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U.S. Robotics 56K V90 PCI Performance Pro Faxmodem Dos/NT/Linux

U.S. Robotics 56K V90 PCI Performance Pro Faxmodem Dos/NT/Linux

List Price: $92.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Painless install
Review: After reading several of the reviews on this product from other owners of this device I'm a little puzzled. Installation of this modem under Windows was as simple as it can get. Simple plug and play. I have to admit the installation software that comes with it leaves much to desired, but other than that this product delivers. I have yet to connect below 48000 bps and average 49,333. My previous modem never connected above 48k and only averaged 46666 on a good day. I'd rate this 5 stars if it wasn't for the installation software provided.
I'm adding the following as a post script since it's been about six months since I purchased this modem and initially reviewed it. As I had noted previously this modem did perform rather well untill recently. Then the problems started....3Com/U.S. Robotics support has been almost nonexistent. The newest drivers are almost 2 years old and don't work any better than the one's supplied on the install disk, that is if you can get it to run in the first place. As of right now I've had to toss it in the garbage since it's useless and have replaced it with a modem from Diamond. I guess if your feeling lucky try it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Painless Windows XP Install, Painful Upgrade to V.92
Review: I bought this hardware modem a few weeks ago after a bad experience with a software modem. On my Windows XP system, installation was a snap. I inserted the card and turned on the system; the system recognized the card and automatically installed the necessary drivers. I didn't even need to open the enclosed CDs. Since installation, I've consistently connected at 52 kbps. (I can't vouch for similarly trouble-free installation under Linux, DOS, NT, etc.)

My problem: upgrading the modem to support the V.92 standard. If your ISP also supports the V.92 standard, the upgrade provides your modem with a few neato features, none of which I've tested. However, I did try to upgrade, and that was a pain. You have to know the product id (3CP5610A) rather than the product name to download the upgrade, and you have to use U. S. Robotics' Control Center software to install it. I had no luck with Control Center, so I tried to install the upgrade manually. Eventually, I succeeded, but without the help of U. S. Robotics: their website provided no useful information. This may not be representative of their software and technical support in general, but I took it as a bad omen.

In short, in my experience, the hardware is good, but the software and the technical support are bad. Buy this only if you're willing to rely on your system (or your wits) to perform the installation.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Works OK, After Much Hassle
Review: I bought this modem to accelerate my Internet usage. It took me from 28.8K to anywhere from 31.3K to 46.6K, with 41.3K being typical. Now that it's working, it does give a significant speed-boost. According to e-mailed information from USRobotics, mant ISP's will be upgrading in the third quarter of 2001 to adjust to Linux technology, and further speed increases should result. We'll see.

As for installation, that was a pain. Installing the modem was fine, getting my computer to recognize its existence (more than once before forgetting it) took over a week of reinstalling. The software piece called "Command Center" is pretty useless and I had to download something from USRobotics in order to get it to work at all. Until that piece was added, Command Center would not recognize the existence of the modem it came with!

Overall, start-up was annoying but current functioning gets a "B". Despite that, I'm looking to shift to DSL.

8/2/03 Update: After a recent computer unfortunatism, I had to reinstall everything. This time, the modem was a breeze to install, despite the fact that my hard drive had been wiped clean.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Works OK, After Much Hassle
Review: I bought this modem to accelerate my Internet usage. It took me from 28.8K to anywhere from 31.3K to 46.6K, with 41.3K being typical. Now that it's working, it does give a significant speed-boost. According to e-mailed information from USRobotics, mant ISP's will be upgrading in the third quarter of 2001 to adjust to Linux technology, and further speed increases should result. We'll see.

As for installation, that was a pain. Installing the modem was fine, getting my computer to recognize its existence (more than once before forgetting it) took over a week of reinstalling. The software piece called "Command Center" is pretty useless and I had to download something from USRobotics in order to get it to work at all. Until that piece was added, Command Center would not recognize the existence of the modem it came with!

Overall, start-up was annoying but current functioning gets a "B". Despite that, I'm looking to shift to DSL.

8/2/03 Update: After a recent computer unfortunatism, I had to reinstall everything. This time, the modem was a breeze to install, despite the fact that my hard drive had been wiped clean.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This modem is terrible...
Review: I thought I was getting a good deal when I bought this modem. After all USR is a respecable name, and the price was decent. I couldn't have been more wrong. The installation was a major pain. It took 5 tries before the installation software even detected the modem. Finally it was up and running... until the next morning. I tried to log on and nothing.. it said there was no dial tone, so I double check the connections and listen for a dail tone, all is good. So I try again... nothing. I have gone through about 3 modems in the last 10 years and this one had to have been the worst. Never had I had this problem before. Save your money and buy a different brand.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not suitable for use in areas with poor phone lines
Review: I wasn't expecting to get top speed because the phone lines in my area are poor. All I could get is 26,400, which is not unusual for old phone lines. The big problem however is, that this modem would consistantly loose connectivity after a few minutes. It wouldn't disconnect, it would just stop passing data. I tried a variety of settings tweaks and special inititalization strings, without success.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Windows, yes. Linux? No.
Review: If you're buying this modem to use under Linux, be careful. Unless they've changed the specs since I bought it, it only works with Linux kernel 2.3 or higher. My system, Red Hat Linux 7, came with kernel 2.2. On the Windows side of my partition it works flawlessly.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Computer Consultant
Review: Installed with absolutely no hassle. Connect rate jumped from 49.0 KB/sec (using another brand x2 modem) to constant 52+ speed. Download time jumped from varying 5.3 to 4.7 KB/sec to a steady constant 5.7 and higher.....as yet has not dropped below 5.7...including the download of Office XP SP1 (less than an hour) and Web Cam update file (20 meg plus) in just slightly over an hour. Quick connect and fast page displays. Excellent modem!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Painful Installation for Windows 98/ME
Review: Their installation software never worked from the beginning. You insert US Robotics Installation CD and the "Launching 3COM Modem Install Assistant" message but nothing. Tried 3 times and the same result. So I configured it myself by having the windows to detect PnP but I am not sure if I am using the optimal driver. I never had any problems with any other modem such as Zoom or even cheap Taiwan made modems. Stay away with this one.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Painful Installation for Windows 98/ME
Review: Their installation software never worked from the beginning. You insert US Robotics Installation CD and the "Launching 3COM Modem Install Assistant" message but nothing. Tried 3 times and the same result. So I configured it myself by having the windows to detect PnP but I am not sure if I am using the optimal driver. I never had any problems with any other modem such as Zoom or even cheap Taiwan made modems. Stay away with this one.


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