eggbert@bucsf.bu.edu (Eugene Wang) (11/20/90)
I am in the market for a high speed V.32/V.42bis modem and I would like to hear the net's experiences regarding the various manufacturers' support policies or lack thereof. Specifically, I am curious if any of the manufacturers will allow a lowly end-user like myself to upgrade an existing modem to newer technologies within the same speed class. 9600bd modems with V.32 are presently the "high end" but V.32bis will supposedly be here next summer. I am not assuming that a company will take my 2400bd modem and give me a 9600bd. Instead, suppose that I had a plain vanilla 2400bd modem that I had bought say, a year ago. Now I would like to simply add MNP4-5 or V.42 which were not available at the time that I originally bought my modem from that manufacturer. Will some manufacturer allow me to do this for a reasonable amount or will I be forced to buy a new modem? Something on a par with HP and their Deskjet upgrades. Does ANY manufacturer do this for end users? I am aware that there are some companies that will do this for BBS sysops. So, why not end users? Am I being unreasonable in thinking that this should be possible? I figure that this would be a way for companies to build a loyal user base and ensure additional revenues, like software companies. Has anyone tried the new V.32/V.42bis modems from Intel, ATI, Practical Peripherals? Are they truly compatible with other manufacturers' modems concerning V.32 connections at 9600bd. Past experiences that people have had would be more useful than any kind of promises/hype that I might hear today or tomorrow from the manufacturers. Any recommendations? Complaints? Opinions? Thanks, -- Eugene Wang eggbert@bucsf.bu.edu