Does a PCI modem generally give you better pings then an ISA modem?

[oblivion]

Well does it,of should I keep my ISA modem?

[On the Lam]

Well, as little as I know about modems, pci modems are the sh!ts...

Seriously, I've only owned two "modems", a 33.6k USR that worked great (I even got that modem to work in linux; yay for me) and a pci "winmodem" that didn't even have half the throughput of the USR. I'm sure you could always learn modem tweaks, but I just went the way of the dsl...

One of the benefits of working full time http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

oblivion, see you later in UT...


[This message has been edited by On the Lam (edited 03-07-2000).]

[Toadman]

Don't think so... PCI slots are plug and pray though. I use an ISA NIC with no slowdown, but of course it's not a modem.

[Bonehead]

ISA modems give better pings at multiplayer games over the internet. Not the other way around. There are 'hardware' PCI modems but most of them are still not as good as most ISA modems concerning ping measurements and latency.

[OuTpaTienT]

My understanding is that PCI modems are bad because *most* PCI modems are winmodems...which means they use CPU cycles to do the work of their missing UART16550 chips. And while most fast CPU can deal with the minute extra load, it plays hell on getting a decent ping for gaming.

So, there are a few (very few) PCI modem that can be just great, assuming they're not winmodems. Initially you could rely on the term "winmodem" to identify the crappy ones, but I don't believe that's the case anymore.

ISA and external modems will have the hardware (UART chip) the modem needs and thus not put any extra load on the CPU.

All I know is my "cheapo" 56k ISA modem is as fast or faster than any other 56k modem I've used. Through my local ISP I can get pings to game servers in the double digits...*see here* (http://www.norcov.com/~donc/Pings.htm)...(ok, it's just one server, but still, that's great for a POT line.)

[wyvrn]

Besides, a modem cannot outrun the data transfer of an ISA slot, so why waste a valuable pci slot on one?

[dan3223]

It's kind of weird, I have no PCI slots filled at the moment, just an ISA NIC, and ISA SoundBlaster 16, and an AGP Voodoo3. I have an ISA Adaptec SCSI card I want to install, but there are no more free ISA slots, I guess I'll have to get a PCI version. I used to use a PCI Diamond SupraMax before I got cable and it was PITA to run, I'm not a big fan of PCI anything.

[BEOR999]

if multi tasking, PCI will be faster, if not then too close to call!

[smurfin]

Go external baby! Yeahh! can you feel the love coming through the lines? Freakin pci modems suck! Between the two, go isa, you'll never regret it. Seizure

[axedawg]

I bought a Zoom PCI modem and had difficulty getting it configured because it was conflicting with the resources my Voodoo2 card was using. After calling the Zoom tech rep he told me to buy the ISA version of that modem to fix the problem. I questioned him about the ability to get good pings with the ISA and he explained that the ISA has more hardware/cpu etc and would perform better than the PCI. The ISA was also $20 more expensive than the PCI I bought.

Good sales pitch, or good advice....

You decide.

AxeDawg

[Axel]

isa bus has 5 MB/second through-put - pci bus has 132MB/second through-put, so, if you have a non-win type modem - figure it out.....

Just buy a "simple" full version PCI modem and stay clear of combo cards and win type modems.... That - upgrade your PCI bus drivers for the motherboard and don't run a bunch of extra TSR's on your system -

My vote - chuck all win modems and replace the isa modems.....

[OuTpaTienT]

...after quickly doing some "figuring out"...

I see absolutely NO reason to chuck a perfectly good ISA modem. Even T1 or T3 lines don't approach 5mb/sec.

[neo_otyugh]

stick with the ISA modem...if you have to spend the money to replace a good modem make sure you get a PCI hardware modem. otherwaise save up for DSL. ISA modems don't drag on your processor like a pci winmodem does...for example, an HSP micromodem will use about 50% of the processing power that is available to a P166.

[wyvrn]

yeah axel what was that all about? What modem can do 5mb/sec? If you have seen one, I want it !! Talk about 5mb/sec with freewwweb heeh that would be nice! Guess I will have to stick with dsl for now http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[AuraEdge]

I ping at 120ms at lowest to a remote server...on an ISA modem. If you can find a PCI nonwinmodem, id rather go for that. Main reason is that proformance probably isnt much different, but ISA is being phased out very soon, and it would be a shame to have a good modem lying around that you cant utilize on your new rig.

[Pooh]

I've used both modems PCI and ISA..used a Zoom ISA which worked better in my system than a 3-PCI..trial and error in this area, but if you purchase retail they usually let you exchange for the other

[jadison]

I have a 33.6 ISA modem, and it seems to run fine, but I'd like to get A 56K modem and most of them that I see for under a $100 are PCI, do they make new 56K ISA modems any more...

Also if u get free cable (don't ask me how I have mine, cause I won't tell u), can u receive cable modem service or get fast internet connections, just curious...

[OuTpaTienT]

You don't even need cable installed in your house. As long as cable IS availible to you, and a line runs near your home, then they should be able to hook you up.

If you're worried about the installers noticing that you have cable running to your house but you're not a paying cable subscriber...I wouldn't sweat it. The people who will install a cable internet connection won't have any idea who the cable TV subscriber should be, or if there even is one. Basically the people who provide the cable internet connection are a different company than the TV service provider. The cable ISP is just paying a fee to the TV-cable guys for use of their coaxal lines.

[neo_otyugh]

i am getting cable service from time-warner (roadrunner), and the same technician that will bring the cable modem will also be setting up my cable. i would make sure to get cable modem services from a DIFFERENT company than the one that you are acquiring cable tv from.
otherwise go adsl

[Kruppt]

A very good PCI Modem that is not a Winmodem and well work with Linux is the 3COM/US Robotics Product# 3CP2977-OEM-50 (Model 0726)

[danb4]

Oblivion, I recognize the name from Heat.net, are you the same one?

Everyone has already answered your question, but I wanted to chime in.

A simple way to tell if you are getting a "controller based modem" is to check if it is DOS compatable. Also, check the minimum hardware requirements. If the modem requires "P100 or P133 and up" then it probably is using your CPU to do the work.

Any modem that will run on a 486 is gonna put less load on your CPU, and is probably doing more of the work itself.

I am assuming you are coming at this from the angle of Quake 2. A winmodem kills you in two respects- one, the ping is worse. Second, by using your CPU, it's gonna cost you frames per second, which also will hurt your gameplay.

If you have an old ISA modem, keep it, it's probably better than the new ones. And I personally would not waste the money on the 3 Com Gaming modem......big deal, it's a controller based modem.

Also, in the Q2 console, change your maxfps:

set maxfps 30 (default is 90)

This means the server has less info it has to send your computer. I don't have proof that it helps, but it makes sense less to send = better use of limited bandwidth. Also, unless you have killer hardware, you may not be getting much better fps than that anyway. (my old ATI 16mb AGP card wasn't good for much more than 30 fps in a game)

Also, make sure you have tweeked your "rate" properly. Track me down on Heat sometime if you have any questions.