recommended modems, these days

[Paul Fox]

Paul,
I use a Linksys (Cisco) SPA3102 at the house. I'll admit the

brian -- i don't think i ever thanked you for your explanation of the
"modern" voip/asterix alternative to mgetty/vgetty. so, belated
thanks! given that vgetty actually serves me well -- i use it for
voicemail, and for remotely accessing some home automation menus -- i
probably won't be switching to voip anytime soon.

however: once in a while my modem (which identifies itself as a Zoom
V.90 variant) locks up. i think it has to do with us picking up the
phone just as it hangs up, or some such race condition. what's bad is
that it locks up holding the line open, effectively a DOS attack on
our phone line, and the fix involves running to the cellar to physically
power-cycle it. (my wife works at home using the phone practically
continously. she's gotten used to this happening every few weeks, but
she's not happy about it. :-)

between that, and the thought that if the modem failed completely i'd
be somewhat stuck for a while, i realized that maybe i should get a
second modem, one that might work more reliably.

so: those of you that are still on the list: if you were going to
try and buy a reliable voice modem (no fax or data requirements
whatsoever) in 2014, what would you shop for? old models as well as
new are interesting.

paul
----------------------
paul fox, ***@foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 32.7 degrees)

[Gert Doering]

Hi,

Post by Paul Fox
so: those of you that are still on the list: if you were going to
try and buy a reliable voice modem (no fax or data requirements
whatsoever) in 2014, what would you shop for? old models as well as
new are interesting.

I admit that I have no idea what is there on the "new devices" market
today... if I would need a voice modem, I'd look for a used ZyXEL 1496 -
best modem ever. (OTOH the 1496 has the drawback that the firmware is
in EPROMs, and there has been quite an evolution regarding features and
bugs...)

The old ELSA MicroLink series are also very good - very robust, quite
reliable, and depending on the model, good voice support (I can't recall
the details which models had voice and which not, most likely all the
ones that did V.34)

gert

[Brian McGovern (bmcgover)]

Paul,

I think Gert's comment hits the nail on the head...

I admit that I have no idea what is there on the "new devices" market today...

This is because there aren't a lot. A quick search on Google, and I couldn't find anything. The core problem is that the voice modem market is basically dead - the price/performance curve is such that if you want a remotely accessible answering machine, you get a remotely accessible answering machine (e.g. thats typically a table-steaks feature of answering machines these days, as are their digital nature); if you need something "more capable", the price point of VOIP is typically below what a decent voice modem would cost you circa 1995, when voice modems were the "in thing". Coupled with the uni-directional nature, and the surprising non-standardness of modem behavior, voice modems filled a small office niche where you wanted voice/fax/data on a single line. Now, where that can all be done, typically with far more flexibility, in software, there really is no business case, and hence manufacturers have stopped producing new models - the few modems I have found for sale new are $12-19, and none of them support voice.

So, if you're looking to stock up on spares for a "few years", eBay is going to be the place to go, and Gert has it right - look for models that were top of the line in their day... ZyXELs, some of the better US Robotics models, etc.

However, as someone who has seen both sides of this equation play out, when something is effectively EOL'ed, one does better using their time to move forward and work out the kinks of a new technology than to hang on to the old and find themselves down and without support.

-B
________________________________________
From: Gert Doering [***@greenie.muc.de]
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 5:45 AM
To: Paul Fox
Cc: ***@muc.de
Subject: Re: recommended modems, these days

Hi,

so: those of you that are still on the list: if you were going to
try and buy a reliable voice modem (no fax or data requirements
whatsoever) in 2014, what would you shop for? old models as well as
new are interesting.

I admit that I have no idea what is there on the "new devices" market
today... if I would need a voice modem, I'd look for a used ZyXEL 1496 -
best modem ever. (OTOH the 1496 has the drawback that the firmware is
in EPROMs, and there has been quite an evolution regarding features and
bugs...)

The old ELSA MicroLink series are also very good - very robust, quite
reliable, and depending on the model, good voice support (I can't recall
the details which models had voice and which not, most likely all the
ones that did V.34)

gert

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Gert Doering - Munich, Germany ***@greenie.muc.de
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[Paul Fox]

Post by Brian McGovern (bmcgover)
Paul,
I think Gert's comment hits the nail on the head...

Post by Gert Doering
I admit that I have no idea what is there on the "new
devices" market today...

...

Post by Brian McGovern (bmcgover)
However, as someone who has seen both sides of this equation play
out, when something is effectively EOL'ed, one does better using
their time to move forward and work out the kinks of a new
technology than to hang on to the old and find themselves down and
without support.

yeah. that's certainly true. it's just that you did such a good job
of scaring me off from voip... :-)

paul
----------------------
paul fox, ***@foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 30.2 degrees)

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[Chris Fowler]

Post by Paul Fox
yeah. that's certainly true. it's just that you did such a good job
of scaring me off from voip...:-)

There may not be a choice in the future. I've read several "reports"
where POTS is to be terminated within the future. There was a new
report on Slashdot a few days ago.

I use modems to connect to remote devices when the customer wants the
device off their network. It is their security policy. I assume of
POTS dies then the only solution in those cases is to have xDSL
installed at these sites strictly for my hardware. :(

Chris

[Paul Fox]

Post by Chris Fowler

Post by Paul Fox
yeah. that's certainly true. it's just that you did such a good job
of scaring me off from voip...:-)

There may not be a choice in the future. I've read several "reports"
where POTS is to be terminated within the future. There was a new
report on Slashdot a few days ago.
I use modems to connect to remote devices when the customer wants the
device off their network. It is their security policy. I assume of
POTS dies then the only solution in those cases is to have xDSL
installed at these sites strictly for my hardware. :(

the demise of POTS service isn't quite the same as the demise of POTS
telephony. most people using FIOS, or Comcast Voice, or Vonage, or any
other VOIP service still have analog phones internal to their home, or
site. so dial-in as you describe it will continue to work.

paul
----------------------
paul fox, ***@foxharp.boston.ma.us (arlington, ma, where it's 31.1 degrees)

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[Chris Fowler]

Post by Paul Fox
the demise of POTS service isn't quite the same as the demise of POTS
telephony. most people using FIOS, or Comcast Voice, or Vonage, or any
other VOIP service still have analog phones internal to their home, or
site. so dial-in as you describe it will continue to work.

I'm hoping. Many of these connections are centrex lines.

Chris