MODEMS

About modems

This passage is here to provide our users with all necessary support in the selecting and setting of modems, as well as in the overcoming of difficulties that may occur due to bad telephone lines. Here you can find the latest drivers for the most frequently used types of modems with us, as well as instructions for their installation and special settings. Neobee.net access modems support all modem protocols up to the speed of 33.6 k, while for the speeds of 56k protocol V.90 is supported. For a perfect functioning of the V.90 protocol you should have a telephone line on a digital main telephone exchange and that the line from you up to the Neobee.net access modems is exclusively performed through digital telephone exchanges, with interconnections between telephone exchanges based on optical cables. It is understood that telephone installations must be without defects, as well as telephone sets that are connected in the parallel mode with the modem. Also, poor quality telephone sets may cause many disturbances in the operation of modem. For this reason it is preferable that you have a quality proved telephone set.

Selecting good modem

When you decide to buy a modem the most careful have to be those users who have telephone lines of lower quality (e.g. older telephone exchanges). Notice should also be paid in case you have a PC of lower performances, since many new modems (the so called software modems) require for its operation a PC with higher performances. If you are nor sure, then inform yourself on the quality of your telephone line. In case you have a line of lower quality than you can be sure that you need a quality modem. Lower priced modems are mostly more sensitive to the quality of telephone lines, so that modems of disputable quality should be avoided. Technical support of Neobee.net in case of bad telephone lines recommends you to procure modems USRRobotics, or 3COM. These modems are outstanding comparing to the rest of the choice on our market, and they justify their price with high quality. Particularly good performances are shown by external versions of these modems. Out of the choice of lower priced modems, solid performances are shown with Intel (it is present also under the name Ambient or Cyrus Logic) modems with the mark HAM. As another cheep alternative we may consider Agere (Lucent) modems, that often request some additional adjustment to achieve maximum stability in operation. For operation with older telephone exchanges, Neobee.net does not recommend the procurement of Conexant, Motorola and PCTel modems. These recommendations are the result of our experience in work with our customers who have difficulties with the achievement of a stable and quick modem connection. In case you have a PC of lower performances you should not by the so called software modems (see the previous passage "itroduction"). If you are in the position it by some of the alder modems such as Rockwell 33.6k modem ISA type, that will surely operate without problems with most of the alder PC’s the other solution is the procurement of some external modem. With the most of new modems, on an important parameter for correct operation of modem is the power of PC. The reason for this is that modems which are produced in the last couple of years are more or less using the power of the central processor that performs many operations for them. These modems are often called "software; modems. Most of the manufactures of such modems recommend as the optimum configuration:

• minimum Pentium 2- 300MHz
• minimum 128MB RAM

Some of the manufactures for example Conexant, for some types of modem recommend even stronger types of modem:

• 500 MHz procesor ili jači
• 128 MB RAM ili više

Modem settings

All settings of modems in Windows are made in Control Panel / Modems section. It is understood that you have a properly functioning modem and an installed corresponding driver for your modem type. First you have to make it sure that Yugoslavia is included in the list of countries (i.e. the area code of the country 381), as well as that Regional Code has been entered correctly (for the area of Novi Sad: 021). For normal operation on telecommunication systems in our country, it is necessary to set the following options:

Wait for dial tone -> has to be switched off (the same effect is achieved by entering of the text ATX of course without the quotation marks, into the field Extra Settings).

Find out if your main telephone exchange supports the tone dialing

• In case it does, then switch on the option Tone dial,
• and if not, then switch on the option Pulse dial.

In further texts related to modem, we will describe possibilities of more detailed setting of some modems, where we consider it necessary. In relation to this, we will mention also entering/modifications of the initial string of modem. Initial strings are commands understandable for modem, by means of which it is possible to set in detail many modem options. Such commands that are given to modem are called AT commands and the majority of them are standardized (that is to say: common for all modems), however - every manufacturer of modems has his own modem commands that are functioning only with a certain type of modem. For this reason, initial strings we are mentioning further in the text, should be used only for those types of modems they are intended for. In case your modem fails to function correctly upon entering of some of the initial strings, it is enough to delete them. Initial strings are to be entered in the field Extra Settings, which is in the section for modem setting.

Agere and Lucent modems
Modems with Lucent modem chips are recently the most frequently used type of modems in our country. Reason for this is in the first place their low price, and also a rather good quality compared to the price. To make it clear, Lucent and Agere modems can be considered as the same. Actually, the firm Agere has recently bought the firm Lucent, so that now Lucent modems are sold under the name Agere. Agere (Lucent) is the manufacturer of modem chips, which means that many manufacturers of modems use their chips. We are mentioning this in order to point out that settings and drivers for these modems, that you can find on our market, will not function on every modem with an Agere chip, because there are certain differences between the manufacturers of modems. Agere modems, for the time being, support all main communication protocols. For speeds of 56k the V.90 protocol is used. Our Technical Support has recorded frequent difficulties in operation of Agere modems among our users. Causes of these difficulties are mostly:

• sensibility of modems to bad telephone lines
• and older versions of drivers for modem that have many shortcomings

In case you have problems with your Agere (Lucent) modem we recommend you to procure some of the newer driver versions. Namely, drivers for these modems, that are older than 5.49 version will most probably cause difficulties in operation. Older versions of drivers have a lot of shortcomings, among which is bad operation of V.90 protocol, as well as impossibility of work on some older main telephone exchanges. New versions of drivers for Agere modems you can get here:

• Agere 56k driver v. 8.22
• Agere 56k driver v. 6.00

These drivers are generically drivers that are officially supported by Agere. However, these drivers do not operate 100% with all modems with Agere chip. Prior to installing, please make sure if these drivers correspond to your modem. Review the documentation of your modem as well as the marks of the old driver you have ("vendor; " should be Agere or Lucent), and look also at the web site of the manufacturer of your modem. However, with the majority of Agere modems, these drivers operate perfectly.

Mostly, for all modems of this type, new drivers are necessary. Upon installation of these drivers, you should not have any problems with dialing of numbers (tone or pulse), and if all prerequisites have been fulfilled, the V.90 (56k) protocol should be perfectly working. In case you are on an older main telephone exchange, or your line is unstable, you should try with the following initial strings:

For the following initial strings, first decrease the port speed to 57600

• AT&FX
• AT&FX-v90=1S38=0S28=1
  
• AT&FX&C1&D2S38=0

For the following initial strings first decrease the port speed to38400

• AT&FX-v90=0S38=0S28=1

In some cases with Lucent Win modems it helps if you use Softwareflow control (XON/XOFF) option instead of Hardware flow control (RTS/CTS).

Some models operate well also with the following initial string:

• AT&FE1V1Q0X4&C1&D2&K3&Q5-V90=22^M
  

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Conexant modems
New types of modems of the manufacturer Conexant completely support V.90 communication protocol. They are slightly more sensitive to bad telephone lines than Agere modems, and software versions of Conexant are also more requiring as regards the PC power in which they are installed. It means that Conexant modems are a little less preferred choice than Agere modems. For proper functioning of these modems, the same as with Agere modems, it is preferable that you install the latest driver versions.

Download

Motorola modems
The owners of Motorola software modems, will most probably have large difficulties in case they have a telephone line of poor quality. Installation of the latest driver version may help to the large extent. However, even this does not mean that all problems will disappear. In case you have problem with connection, and you have a Motorola software modem, (usually the mark: SM56) you should install some of drivers recommended for Motorola modems. Of course, you should select the version corresponding to your operative system.

In order to upgrade your Motorola SM56 driver, you should do the following:

1. make sure that you have an original driver that you got from the seller of your modem, so that case of defective operation of the new driver, you may always re-install the old driver
2. Save the downloaded driver in a new empty folder
3. Start the file with the driver you have downloaded and the driver will unpack into the same folder
4. Start SM56set.exe file to initiate installation
5. Installation program will detect the previous version of the driver, in case it exists
6. Click on OK to continue installation
7. Novi drajver će biti instaliran i kad se pojavi pitanje da li želite da restartujete vaš New driver is installed when a question appears asking if you want to restart the computer. Click YES
8. Now installation is completed.

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Intel(Ambient, Cyrus Logic) HAM
This type of modem is of rather satisfying quality comparing to its price. It is not very sensitive to poor quality telephone lines. However, in case you experience problems in work with it, installation of new drivers may possibly help

PCTel modems
PCTel are luckily the least popular modems in our country, of all modem types mentioned herein. They are of the poorest quality in this category, and very sensitive to the quality of telephone lines. Additionally, support for V.90 protocol is on low level. Also, recognizing of the line signalization is below the required level. They often appear as integrated modems within some mother boards. Their functioning can be improved to some extent by installation of new drivers, and the decrease of speed toward the computer port, can also be of help.

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Note!

Neobee.net is not responsible for the functioning of drivers with certain types of modems. In case a driver does not function, that it is most probably not the driver intended for operation with your modem. Installation of drivers is in your responsibility with following of instructions written herein.

In case you are not sure what type of modem you have and you think that you do not have enough knowledge to install you driver by yourself, then you should not do that. Drivers presented herein are original generic drivers that can be found on web sites of manufacturers of modem chips. Neither modems nor drivers for modems do not count into products or services of Neobee.net. Drivers are presented here only to help our users to find them and procure them more easily. In case of defectiveness of your modem you should contact your seller (in case the guarantee is still effective), or to some of the computer service shops.