Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with modems

Dialup Modem advice for iMac

You Should See the Other Guy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:21:32 -0800

Latest iMac G5... no internal modem for dial-up. Need dial-up. Will any usb modem work? My mother just bought a new iMac (in December). She lives in the boonies. There doesn't seem to be an "internal modem" in her network settings. Will any USB modem work? For instance, this one from Trend Net or (preferably) this one from Belkin (it's the cheapest I can find).

My concern is that the iMac won't recognize these as a modem for plug and play but will require some convoluted set up process (mom's not so hot with computers) or a download of software that's no longer available.

Suggestions?

Verizon doesn't want it, I don't want it -- what now?

EmpressCallipygos — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:40:34 -0800

Three years ago Verizon sent my roommate a modem; she not only never used it, she never opened the box. Three months ago my roommate moved to Australia and left lots of stuff behind. Three days ago I found that box, opened it, and found what was in it. Three minutes ago Verizon finally told me they don't want it back. Ethically and practically -- what should I do with it? It's a Gateway versalink ADSL Wireless Westell modem. My roommate actually somehow got a second one, and we tried using my computer with it -- we discovered the hard way that Dell computers (mine) and Westell modems (hers) don't work well together. So I would not personally be able to use this unit.

Verizon says to just "throw it out," but that hardly seems wise. I have a couple people I could give it to for backup, but before I do, I was wondering what the ethics would be for selling it on Craigslist or something. (I've been taking every opportunity I can to sell things, because I was left with a METRIC ASSLOAD of my old roommate's stuff to go through after she moved, and I'll be DAMNED if I don't recoup something after expending the effort to sort through it all.)

The SHIPPING box was never opened until three days ago, and the box with the modem has never been opened. The packing slip does say it was "repackaged." If this tells anyone anything, there you go.

Would it be ethical to sell this? Practical to do so? Any thoughts?

WTF! Ants are in my cable modem!

emptyinside — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:41:58 -0800

OMFGFilter: I was cleaning my living room / bedroom / office and underneath my side-laying cable modem I found HORDES of ants swarming around pale little crumbs. Did I just find a nest? Holy hell. My modem was only there for a couple days...
Was that eggs? Was a vacuum enough to kill the buggers and thier offspring? I knocked em out of the modem, but there's still ants crawling everywhere!

What the hell, I thought we had technology to triumph over nature, not serve as warm spots to breed!

Recommend a DSL modem?

dobbs — Thu, 24 May 2007 09:42:03 -0800

I'm in need of a DSL modem (details inside) and am wondering if I'm better off buying one or renting one from my (soon-to-be) provider. Any suggestions on brand or things to avoid is appreciated. So I'm going with DSL. I'm on a Mac. I'm in Toronto, Canada. Provider will be TekSavvy.

I need a modem that supports G.DMT (or G.D.M.T. ?)

The provider's cheapest modem is $125 (canadian) and is single port. Multi/wireless unit is $165.

I have a desktop and a wireless laptop. However, I rarely if ever connect the laptop to the internet, even thru wireless--so unless the wireless or second port capability is cheap, it's probably not a must-have.

Suggestions?

Will a 56k modem work well on a 256k ADSL connection?

krisjohn — Sat, 25 Dec 2004 20:47:38 -0800

I have ADSL. If ADSL is active and I hookup an old 56k modem to a filtered voice line, a) how fast would I be able to connect, and b) would it affect my 256k ADSL connection?

Fixing Mom's Mac's Modem

sillygit — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 15:47:30 -0800

Parental Computer (Mac) Assistance: Should I attempt to replace the internal modem or scour the web for suitable external modem for my mother's Powerbook G3? [MI] This company www.pbfixit.com offers an internal modem complete with install guide, but I am afraid once I do this it will crap out like the other one did and I will not be there to rectify the situation for my mom. Plus, I am not too sure about opening up the guts of the thing.

[Yeah, it’s an old notebook, but she doesn’t use it for anything more taxing than email and is pretty computer-phobic, so buying her a whole new computer isn’t really an option owing to her comfort with this one and the parental thrift factor.]

Router Somehow Blocking Visibility of Printer from Machines

GriffX — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 10:35:24 -0800

StupidRouterFilter: Suppose you have a DSL modem with a computer running XP coming out of it, with a printer attached. Two other machines coming out of the DSL modem can of course see the printer just fine. However, there is also a router coming out of the modem (don't ask), and none of the machines coming out of the router can see the printer. Is there any way to make them able to use that printer?