JT> Either way, I will be looking for another modem.  Banksia
 JT> said they would replace it, (after 4 rom upgrades and a
 JT> board modification). Somehow I don't think that will fix
 JT> it.  I've come to the conclusion that this modem is a heap.

 RS> Which particular Banksia ?
 
 Banksia MyFastModem V34.  Firmware v1.430-V34_DS, on a modified
"old" version
board.  They said that the newer firmware was a bit iffy if run on the old
boards.  The iffy thing for me, was they modified my board AFTER all the rom
upgrades.

 JT> Any suggestions anyone?  I'm tossing up between
 JT> a Netcomm or USR, if so, which model?

 RS> Dunno, there is a continuing problem with USRs always getting decent
 RS> connects with rockwell based modems and in those circumstances I'm not
 RS> keen on spending the rather substantial amount of money that Couriers
 RS> go for, even with the recent drops.

 Yeah, they are a bit steep on their pricing structures.

 RS> Even their much vaunted convenience
 RS> of flashrom upgrade forever turns out to have applied some real fangs
 RS> to the arse when USR managed to totally stuff up their quality control
 RS> which resulted in Couriers dying like flys in the field with a
 RS> particular code release turning the modem into an unusable state,
 RS> requiring a return to the US at YOUR expense to fix. 

 I heard about those.  Rather unfriendly...

 RS> Tho the display of the line characteristics in graph form is VERY
 RS> handy. 

 This would be useful for me, as my connects vary a fair bit sometimes, and
I wanted to verify if it's the modem or the line.  As it stands, I have no
idea as to what happened the night before.

 RS> There is something to be said for a dirt cheap $200 class
 RS> modem like the Lightspeed or the external Dynalink.

 Hmm, yeah but, I'm still wary of the cheaper range, you get what you pay for
and all that.  I usually go for the cheap stuff, but in the case of modems,
I'm not always awake at all hours of the night nursing the thing to work.
 The next morning is too late as far as finding out what the problem was...

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