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TechTopics ARCHIVE
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| MAY00 | Do my customers need ADSL? |
| JUNE00 |
Hard, Soft and WinModems? |
| JULY00 | What modem/isdn is needed for Linux/NT? |
| JAN01 |
What is this v.92 thing anyway? |
| © Eurotech Marketing Services Ltd 2000 | |
A modem is made up of 3 major components:
What is the difference between a
hardmodem, softmodem and winmodem?
1 - Controller
2 - Datapump
3 - DAA
In order to minimize cost, some of the components are now emulated in
software.
| A hardmodem is |
A modem which contains all sections of the modem in hardware. Due to this they can work under any operating system. |
all ISA modems | ANY |
| A winmodem is | A 'controllerless' modem. Which has does not have a controller section of the modem chip. This is emulated in a windows driver, therefore has to run on a Windows95/98/NT operating system. (chipset RHxxxxxxx) | only PCI modems | P75 and above |
| A softmodem is | A softmodem does not have a controller AND a datapump. Both of these are emulated in a windows driver, therefore a faster processor is needed. (chipset RSxxxxxxx) | only PCI modems | p200MXX and above |
| In Summary, | ||
| HardModems work everywhere | ||
| WinModems may be £3 cheaper but can work only under windows on a pentium, And will take up a small amount of processor time. | ||
| SoftModems may be £5 cheaper but can work only under windows on a pentiumMMX, And will take up a larger amount of processor time. | ||
| *If you see a PCI modem refered to as a hardmodem, they mean WinModem. | ||
| WinModems have been used by most SystemBuilders over the past
2 years and are the norm for single user/home/soho
installations. External Modems are HARDModems - therefore can run on any operating system! |
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