dial-up modem and the present

[delgado]

I have gifted my dad a new pc with win 7 home premium. He lives on the countryside and on his old machine, he was running a 3com U.S robotics 56K message modem (serial).
The new mainboard (MSI G41M-P25) has no serial connector, so I brought a serial-usb adapter hoping that the modem would just be recognized, but no. I have already sifted through a few sites looking for drivers (the adapter seems to be the problem, robotics do have a win7 driver for that modem on their site which I installed).

If I don't succeed in getting that modem to work on that machine (any experiences with a similar config btw?), I am guessing the options are: a modem with a usb connection or even an internal modem card (1x PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x1, 1x PCI slots inside) OR a internal card that offers a serial connector so the old modem can be used.

Am I too simplistic/optimistic, and are there any pitfalls in my scenarios, specifically with respect to that modem hooking up to the internet under win7?

thanks,
delgado

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Welcome delgado to SF. I don't have any experience with the usb wireless dongles but I have always used the PCI type adapters and prefer them for the whip antenna on the back for range and signal strength. I'm sure shortly you will find someone with more usb info.

 

[delgado]

Thank you. I'm confused: the modem connects the pc to a telephone landline, how would a whip antenna have any bearing on the quality of data reception?

 

[Ztruker]

I'd go with the PCI internal modem. Just make sure it has a Windows 7 or Windows Vista driver.

You didn't say, is it a 32 bit or 64 bit machine. That will make a difference in what you can use.

 

[delgado]

I installed the 32bit version, and I assume that would make things easier, since the driver problem/shortage seems to be on the 64bit side, right?

anything else I need to watch out for re specs (thinking of the 56kb/V.90 or 92 numbers)

thanks

 

[Ztruker]

Any new modem will be a 56k V90 so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Tigerdirect.com has a Hiro 56K V92 modem that it says is Win 7 compatible for $9.99. See here:

56K Internal Modems, Internal Fax Modem, Internal PCI Modems at TigerDirect.com