plug it in.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding modem
Review: I have never had a single disconnect when using this modem under Linux. I can't say the same for the other OS I used to use. This is a great modem.
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Summary: FASTEST AND BEST
Review: I have used this model for a year and I have yet to get disconnected from my ISP. I also switched to XP and it picked the modem right up--I didn't have to install any software! Before I got the Robotics 5686-03 external (also called Sportster model 0701), I got disconnected several times a day. I think the people who are having problems with this modem are probably newbies messing with things that should be left alone. This is a hardware modem and it doesn't need a software program to run like the ...winmodems do--just a driver that is already built into windows. Just turn your computer off, plug it in and turn your computer on--what's so hard about that? As far as tech support, you shouldn't need it, but when I emailed US Robotics they emailed me back in 24 hrs. and answered my question--I suggest email rather than the telephone. Also, buying a serial cable is no big deal.... I wouldn't want the modems that come with them. In short, this was the easiest modem I ever installed and it has given me totally solid connections and the fastest downloads I ever saw. I am very satisfied. Get this one and your modem problems are over!
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