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DSL

Internal Modems Are Useless!

Members of the ISP-DSL list ponder this question: When will customers learn just how terrible internal modems are? It's not just cheap dialup modems; internal DSL modems are bad too.

[October 3, 2001]

On the ISP-DSL list in September, FD observed,

"We have been losing a few clients because their computers don't seem fast enough to handle DSL. They have internal modems. If your client has a slow computer, do you suggest an Ethernet card and external modem for them? Does that ever do the trick?"

A number of respondents advised sticking with external modems:

[AD warned] "We've had horrid experience with internal modems for DSL; we switched to all external modems and a free NIC."

[WD agreed] "A lot of home machines have problems with an internal dialup modem, but none with an external—and these same machines had problems when upgraded to internal DSL modems, but have worked flawlessly with external modems and an Ethernet card."

[AC added] "We have always used external modems. We have seen few problems with speed issues resulting directly from the modems. Although on occasion you do get a faulty modem, for the most part the external has proven quite reliable."

DS noted that it's important to take a close look at what you're installing:

"Beware of any option that requires installation of lots of software on any PC, slow or not. DSL NICs are really ATM cards, and running IP over ATM requires software. Ethernet cards are more common, and require less work for the computer in general. Another customer benefit to an external DSL modem is the ability to install a 'home router' between the PC and the DSL modem: the beauty of this option is that no extra software needs to go into the PC. The router takes care of chores like PPPoE for all of the attached PCs."

VB suggested that it's quality, not placement, that makes the difference:

"If you have someone with a bad enough machine that they're having trouble with a good quality internal adapter, they're not going to do well with an external one either. DSL adapters are like modems in that well-designed hardware with good drivers will do a good job on almost any machine. And quality matters: there are huge variations in the efficiency of DSL adapter hardware and drivers. I've never seen a machine that wouldn't run fine with a quality internal adapter. Externals are nice, but most of my customers, especially those with only one machine, don't feel like shelling out the premium."

—End