(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Zippy, don't be so touchy.

In case you don't already know, there are two ways to make a dialup modem:

• 1. The hardware modem, which is purpose-built and can do nothing else.
  2. The software modem, aka winmodem, which, as far as I can figure it, is a program that generates all the required waveforms and feeds them tthrouh a fairly high-powered audio amplifier, the output of which is connected to the phone line.

The first computer I owned had a software modem that doubled as the speaker amplifier, and did a very good job of it. Your laptop obviously has a software modem in it.

Just wanted to add the note -- zippy, Flash is our resident moderator. You might want to be nicer to him than you have to me...

Just sayin'.

starhawk wrote:I don't think I'm the one being "undiplomatic" here, and I have to say, I resent that comment a little bit. Yes, I have Asperger's Syndrome, which is at root a communicative disorder. No, I don't talk about it much. I'm not proud of it. I don't wear it like a crutch, it's not made for that. Yes, it does disorder my communications so that I'm not well understood sometimes. This is especially true when the medium is text-based. There is so much more to communication than simple words.

I have Asperger's Syndrome as well so I can understand what you're saying.

I have to say, at least to me, you don't come off sounding like that -- a little headstrong and a lot opinionated... but I'm actually somewhat surprised to hear that you're also an "Aspy" (as a friend of mine in college, who worked with us folks, used to call us).

Nevertheless... my sympathies to you, sir. It sure as heck doesn't make life easier, I can say that...

I live in a small town surrounded by rural areas. Some of those rural areas are either Dial Up only, if one shells out for a hard line. Some of the rural area has the option of DSL from the local phone Co-op (a special monopoly granted because no carrier would invest in this area) Some of this DSL does not work very well, and also is really expensive for someone on limited income.

I also know from my experience, as a Social Security recipient, I used to live in a city which had broadband. I could get a hard line at a limited cost, and felt the cost of broadband internet was too much. Likewise my TV was limited to three channels on antenna, as cable TV was too much. I can recall trekking over every month to pay twelve dollars to keep my Dial Up internet working.

Yes, it is all right to ask why ones internet limited to Dial Up. What is the circumstance, just as a carrying on conversation. That being perhaps a means to advise someone how much better high speed Internet is, and how much more satisfying it is. Plus how they might be able to use high speed (McDonalds, public library)

It is like my brother told me when I was on Dial Up and asked why he paid so much more for high speed, "Once I experienced the difference, I will never go back to Dial Up. It also keeps the phone line open."

purple379 wrote:I misread my Intel PCI modem as being a 573 , but its actually a 537.

Yes, as I surmised in my previous post.

purple379 wrote:I found a USB modem in my parts that I've had for YEARS , hooked it up , booted Wary Puppy and was on the internet at a good speed , in just a few minutes.

Great news. Yes, this illustrates what rerwin and I were suggesting; sure, you can jump through technical hoops to get a non-Linux-friendly device working, but often it's more practical just to swap to a different hardware device.

Yes , issue solved...........thanks for useful replies.
I don't use internet very much ( I have other interests ), so why throw away money on high speed connection I don't need?.............I prefer to make more sound investments.

That... sort of makes sense.

Although, an argument could be made: you would spend far less time waiting for things to happen, with say DSL (even slow DSL) than with dialup.

But there are other ways of dealing with that.

To paraphrase another member of this forum -- happy modem trails

One last thing. I know with Windows, that if one has a broadband card, and one is not using it. It is best to disable the card in Windows, turn off auto hardware discovery at start up to prevent Windows from re installing the driver for the broadband, as Windows will constantly try to process the errors from the card, waiting for it come online. Killing overall computer response for every thing else.

A better choice is one is devoted to dial up, is to simply remove the card. I do not know how Linux deals with an un-used broadband card, or how to turn off the linux driver to such a card. I know my current MOBO has two NIC connections on the MOBO, which I can not remove.

There are always additional wrinkles to make things work faster.