Modem - What is it good for these days?

[doppelfish]

Hi,

checking out the specs of some more recen ThinkPads, I noticed that even a X201 comes with a modem. And I don't mean any WWAN stuff, 3G, UMTS and whatnot. I mean a 56k V.92 modem that plugs into the phone socket and emits strange beeping noises.

Now, with just about anybody having Internet access via LAN, WLAN, or UMTS and friends, I just can't seem to see the usefulnes of having a decades-old technology that, given the right moon phase, may or may not transfer data at the amazing rate of 56kB/sec. Good, on the upside, we need to have an opening on the ever-so-spacious case, we take up space inside of the case, we need cables to run across the innards of the machine, and one of the Mini-PCI cards must carry the circuitry itself.

So, what's the point of having a modem in a laptop? What usage scenario that requires a beepy thingy am I not aware of?

cheers,
the fish

[craigmontHunter]

I know that in some remote locations, high speed is not there yet. If it is, but it is somewhere like a cottage, you may not want/need high speed internet, and a cheap local dialup provider may be sufficent. It is also possible that enterprises may require a dialup connection for more security (I'd imagine most of them would have vpn by now though), and finally, if there is an uprising, and your government shuts down the internet connection (very rare). The other thing I have used mine for is faxing, before we got a multifunction scanner/copier/printer/fax.

[Majestic]

I find a modem is useful in rare times when my DSL service is down since my local telco also has a dialup number for access. I've also used it a several occasions to receive faxes.

[Neil]

My internet provider is my cable co., and a couple of years ago, as a result of an ice storm, we were without electricity and cable service for almost two weeks! During that time, my phone service was only off for a couple of days, so with laptop battery power (recharged in my vehicle), and a modem, I was able to have internet access during the ordeal. But, haven't had the need to use dial-up again since. Although my desktop machine is connected via modem and telephony software for fax, voicemail and call logging.

[craigmontHunter]

@neil - I have used it at my grandparents before they had high speed. it worked great, and I always figured I could use the system the same way (free number i found online) if there was ever a power outage - unfortunately it appears that the isp I had the numbers for has gone offline - no more free dialup for me. Worst Case I will have to rig something up (maybe connect the cable modem in the car for power - hope it doesn't come to that)

[bill bolton]

Now, with just about anybody having Internet access via LAN, WLAN, or UMTS and friends

Here's some news.... there are still significant parts of the planet where that is not the case.

I've had occasions to use the modem port as the only available connectivity option, while using my X200 in a number of places in Asia and Central America within the last 12 months.

Be thankful for what you have in a developed first world economy

Cheers,

Bill B.

[ajkula66]

On another note...many businesses, including some very large corporations still insist on VPN connections via modem only...

You'd be surprised at the number of locations in the U.S. where a dial-up is still the only way of getting online...

[ozzymud]

Modem Uses:

1. CallerID - kinda useless on a laptop... but nice in a desktop.
2. Dial-Up - as others have said, my brother in northern California JUST got high speed in January, and NetZero is free 10 hours a month.
3. Computer to Computer - With the right cable, great for OLD computer data transfer.
4. Faxing - again as others said... just wanted to note i use a P166 & parallel scanner for a fax machine

IBM Modem FRU: 12J2785
PCMCIA Data/Fax/Voce Modem v.34 33.6 Kbps/14.4 Kbps with XJACK© Connector <--- never leave home without it!
HUGE Image of front and back (warning for dial-up!

[KRAZY KEV]

as other forum readers have stated their are still parts of the world that have no fast internet connection. i am lucky that my home has up to a 50mbps cable connection which somewhen soon is expected to be doubled to 100mbps. this is all well and good but could my t43's wifi adaptor transfer data at this speed? i would have to use my laptops gigabit NIC. even in the UK where i live there are still remote areas that only have a dial up connection. i can still see 56k modems being around in 10 years time as i think there will always be a need for them during my lifetime although a lot less then the current time.
the last time i used dial up was around 9 years ago when i was one of the first people in the village i lived in to get a broadband connection. it was a 512kbps connection using ADSL. I still have my old hayes acura 56k speaker phone modem which connected via the 9 pin serial port.
maybe it would be a good idea to replace the 56k modem with a adsl modem in the future

[davidhbrown]

trick would-be thieves into thinking you have a really old notebook not worth taking? :

[ajkula66]

KRAZY KEV wrote:

maybe it would be a good idea to replace the 56k modem with a adsl modem in the future

Unlike the conventional 56K modem that will work with almost any dialtone, there is no "one-size-fits-all" ADSL modem...

[topmahof]

[quote="doppelfish"]Hi,

checking out the specs of some more recen ThinkPads, I noticed that even a X201 comes with a modem. And I don't mean any WWAN stuff, 3G, UMTS and whatnot. I mean a 56k V.92 modem that plugs into the phone socket and emits strange beeping noises.

Now, with just about anybody having Internet access via LAN, WLAN, or UMTS and friends, I just can't seem to see the usefulnes of having a decades-old technology that, given the right moon phase, may or may not transfer data at the amazing rate of 56kB/sec. Good, on the upside, we need to have an opening on the ever-so-spacious case, we take up space inside of the case, we need cables to run across the innards of the machine, and one of the Mini-PCI cards must carry the circuitry itself.

So, what's the point of having a modem in a laptop? What usage scenario that requires a beepy thingy am I not aware of?

_____________________________________________________________________________

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... 097#M25646

Here's a place where the op is using dial-up. I guess sometimes it has to be used.

Dave

[roguetrooper]

I fly the 737 for a major airline. So I travel extensively around mainly South East Asia.. (although I used to fly Long Haul). In some countries Hotels only supply a telephone socket and you just plug your modem in. I guess it's essential for the corporate executive who travels to out of the way places.

As an example, Kutaisi, Republic of Georgia has no broadband in a city of 200K people. I just plug that Modem in!

No broadband luxury.... but 56K works surprisingly well for many things.

However this is from a guy who thought 28.8 to 33.6 was a great upgrade

[ozzymud]

Currently working with a forum user here in "ThinkPad Legacy Hardware" who uses dial-up as his main internet connection, his secondary machine is having Win98/MWave issues... so yea... still in use even today.