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Hayes is merging with Access Beyond. As part of the merger, Hayes will become a publicly-traded stock. ZDNet and Computer News Daily have stories, and Hayes has a press release.
Tommy W. experienced low speed connections with his Cardinal modem until he switched to a different Windows 95 .inf sfile:
I have tested my lines and they are x2 compatible and so is my ISP. I erased my cardinal .inf files and downloaded the US Robotics driver for a Sportster X2 Before I could only connect at 33333kbps and now I connect at 40000kbps. Im not really sure why but I found it interesting. By the way the driver from Cardinal is from July 97 and the US Robotics is from March 97.
Diamond Multimedia has Mac CCL files for their SupraExpress 56K modems. They're not yet available on the company's web site, but Diamond sent us a copy. The files are available on our FTP site at ftp://ftp.56k.com/pub/drivers/supraccl1.5.sit.hqx.
53K or 56K?
U.S. Robotics has made it clear since the FCC ruling in February that x2 modems could connect at a maximum speed of 53K in the U.S., due to FCC regulations on signal strength. But what about K56flex? There have been contradictory information, so we spoke to Perry Ho, Product Marketing Manager for Lucent Technologies' Modem and Multimedia Group. According to Ho, K56flex is not limited to 53K.
For more information about K56flex, visit www.k56flex.com.
There is quite a bit of misunderstanding on this subject. Here's some clarification:
Computer Retailer Week will host an online debate today, Wednesday, at 2:00 PM Eastern time between Neil Clemmons, 3Com's Vice President, Personal Communications Division, and Ray Labardie, Rockwell's Director of ISP Business.
Computer Shopper has reviews of the Boca Internet Fax Modem and Motorola VoiceSURFR.
Logicode has an x2 troubleshooting guide for their modems.
G. Stephenson posted a web page about his experience with x2.
In an unusual move, Motorola will bundle Diamond Multimedia SupraExpress 56 modems with its StarMax line of Mac OS clones. Diamond Multimedia has a press release.
Do you qualify for a $50 rebate?
U.S. Robotics is offering $50 rebates on the purchase of their x2 modems. Kevin Cabral bought a new Dell with a USR x2 modem pre-installed, and discovered that he was eligible for the $50 rebate:
US Robotics recently announced a new $50 rebate on all new X2 Sportster and Courier modems purchased between July 1 and October 4. The information on the website (http://www.usr.com/x2delivers/x2delivers.html) and in the advertising indicates that a UPC code, and dated receipt are necessary prerequisites for the rebate offer, thereby implying that only modems purchased in box from a retail store will suffice for the discount. However, I have just talked with USR/3com Customer Service (1-888-390-6863) and have received confirmation from two different representatives and their supervisors that the rebate will be sent if a receipt is sent showing that the X2 modem was purchased with a new computer, and pre-installed. I am a bit concerned that neither of the reps had heard of Dell or understood the concept of a mail order computer company or OEM parts but I trust that their supervisors know something about the matter. To get the offer, visit the website shown below, print, complete, and mail the order form along with a copy of the Dell invoice and a note explaining that you DID purchase a USR X2 modem with the computer system.
USR Rebate Form (for US residents):
http://www.usr.com/x2delivers/us_form.htmlUSR Rebate Form (for Canadians):
http://www.usr.com/x2delivers/canada_form.htmlAccording to the logic of the representatives this offer also ought to be good with mail order companies besides Dell who offer X2 modems as an option. It can't hurt to try anyhow!
But I'm sure you understand that I can't vouch for the competence of the supervisors or representatives. Please make that clear on the website, as I would hate to receive e-mail from others complaining that they did not receive their rebates yet.
Hiwaay.net has info on the defective Rockwell chipsets that affected early Hayes, Motorola, and Diamond Multimedia/Supra modems. Included are model and revision numbers of affected modems. We're contacting Motorola this week to see if we can get more complete information, and will try to confirm the Hayes and Diamond Multimedia numbers. The main symptom of the defective chipsets is low connect speeds (well under 28800).
If you're having trouble with the x2 modem in your new Dell computer, you may just need Dell's x2 update, located on their updates page. The update fixes a problem that prevented x2 speeds, and one person reported that it cured his modem.
Like Yinon Bentor has been waiting a while now for his $99 Hayes upgrade:
Also, I wanted to ask you again to add a notice on the Hayes trade-in program page regarding how much time it is taking them to respond to orders. For example, my order, which they said would take "up to 3 weeks" was placed almost 9 weeks ago. If you can add a note regarding how much time they are taking to fill orders.
CNET has a review of the Motorola ModemSURFR 56K.
HomePC has an article about 56K.
ISP news
Dax Kelson of Internet Connect, an ISP serving Northern Utah, says they're the first ISP to support K56Flex using Livingston Portmaster 3 terminal servers, which use Lucent chipsets. Other K56flex ISPs are using Ascend MAX terminal servers, which use Rockwell chipsets.
Looking for a 56K ISP? Try isps.com, which gives you the option to search by area code for ISPs that support 28.8, 33.6, K56flex, x2, 64K ISDN, and 128K ISDN. Also try our ISP page.
When AOL users with Windows 3.x try to use keyword "x2", they're blocked from entering the x2 area, because AOL doesn't officially support x2 for Windows 3.x. An anonymous poster on comp.dcom.modems discovered that he could get it by going to keyword " aol://4344:364.x2main.5849077.542126840". Download the necessary files, including the x2net file, MODEM.INI, and the CCL file for your modem, and find an AOL x2 number. Follow the online directions for moving the files to the appropriate directory on your hard drive and creating a new location. Let me know how it works.
56K.COM is written and maintained by Les Jones. Artwork by Mark Maxwell. Copyright 1997 Softwords.
