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Non-Tech : Any info about Iomega (IOM)? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (38078)	12/1/1997 6:15:00 PM
From: W. Clinton Terry	Respond to of 58324

Gary: I have ISDN but am running only one channel most of the time. Hence, I am running at 63K and it is significantly faster and better than my 28.8. This may not be a good comparison because I am told that with the 56K you are running somewhat slower than the optimum. But I am sure it is faster than the 28.8. I got the ISDN line because (1) the 56K would not work on my phone line - 56K requires a very clean phone line, which mine is not and (2) there is no cable modem in my area yet. Oh yes, USRobotics used to have an online test you could run in order to test out your phone line, which I ran. Clinton

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (38078)	12/1/1997 6:22:00 PM
From: Ben Antanaitis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

Since you asked, and it makes a difference whether you are getting X2 or 56flex. Depends on your ISP support. I have an X2 via pipeline/mindspring and there is a great difference between screen presentations 50.6kb (my best connect speed with my phone line) vs 28.8 or 33 (I have one of those in my laptop) The SI screens are prime for compression because of the mostly text nature, so they really pop-up. Large graphic based kludges with dozens of gif files come up faster, but the delta isn't as great. You also should borrow one and test out you phone line. The connection into the local exchange might preclude anything over 28.8 for your line..... USR has a test number that will let you know your line capabilities, but you need a modem at your end. Then it's a matter of what your ISP is set up for. Hope that helps. Ben A.

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (38078)	12/1/1997 7:47:00 PM
From: FuzzFace	Respond to of 58324

OT to Gary. Yes, 56K is about twice as fast. That's the good news. The bad news is it is twice as fast as 22K, not 28K. Going from 22 to 44K is a nice jump. Still, a 56K modem is only worth about $80. I have a Shark K56Flex which Fry's put on sale for around $70. Don't go out and pay $200 for the big name brands, or you'll hate yourself. According to Computer Shopper, K56Flex is more consistant than X2, and all K56Flexes are pretty much alike. X2' performance is more widely varied, both according to brand and line conditions and so requires attention to more than price. Many times, the server being accessed is the bottleneck, and 28K is as fast as 56K modem. But when the server is fast, you really feel the 56K modem's superiority. I'm at work where we have a T1, and for some reason, it seems slow accessing SI. Yes, it actually seems faster at home. Maybe it's just perception. But I notice the most linear speed improvement in download time, both T1 and 56K.

To: Gary Wisdom who wrote (38078)	12/1/1997 7:55:00 PM
From: AreWeThereYet	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 58324

> OT: To anyone with a 56K modem Depends on your ISP. If your ISP can utilizes the extra bandwidth, the answer is "yes". For little money more, it is always wise to buy the 56k modem. Just grab the one (x2 or k56flex) which your ISP supports. Oh BTW, make sure the modem has flash EPROM for the firmware and the modem code. Some flashable modem can only flash the code area but not the firmware. I recommend USR for the x2 (obvious) and Zoom for the k56flex. aC