Old Updates (Jul '00

Old Updates (Jul '01 - Jun '02)

22-Jun-02 - PayPal update - PayPal is back as a Premium Access subscription option - at least for now. I'm working on adding other payment options. My PayPal story is here. Site Updates - LT Win Modem - dial-tone detection problems; new HCF driver; V.92 news; V.92 ISPs.

13-Jun-02 - Lost E-mail: If you sent an e-mail to me between June 5 and 12, it's probably been lost: I was on vacation, and when I returned 12-Jun, the first thing I did was download my e-mail - around 400 messages. Whereupon my hard drive crashed. (Yes, there were messages with viruses and worms, but my AV software did its job - took me a while to realize I didn't have a virus - one of the 2 hard drives in my system is terminally ill.) The emails are totally toasted. In addition, while I was on vacation, Pay-Pal decided to restrict my account: they still let people make payments "to me", but I cannot access the payments. According to PayPal, I don't get the money until I send them a copy of my driver's license, copies of my most recent personal banking statements, and a copy of my most recent phone bill, and then, only if they decide to lift their unexplained restriction! My inclination is to join in one of the PayPal class action lawsuits - I fail to understand why they have restricted my account, or why they need copies of such personal information. They also will not allow me to refund money to anyone who has made a payment to me - so if you've requested a refund per my money-back guarantee, I'm unable to give it back to you at this time. They also will not allow me to close my PayPal account. Unbelievable! (I have removed PayPal as a payment processing option for a Premium Access subscription.) While I had a great time on my 1 week vacation, I've got my work cut out: I have to replace the bad hard drive, restore my system, and ask for your understanding and patience as I tackle these tasks.... (If you sent an e-mail or feedback to me between June 5 & 12 - please re-send! If you've asked for a refund for a PayPal subscription payment, you might also want to ask PayPal why they'll accept your money, supposedly to be paid to me, without allowing me to access it, or even return it to you! - Also see: PayPalsucks.com. Note on e-mail: mail sent to me @808news.com, and feedback from the Modemsite.com URL hasn't been lost, but until I get my system back up, I'm not going to try and access it; mail sent to me @808hi.com - my primary addresses - and feedback sent from 808hi.com are the ones lost with the crash. )

26-May-02 - Smartlink has released updated V.92-capable drivers. See Smartlink page. No modem-on-hold for V.92 modems on the Mac - see 26-May V.92 update.

24-May-02 - Site updates - The good news is: more content - including updated DUNS Error information - is being made available without Premium Access. The bad news: the advertising that supports "free" access. Read more.

9-May-02 - LT Win Modem - Agere has released a new generic driver 8.22 for LT Win Modems. This driver will provide V.90 on all LT modems, and V.92 on LT modems that have the Mars3.2 1648C or APL43 chipset. See: LT Modem Drivers.

17-Apr-02 - Site Updates - The sorry state of Internet advertising has resulted in a need to reduce costs - bandwidth - in serving ad-supported site content. A 'balancing act' is underway which involves moving some previously 'free' content to Premium Access. See list and also more info here.

11-Apr-02 - Patton V.92 - Patton Electronics' V.92 release is running at beta sites and is available to Patton customers for testing. Commercial release expected in 4-12 weeks. See 11-Apr-02 V.92 Update.

5-Apr-02 - V.92 News - V.92 drivers now available for all Smartlink and Broadcom chipsets. USR refuses to fix bug in their V.92 firmware that prevents resuming data session after placing modem on hold. See V.92 updates 5-Apr-02.

16-Mar-02 - Modemsite updates - New site design has been implemented - although still being refined.... While doing the re-design work, I've discovered a lot of pages that need updating - I'm going to be working on bringing some of the older content up-to-date.... I also found that the Site Map was all out of whack - and today, I've reinstated a manually-produced site map (although it's not yet complete). I'd also like to thank Karen Cardinal who helped me with the new design, and created the new logo.

5-Mar-02 - V.92 disappointment? - Users who were hoping for improved speeds with V.92 are likely to be disappointed for some time to come. Most server-side vendors have delayed (indefinitely?) the release of V.92 code that supports PCM upstream. 3Com's CommWorks released V.92/V.44 code last week becoming the first server-side vendor to offer PCM upstream - with a maximum rate less than V.34, and a longer handshake! See 5-Mar-02 V.92 Updates.

24-Feb-02 - USR = Conexant?! - Who would have guessed that US Robotics - known and trusted for developing its own modem designs, firmware and drivers - would be selling Conexant-based software (HSP) modems??? It has happened: a number of US Robotics modems are now really what I'd call Rockwell/Conexant Soft56-HSF modems. How to tell?: The USR-supplied .inf file will likely contain a Conexant Copyright notice. For example - here's the top portion of the usr21f2k.inf file supplied with the OEM model 3094 USR:

; Copyright (C) 1996-1998, Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, Inc.
; Copyright (C) 1999-2001 Conexant Systems
; Last modified 2/28/2001, Conexant Systems
; Last modified 03/02/2001, by U.S. Robotics Corporation
;**************************************************************************
;
; MasterNT5.inf -- S215DT5.inf
; Version: 3.05.07

Note also the outdated driver version that USR provides!

24-Feb-02 - Modem Survey - The Take the 56k Modem Survey stopped working when I made some recent site changes around the end of January. It's been fixed! You can take the survey.

16-Feb-02 - Microsoft Madness - XP & LT Win Driver - I've updated links that used to allow people who weren't running WindowsXP to get WindowsXP drivers from Microsoft's Windows Update (see 23-Nov-01 update). Apparently, the URL no longer works and produces a message that you have to be running Windows XP to get the updates! As stated before, if your modem is your only connection to the net, and if it doesn't work with XP, and you need to get an update, you're in a catch 22: the working modem in Win9x, NT or 2K is of no use! Incredible. More Microsoft Madness: XP's Search functionality and the hoops you have to go through. Michael Horton told me that you can make XP's search look like the familiar 2K and earlier interface - but only with Microsoft's Power Toys for XP. I have XP and did get the Power Toys. I was going to add this to my Customizing XP Search page at XPSearch.info, but Microsoft has apparently pulled the XP Power Toys: attempt to download = we're improving it - look for it in the spring.

SNEAK PREVIEW - New look - Whaddayathink?

13-Feb-02 - New look coming.... I'm working with a talented artist and expect to have a new look and logo online soon....

10-Feb-02 - Help Part II - If I didn't do something, the Feb '02 bandwidth for Modemsite would reach 100 gigabytes! What I've done is expanded the tip jar and ad-free access by adding premium content with a subscription/tip. The driver downloads have been placed in the premium category (bandwidth has a cost!), and I'm going to work on several tasks: improvements for the free ad-supported content, and more premium content as well. The subscription process via PayPal has been enhanced to provide instant ad-free and premium access upon completion of the transaction.

7-Feb-02 - HELP! I've been working practically full-time on my websites for a month - and there's so much more I would like to do: I want to make Modemsite better, more complete, easier to use, prettier, etc. I also have to eat and pay bills. It's time to help me out: give me $1.34 if you can spare it, and in return get 6 months of ad-free access to Modemsite.com. Please note: ad-free access will provide you with faster access to the site Also note: most URLs for the pages on the site were changed 30-Jan-02. If you have bookmarks - update them please! Requests for the old page names are intercepted and re-directed to the new page - which takes longer and puts more load on my server. Top that with a recent dramatic increase in traffic from search engines that still reference old URLs, and the continuing disappearance of good, "free" content on the net, and I hope you'll understand: if I can't cover my direct costs - let alone get any compensation for all my time - this site may just disappear as well. On 6-Feb-01, over 3gb of bandwidth was used to serve visitors to Modemsite.

30-Jan-02 - New Lucent Win Modem Drivers - Microsoft's Windows Update for XP has a number of new drivers for Agere (formerly Lucent) modems including the LT Win Modem, and the AMR (Scorpio) modem. While these are "XP-only" updates, they may also work with Windows Me, and 2K. More information on LT Modem Driver and Lucent AMR pages.

29-Jan-02 - Ad-free access & Site Changes - Ad-free access to Modemsite.com is now available. Nearly all of the URLs for the site have been changed to end in .asp. While requests for deleted .htm pages will automatically redirect to the new .asp page, you will get faster access by requesting the new URL --- you may want to update your bookmarks. Additional changes coming include more advertisements for those who do not opt for ad-free access; and, blocking delivery of pages to those who use ad blocking software. For a limited time, I'm offering at least 6 months of ad-free access with a donation of $1.34 or more via the Tip Jar.

20-Jan-02 - I no longer recommend buying a USR modem - See the 20-Jan-02 V.92 News Update for more on why. The Buying a 56k modem page updated to refer to this as well.

Speaking of Searching (see item below) - I have a new site about WindowsXP and searching. Check it out: www.XPSearch.info.

11-Jan-02 - Better Search - This site can now be Searched with a better engine. (For the technically curious, the FrontPage web-assisted Internet search - WAIS - has been replaced with MS Index Server.) Improvements have also been made to Search on Forum56.com. (The user forum companion to Modemsite.com, Forum56 is a database driven BBS. I improved the SQL query that is built from the user's search form input.)

30-Dec-01 - Driver Updates - New drivers for Smartlink chipsets released. New driver listing for Intel HaM. Motorola SM56 drivers located - note: Motorola will soon stop all support for their discontinued analog modem product line. Dell has released V.92 Win2k/XP drivers for Conexant Soft56 (OEM'd from GVC and Actiontec), as well as for LT Win Modem (OEM'd from Askey). Conexant has released updated generic HSF/Soft56 drivers; and, there are newer Conexant HCF drivers available.

8-Dec-01 - XP & Modems - More info added to the site including: Windows XP & Modems for installation issues; DUNS Connectoids now has an XP section for adding and editing dial-up connections; Hyperterminal page updated with link to XP screenshot. The Init Strings page now has XP-specific info and screenshots. More info still will be added to specific modem pages shortly!

2-Dec-01 - Virus Alert; Broadband Trouble - If you don't know about the newest Badtrans e-mail virus, you probably have it. A number of visitors to this site are unknowingly sending it to me. Over 800,000 @Home customers on AT&T Cable Systems lose service: Broadband: Not So Fast!

23-Nov-01 - Windows XP Modem drivers - as well as other versions of Windows can be found on Microsoft's Windows Update site - if you can get to it. (See 27-Oct-01 update below.) Thanks to Doug Miller, I finally found a ~~URL that works~~ on my system. (Using the link does produce a Javascript error on every page, but at least there's a page!) If your system won't let you get a driver list with windowsupdate.microsoft.com, try ~~http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog/en/corp_drivers.asp~~ .(See 16-Feb-02 update.)

22-Nov-01 - Site Note - A combination of things have affected this site and the Modemsite Newsletter: I haven't updated this site as frequently as usual. Besides the shock of the Sep 11 terrorist attack, my attention has been diverted by picking coffee, and AOL/TimeWarner Road Runner complaints, among other things. The last newsletter was sent out in August. A new newsletter should be out soon, as well as a return to more frequent Modemsite updates and additions.

4-Nov-01 - Windows XP Modem drivers - Links to XP modem drivers added to: Smartlink, Rockwell HCF; HSF/Soft56; and Intel pages.

27-Oct-01 - Windows XP & Modem Drivers - Windows XP is here - but modem drivers will cause problems for some. The XP release includes drivers for a large number of modems; however, a fair number of users will find that their modem is not recognized or supported when XP installs. Microsoft's Windows Update has a number of driver updates; however, I haven't found a way to view them as I don't have a system with XP installed. (Windows Update displays updates only for the operating system installed on your computer. This Microsoft XP "download" page suggests the Windows Update page can be used if XP is not installed on your computer, but I can't figure out how. Can you?) Catch 22: If your modem isn't supported - you can't access the Internet; if you have to have XP installed to get a modem driver update from Microsoft, you are stuck. Windows 2000 drivers are supposed to work with XP, but feedback indicates a large number of users unable to get their modem functional - especially Conexant-based HCF and HSF modems. Fernando in Mexico says the corporate Windows Update site at http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp?corporate=true will show drivers, but the URL displays nothing on my NT machine.

8-Oct-01 - Windows XP Drivers - Windows XP will soon be widely available. The new Microsoft OS comes with driver support for many - but not all - modems. At this time, most modem vendors have not released Windows XP driver packages, however, Windows 2000 drivers should be compatible with XP. If you use XP and have do not have a modem driver, you may be able to get the modem to work by downloading and using a compatible Windows 2000 driver. [However, my advice would be to avoid WindowsXP altogether.]

22-Sep-01 - Disappearing V.92 - The first and only ISP/access provider supporting V.92 nationally - Navipath - is going out of business. See 22-Sep-01 V.92 News.

22-Aug-01 - Langa List - The August 20 newsletter's Insider's Views on Tech Support links to 808hi.com (now Modemsite.com). "Randy" says this is one of the best modem sites on the web. This made Aug 20 a record day for the site - over 2.5gb bandwidth from my servers! If you haven't heard of Fred Langa and the Langa List - check it out: with over 150,000 subscribers it's very popular.

19-Aug-01 - V.92 ISPs - New page added to the site in an attempt to list ISPs that support V.92. The page includes a form to use if you work for or know of an ISP that supports V.92 but is not listed.

14-Aug-01 - USR Courier & V.92 - US Robotics changes its mind and will provide a V.92 upgrade for older "V.Everything" Courier modems. See the V.92 News & Updates. Also, a beta V.92 driver for Rockwell/Conexant HCF modems now available from Phoebe Micro. See HCF Driver Page.

7-Aug-01 - Code Red II - Affecting the Internet, and especially broadband providers and users. I have a special CODE RED II ALERT page regarding the situation with my provider, Hawaii Road Runner.

30-Jul-01 - Time Warner / Road Runner threatens to sue me - The threat came at 4:30pm Hawaii time today. I'm going to be devoting a fair amount of time and attention to this matter over the next few days (or years), so bear with me. I'm also seeking assistance - financial and otherwise. You can read the initial story at www.fixrr.com, www.hawaiirr.com and www.rrhawaii.com.

28-Jul-01 - Conexant Generic Driver - Conexant has redesigned its website and added limited modem support (and a lot of legal disclaimers that you must click to accept.) The links for the limited functionality generic driver, as well as new pages with more information about the driver have been added to the Rockwell/Conexant HCF page as well as the Soft56-HSF page.

21-Jul-01 - Yahoo! - The site is now listed in Yahoo's directory as Modemsite.com. All prior suggestions to add the site were ignored..... Site updates & additions: The Troubleshooting Contents page has been re-formatted; New pages on DUNS Connectoids and USR chipset. Disable 56k protocol commands available on this page.

14-Jul-01 - Modemsite.com - A new name & URL for the site is now available. All old URL's will continue to work. Modemsite.com is an alias for modemsite.com/56k/, and an independent mirror of the site remains at 808hi.com/56k/. There's also a new URL for Forum56: forum56.com, and again, all old URL's will continue to work. My 404 Page Not Found Tracker helps me make sure - something that a lot of major vendor sites overlook when they make changes to their site!

8-Jul-01 - Lightning Strikes - This new page discusses how modems can be damaged during thunderstorms - and what you can do to prevent your modem from being fried.

4-Jul-01 - Disappearing Deals - Napster has suspended file transfers as it upgrades to new file identification technology. When the service returns, an upgraded client will be required to transfer files. Beta testers are being sought for the forthcoming fee-based membership service. (PS: File sharing hasn't disappeared as Napster alternatives like MusicCity take over.) American Express has discontinued its free Internet access for cardmembers and will be introducing 2 pay-for-access plans.

OLDER UPDATES