Rockwell HCF modem?

[Kov-Ice]

I have this Rockwell HCF 56k modem from an old machine. Is it total junk, or could I successfully reuse it in a 98se workstation? Can it do v90?

[Boone]

That particular modem is what's known as a winmodem meaning that it depends on the computer's cpu to do it's processing. Winmodems can cause your PC to take a performance hit because of this. Also, they can be problematic when it comes to getting a good stable connection. You can check out the comments in this thread: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65945

You say that it's from an old machine. If has an ISA connection you need to make sure that the machine that you want to install it in has an ISA slot. ISA slots are usually longer than your PCI and AGP slots and are black in color.

[morriswindgate]

Give it a shot, go to Reboots site and download a set of drivers and see how it works. THat modem standard has been around for a while so it probably is V90 or it might be upgradable.

http://reboot.8m.com/

[reboot]

Actually, I've been so lax in updating my sites, however, check out http://members.shaw.ca/reboot/ for the driver.
Get 2.1.2.135b for Win98 (it's V.90) as it's the most stable, and fastest driver around, especially on older systems.
With the right tweaks, the HCF can be a reasonably fast modem, with less stability problems than the HSF.

[Kov-Ice]

Boone, this modem is a PCI card. I actually replaced it in my old machine with an ISA modem. Now doing this new build, I thought I'd try to put this PCI modem to use. My phone lines are terrible, so a great connection really isn't a possibility. I'm just going for funcionality.

I found the old docs on this thing as well. The first protocol listed is ITU-T v.90, so I guess that driver reboot pointed out should work fine, right?

Thx all.

[Boone]

It sounds like you're good to go. Plus, you get to save some $$$ since you don't have to worry about getting a new modem. Good luck with the build and let us know how it turns out.

[glc]

If this is related to your other thread, I wouldn't use the HCF, I'd use ICS off the machine with the hardware modem.

[Kov-Ice]

Hi glc. Yeah, somewhat related to this thread:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?threadid=66943&goto=newpost

Not sure what you mean. Are you saying to do all internet connectivity through the old computer with the ISA modem? So then the new cpu would go through the network to check mail / use web / etc.?

[glc]

Exactly, as long as the ISA modem is a decent hardware modem and not a Winmodem too.

Upgrade the old box to Win2000, its ICS works a lot better than 98se's. A P3-500 with 384 ram will run 2K very well, and in fact should run XP acceptably if you want.

This will allow you both to surf simultaneously. As long as you have the winmodem, go ahead and toss it into the new box as a backup, and I believe XP will have a native driver for it. A winmodem is going to work a lot better in a powerful machine than in an older one.

[Kov-Ice]

The ISA modem in the old box is a ModemBlaster from DSI Creative. I'm pretty sure it is not a winmodem, as that was the reason I switched out way back when in the first place.

I don't have the cash left to upgrade the OS on the old comp, so will the 98se Connectivity Software work fine for this purpose? Once I follow the instructions here:

http://www.homenethelp.com/

the network should let the two be able to find one another and then connect to the Internet using the ICS?

Thx as always!

[glc]

Yes, the 98se ICS does work but it has a nasty habit of dialing up randomly all by itself - I usually set both machines to never dial a connection and connect/disconnect manually on the host. Drag a shortcut to the dialup connection out of the dialup networking folder and drop it on the desktop or the quicklaunch bar.