Legendary modems of the past: the best connection holders in the conditions of domestic PBX

Anyone who has ever heard the sound of a dial-up Internet connection over a telephone line will never forget it. For the uninitiated, this is not a very melodic combination of sounds. For those who are dependent on a modem connection, these sounds are like magic music.

Now, in 2019, dial-up for the vast majority has become an old and unnecessary technology. And indeed, a slow connection with the possibility of breaking the line at the most interesting place may be in the past. Today, let's talk not about the connection, but about the devices that provided it - the legendary modems of the past.

And not all modems in a row, but those that could provide relatively stable communication in the conditions of domestic telephone lines and PBXs. The connection speed was low (to put it mildly) - for many 28,800 baud was for happiness, not to mention 56000. After the ADSL era came, and it was already happiness in its purest form, but let's talk about this in another article, and now - modems!

ZyXEL U-1496E +

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Probably, the acquaintance of many readers with the Internet began with this modem. Then he seemed to be an unusually modern device (and he was). This is one of the most popular modems of its time, since it successfully worked on the most ancient telephone lines.

Its development was carried out by ZyXEL and the Russian partner, who helped adapt the modem to the realities of the CIS. The base of the modem is the BIS ZyXEL, plus additional functions such as voice processing and an automatic number identifier that complies with Russian (say, post-Soviet) standards. This is one of the few modems that has been certified by the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation.

The list of protocols supported by the modem includes all standard protocols, including V.32bis, as well as proprietary ZyX protocols at 19.2 and 16.8 kbit / s, plus the cellular protocol with increased stability ZyCELL.

The modem held the communication line for many hours (although not at the highest speed), while competitors could break the connection within half an hour.

USRobotics Courier HST Dual Standard V.34 Fax

Another very advanced modem for its time. It is based on the TMS340 signal processor with software developed by the company's engineers, as well as the Intel 80C186 universal control processor. There were two versions of the modem - for the USA and Canada and international.

The latest version was used in the CIS, because the modem is adapted to linear circuits that meet European standards. Adaptation was that the modem maintained a connection over a line with higher constant and variable voltages. This model also provided for galvanic isolation of linear circuits from the rest of the circuit. So if something happened to the line, neither the modem nor the PC connected to it was on.

The modem supported a huge number of communication protocols, including the V.32terbo and V.FC. He also received a proprietary protocol HST (High Speed ​​Transfer) of USR. Due to this, the device worked with two channels - one was high-speed for sending and receiving normal data, the second was slow, working exclusively for transmitting service data on packet flow, retransmission requests, etc.

The modem kept the connection slightly worse than the modem from the ZyXEL. By the way, when communication deteriorated, the speed automatically decreased. When everything returned to normal, the speed increased again.

ZyXEL Omni 56K uno

A modem with a USB interface that retains the usual form factor and indicators. True, instead of Power, the USB indicator appeared, but there's nothing to be done about it. It is worth noting that the modem did not have a reset button or something similar, so if the device was “hung”, you had to disconnect the USB and reconnect the device again. However, hangs rarely happened.

The modem was connected to the telephone line in a quite usual way, which is usual for every dial-uper.

The software was on top. The package even included a very famous program VentaVoice with a Russian interface. The device without problems could imitate the work of real caller ID and fax, and everything worked without problems.

The connection was established very quickly, the “busy line” signal was almost always processed correctly. If the connection was received, the modem held it for many hours at approximately the same speed.

Acorp 56EMS

In no case should we forget about Acorp modems, if we don’t want to miss an important part of the modem history. The devices of this manufacturer have always been stylish and stood out among similar ones.

Acorp 56EMS connected to the COM port. It is equipped with all the necessary indicators, on the back there were ports for connecting a microphone and headphones, plus two telephone ports. The basis of the modem is a Rockwell chip. There was an opportunity to update the firmware due to the presence of Flash ROM.

The device is compatible with the standard K56Flex, precisely because of this, it could work at speeds up to 56k.

True, these modems were influenced by domestic lines, and quite significantly. The claimed speed could be achieved, but this rarely happened. There were problems with the connection, which was not always stable.

But Acorp modems were much cheaper than other legendary devices, so they were very common. Anyway, on the old lines the devices worked relatively well.

D-Link DU-562M

And one more USB-modem, which appeared on the market already at the end of the dial-up era. By the way, at the same time, the products of the D-link company, which already had a recognizable design, began to become popular.

The modem was small, it had only two indicators - Power and Link. Its popularity was due to the low price. The problem was that the device did not have a second jack for a telephone jack, so the phone had to be connected in parallel via an additional socket.

Despite the size, he kept a very steady connection even on the most ancient lines. True, the modem "busy" signal was not processed in the best way, often continuing to work even after the beeps were heard.

The package included the Classic Phone Tools software, which allowed using the modem as a fax. The program did not cause any complaints.

Actually, for today everything - if the article turns out to be in demand, we will publish the second part. But it is better - indicate in the comments those models of modems that you remember exactly. Ponostalgic together.