Moulin85 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Current circumstances prevent us from using our house anywhere near as much as we used to, making a Broadband connection is a waste of money at the moment, so I am looking for an external USB modem to use with the laptop.I have a couple of questions I hope someone can help me with:What spec should I be looking for?Is there any real difference in performance between one brand and another?Is there any difference between the same make & model bought in France or the UK? Your advice will be very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Assuming that you are on Windows then there's hardly any difference between the modems available. As far as I know the same kit can be used both sides of the channel, but it's possible that you'll need to have 2 different configurations to allow for things like dial tones.Are you sure you don't have a modem built into your laptop? Most lappies (as against netbooks) have a phone socket on the side to connect with. If you look in Device Manager it should tell you if you have a modem on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon-the-censored Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Hi MoulinI picked up a US Robotics USB 56K modem last year. It works just great with a Dell Inspiron running Windows 7 64bit. Cost 40€ on Amazon.fr - much the same price in the UK.Simon :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Streason Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I read your post about lack of broadband and assumed you meant USB internet dongle. Did you mean modem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moulin85 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 I suppose it’s due to the death of the fax and the widespread availability of broadband but few laptops now appear to come with a built in modem. Unfortunately this includes my Dell.I know a few years ago when everyone was on dial-up and complaining about the lack of speed that the answer to questions was regularly ‘buy a French modem’. I wondered weather this was really fact, the systems are that different, or just an old wives tail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon-the-censored Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Moulin85 - definitely an old wives tale - dial-up in France is escargot speed - just like everywhere else. Fine for emails (without big attachments) - but browsing is painful.Why don't you just get a pay-as-you-go broadband dongle if you don't want to take out a sub. You can pick up the packs in most of the phone operator stores.Simon :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moulin85 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks Simon, I hadn’t thought about that, I’ll look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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