LT
Winmodem
The Lucent (LT) Winmodem is often included in the
following brands of PCs: IBM Aptiva, Acer, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard,
Packard Bell, Quantex, and many others. If you have older
drivers for this modem (anything below v.5.18), you may
have problems with low connect rates, random disconnects,
and slow data transfer.
Lucent Technologies does not actually manufacture the
LT Winmodem; they provide the Lucent chip on the modem
card. The actual modem is provided by the manufacturer
of the system and drivers can usually be obtained from
their website. The bad news is that most PC manufacturers
don't always provide the most up-to-date driver version
for the LT Winmodem. The good news is that LT Winmodem
drivers are universal and will work on an ISA or PCI LT
Winmodem for any brand of PC.
Now for the great news: Lucent releases updated code to
manufacturers very frequently, and each new version of
LT Winmodem drivers has resulted in better overall performance
and stability, according to the users who have upgraded.
There is a comprehensive web page where you can download
the latest V.90 drivers for the LT Winmodem, as well as
previous versions if you care to try your luck with earlier
code. Since all of RPA's POPs are V.90 compliant, we recommend
an LT Winmodem driver version no less than 5.18 (earlier
versions were 56k Flex rather than V.90). As of December
1999, the latest driver version was v.5.66.
If
you seem to connect at a higher rate but find it more
unstable than a lower rate (this can be caused by telephone
line conditions such as noise or static) you can use an
initialization string to force your modem to connect at
either V.90 or V.34, depending on which one would be more
favorable for your personal circumstances. To add an initialization
string, go to My Computer > Dial-up Networking. Right-click
on RPA Internet, and click on Properties. On this screen,
click on the Configure button, and go to the Connection
tab at the top of the screen. At the bottom of this screen,
click on the Advanced button. The Extra Settings blank
is where the initialization string should be typed in.
For Lucent/U.S.Robotics modems:
s32=2 to force V.90
s32=98 to force V.34 (33600bps and lower)
If
you receive any sort of error about the modem not responding,
the initialization string has been mistyped or is incorrect
for the chipset. For
instance, this particular string will only work for Lucent
or U.S. Robotics (3com) chipsets.
HSP
Micromodem 56
The
HSP Micromodem 56 is often built into store brand machines
such as Emachines. The HSP Micromodem, like the LT Winmodem,
is a low-cost software driven modem that may cause problems
establishing or maintaining a desireable connection in
less-than-perfect circumstances (i.e, less-than-pristine
phone line quality).
Typical connection rates reported are around the 24000bps-31200bps
range.
As with the LT Winmodem above, there are measures you
can take in trying to bridge the gap to 56K. The HSP is
manufactured by PCTel, who provides the modems for OEM
manufacturers, and does not provide drivers. To obtain
drivers for the HSP Micromodem, the best place to look
is on the home page of the manufacturer of your computer.
For detailed information on developing an initialization
string for your modem, you may visit the following sites:
Initialization
strings that we have found work well with the HSP Micromodems
(provided that telephone line noise is not too strong)
are:
ATN0S37=14
to attempt to force a V.90 connection
ATN0S37=13 to attempt to force a 56K Flex
connection
ATN0S37=12 to bring the connect rate down to
V.34 (typically 33600bps or lower)
(Please
note that it is the number zero between the letters "N"
and "S" above.)
To add one of the above initialization strings, go to My
Computer > Dial-up Networking. Right-click on RPA Internet,
and click on Properties. On this screen, click on the Configure
button, and go to the Connection tab at the top of the screen.
At the bottom of this screen, click on the Advanced button.
The Extra Settings blank is where the initialization string
should be typed in.
As with other modems, if you are unable to achieve a V.90
connect rate (34000bps - 53,333bps) without the aid of initialization
strings, it may be impossible to force your modem to connect
any higher than it has been. Also, if you are experiencing
unstable V.90 connections (again, anywhere from 34,000bps
- 53,333bps), it may help to bring the connection down to
V.34 speeds, which are known to be more stable in some circumstances,
yielding better data transfer. Another important factor
to take note of is that RPA Internet's modems have been
V.90 compliant for the past two years -- you may be able
to connect using the 56K Flex string, but V.90 should be
much more stable, provided you have the latest V.90 drivers
for the modem.
