| Author |
For All Modem Users.... |
Fatal Rocko Willis
Fleet Admiral
Fatal Squadron
Joined: March 01, 2003
Posts: 1336
From: Kentucky
|  Posted: 2005-08-15 04:28
I know how hard it may be to play this game at times with Dial-Up Modems but in my quest to ease the pain for both the Player Base and the Developers I cam upon this thought while playing around with my friends PC (he tries to play Evercrack on a modem.... jeezz)
You should check to make sure you have the most up to date drivers for your modem. I would also like to suggest you determine if your modem is actually the best possible. You see there are currently three versions on the market today.
The first, and oldest is the v4X series (I think that is correct) which limits your upload and download bandwidth to 33.6K.
The second, and still in use, is the v90 series. This series allows downloads of up to 56k but only allows uploads of 33.6K.
The third, and most common, is the v92 series. This series allows dowloads at 56k and allows uploads at 48K.
Now I know this might seem like such a small deal but in this game were so much data is flowing around the globe it is in every Modem users best intrest to help all they can to "lighten the load".
I would also like to say that even if you have a v92 Modem you have to have the v92 "protocol" (for lack of a better word) enabled. You can do this by going into your device manager under system in the control panel and select modem and right click the modem to select properties. If I remember correctly there is a tab (or should be one) telling you what v## is in use.
I hope this helps. If you do not have a v92 compliant Modem then you should go out and get one. There is also a new v92/X2 format on the market though I have heard it helps data flow I am not totally familier with it.
v92 modems run about 5-10 dollars on Pricewatch.com with the X2's running upwards of $60. So you be the judge.
Is it worth it make sure yours is up to date? Could be...
Rocko Willis
Honor Is All!
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Drafell
Grand Admiral
Mythica
Joined: May 30, 2003
Posts: 2449
From: United Kingdom
| Posted: 2005-08-15 06:40
The problem with the v92 standard is that although it has been around for several years, virtually no ISP has bothered to upgrade thier hardware to this standard. So even if you havea v92 compatible modem, you will only be connecting at v90 speeds.
The v92 standard came into being at the same time as the initial launch of broadband internet services and ISDN. the ISP's seem to have all decided that is more cost effective for them to concentrate on the broadband revolution rather than put money into hardware that will be outdated/redundant within 3-4 years.
If you can find an ISP that supports the v92 standard and actually uses it too then you ar eon to a winner. Otherwise its not quite so important an issue.
As for Modem types:-
there are a few modems type on the market. the two big differences are external and internal.
ALL external modems will be full hardwaremodems, meaning that they take all of the load with handling the data traffic. external Modems are usually a little more expensive, but they also tend to get the best performance.
Internal modems come in three variations:- Full hardware, hybrid, and full software
A full hardware modem is generally the best option here. They tend to be the most expensive form of internal modem but have the best reliability and performance. The overheads on the CPU are minimal as the modem is fully capable of handling everything it needs to. These are especially good for older computers with limited CPU power.
The hybrid modems are a mixture of hardware and software. They have the necessary hardware for you to plug stuff into it, and a little bit more. The idea is for the computers CPU to handle some of the laod but not all of it. Although in priinciple these seem to be a good solution, the general performance is atrocious and I would seriously recommend avoiding modems of this type.
These require *supposedly* lower system specifications than the software modems.
Software modems only have the basic hardware required to plug into your PC. EVERYthing else is handledby your PC's CPU. Providing you have a decent CPU speed and the most up-to-date drivers then these generally work fine, although you can experience some problems with softwaremodems when they are sharing IRQ's with other system devices. Most notably would be the modem cutting off when playing a game. These issue are easily fixed with making sure you have the latest drivers.
Performance here isnt the best, but as a budget option they are fairly good and reliable. You will find however that when you initially connect, or in some other circumstances your system may slow down a little.
(IN GCQL you might get a small freeze while it pings the servers etc). This is entirely due to the nature of software modems being fully reliant on CPU.
Not ideal for game, but still useable. Definately a worthwhile budget option.
Recommended for computers with more than 1ghz processors. =
Not a good option if you are wanting to play the most cutting edge games online as you wil lsuffer a performance hit and sometimes laggy response.
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DarkSpace Developer - Retired
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-15 13:42
I believe if you ask Telewest in the UK, they can enable you to use the V92 standard.
Oh, and I wouldnt worry about the lobby freezing, it happens to me too and im on 1mb cable, its rediculas. I just click forum or home and no more refreshing problems.
[ This Message was edited by: BackSlash *Jack* on 2005-08-15 13:43 ]
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Azreal
Chief Marshal
Joined: March 14, 2004
Posts: 2816
From: United State of Texas, Houston
| Posted: 2005-08-15 14:42
Trying to play games online w/ a phone line is the same as driving cross country on a tricycle. You can do it, but DAMN it is just too much work, and not at all enjoyable.
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-15 14:52
Quote:
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On 2005-08-15 14:42, Azreal wrote:
Trying to play games online w/ a phone line is the same as driving cross country on a tricycle. You can do it, but DAMN it is just too much work, and not at all enjoyable.
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MMO's + 56k = not nice in general. Other games maybe, but not MMO's.
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Bandit
Cadet
Joined: May 25, 2004
Posts: 165
From: Under a rock
| Posted: 2005-08-15 20:10
Uh NO. External modems do not give the best performance. I have both internal and external. The external will only connect at 16 kbps MAX no matter what driver I try to use with it or how it is configured. Now my internal hardware modem will max out at 28800 kbps. The stupid phone lines around here suck ass. Cebridge is supposed to be replaceing all their cables around here and provide broadband access. Everytime I call them to inquire about it they tell me it will be another month and another month. Don't think they are really going to do it!
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DarkNoble
Fleet Admiral
Joined: August 02, 2005
Posts: 25
| Posted: 2005-08-15 23:54
wow 16k.. so 14year ago tech.. i had dail up for 2 years.. try playing games online OMG its sux .. got cable resenty which is better some games depent on where the sever is at.. what conn it has.. ur ping, stuff like that anything better than dail up will help
oh u prob have 16k and not 28k because u live far from the phonecompany line base... i live 11miles away and just got 26k
[ This Message was edited by: KINGEDWARD on 2005-08-15 23:56 ]
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Drafell
Grand Admiral
Mythica
Joined: May 30, 2003
Posts: 2449
From: United Kingdom
| Posted: 2005-08-16 05:05
@bandit that's just in your case.
I am talking from over 8 years experience working iwth installing modems etc for clients for use in a whole host of applications,
External are the best option for reliability and performance, but of coursethey take up desk space.
You can also find that certain modems will be the exception to these guidelines. Some modems out there really do suck.
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DarkSpace Developer - Retired
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-16 07:38
Quote:
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On 2005-08-16 05:05, Mr Black wrote:
@bandit that's just in your case.
I am talking from over 8 years experience working iwth installing modems etc for clients for use in a whole host of applications,
External are the best option for reliability and performance, but of coursethey take up desk space.
You can also find that certain modems will be the exception to these guidelines. Some modems out there really do suck.
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He speaks truth, I had 56k for 4 years, and I swapped out to external on the last two, and it felt as though the speed had doubled.
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Bandit
Cadet
Joined: May 25, 2004
Posts: 165
From: Under a rock
| Posted: 2005-08-17 23:42
Quote:
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On 2005-08-15 23:54, KINGEDWARD wrote:
wow 16k.. so 14year ago tech.. i had dail up for 2 years.. try playing games online OMG its sux .. got cable resenty which is better some games depent on where the sever is at.. what conn it has.. ur ping, stuff like that anything better than dail up will help
oh u prob have 16k and not 28k because u live far from the phonecompany line base... i live 11miles away and just got 26k
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No, both modems are 56k v92 vioce,data & fax. The external is a Diamond Supra Express 56E Pro and the internal is a Lucent Technologies win modem 56 k v92 data fax. I can connect at 16k max on external modem. I can connect at and am currently connected at 28k on internal modem. I have also tried EVERY ISP around here for better connection speeds and my current ISP has the best. No other ISP would connect me faster than 26k. Not even South Western Bell. So I go through a local small ISP. I have tried to use those speed booster apps but they don't work. Yes I do live 30 min from the city (Longview, TX). I think that the external modem I bought is crap though. I did a online bandwith test and it averages at 7k up and down. How pathetic!!!
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Bandit
Cadet
Joined: May 25, 2004
Posts: 165
From: Under a rock
| Posted: 2005-08-17 23:46
Anyone know of some command strings I can try for the modem settings? I have tried a few but no luck in speed boost.
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Zeritu
Grand Admiral
Pitch Black
Joined: December 02, 2002
Posts: 264
| Posted: 2005-08-18 04:09
The Diamond Modem you have is junk modem the lucent is a creative Labs modems and they work better then most modems.
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Drafell
Grand Admiral
Mythica
Joined: May 30, 2003
Posts: 2449
From: United Kingdom
| Posted: 2005-08-18 08:16
The Diamond Supra Express externals are generally a good series of modems. Very few reliability problems using them, and generally they get good connections. It is quite possible that you would want to force it to use the v.90 standard when connecting.
As for the Lucent winmodem...
First thing:- It is extremely likely that you are using outdated drivers. If you go into Device Manager or Modems on your PC and it say's Lucent Winmodem then this is most definately the case.
Lucent changed name to Agere several years back. There have been many updates to thier driver software in the interim period. Current driver version is 8.30 and it will state as being an Agere Winmodem in the Device Manager.
If you are using older drivers then this wil llead to several issues with the modem. First you can expect to get bad connections. the stability of the older drivers are questionable. Second, you would likely encounter wierd diisconnects of modem pauses when the modem is under load.
None of the Lucent/Agere winmodem series officially support the v.92 standard. There are some third party drivers available that claim to enable these featiures, but that is a misconception and the performance of these drivers suck.
The connection issues are easily fixed by getting the latest drivers from Agere.
Agere Winmodem Drivers.
Hope this helps you, Bandit.
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DarkSpace Developer - Retired
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Fatal Rocko Willis
Fleet Admiral
Fatal Squadron
Joined: March 01, 2003
Posts: 1336
From: Kentucky
| Posted: 2005-08-18 18:31
I find the U.S. Robotics 56K modems to be rather reliable... Though it very well could be a piss poor phone line between you and the actual ISP server... And, like yourself, back in Kentucky where I live (like 20 miles from nearest city) they haven't even had anything other than Dial-Up... though they said there should be DSL in my area by the end of the year!
Yes I couldn't agree more with the fact that drivers are so important. I had forgotten Lucent had sold out... That was a good catch...
Rocko
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-18 18:33
You could also have a DACS line. Which is one phone line shared between two houses. It saves the telephone company a lot of money.
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