GC> I'm not rich  :)  So I can't go out and get top of the range,
GC> what I'm after is modems around $200-$300 (or less). 33600 And
GC> from the advice from other sysops, I should only get External.

AM> Yes, external is HEAPS better, you can see what's going on.

RB> If you get a quality modem. There is NO NEED to "SEE
RB> WHATS GOING ON" They work everytime...all the time.

Fraid such a thing doesnt exist, particularly when you allow
for what dud modem you may be trying to call with it. It can
indeed be very handy to be able to see exactly what is going on
in that situation, and also where you strike a poor line etc too.

RB> It is only when the junk modem or idiot user at the other end does
RB> something to cause the BBS modem to need a reset that an external
RB> is better....as the Sysop can just turn the modem off and on again
RB> to reset it, where as with an internal BBS modem the sysop has to
RB> turn the computer power off and on again to reset the modem.

There are a lot more situations where an external has its uses than that.

One of the more obvious situations is where you are using the
modem with you at the PC, and things are clearly not going very
fast. It can be handy to be able to glance at the front of the
modem and see clearly just what line speed its currently using,
whether its retrying on line errors, whether its farting around
doing full retrains, or whether the problem is just that the data
is being pumped into the modem at the other end very lumpyily.

You are always working in the dark much more with an
internal modem, PARTICULARLY when things arent going
the way they should be and you want to see why not.

Corse the main downside is that a modem with that sort of decent
status display and a good performer as well, has to cost more
than an internal with no real status information available at all.

And even the automated session stats you get with one of the better
internals aint necessarily much use when online to your ISP etc.
Quite good for automated mail runs, quite poor for using it in person.
@EOT:

---