internal modems

Sys: PII/375mhz/128mb/Windows 98SE. Utterly pathetic. The instructions tell you to cancel the Windows hardware wizard and use their installation CD. Using the CD, the driver installation takes 5 minutes. It just hangs there saying, "Please wait awhile." When you "finish" and try to exit the install via the Exit button, it attempts to register online, starts to install some registeration (?) program, fails at that, and freezes. Ctrl-Alt-Del, demoshield not responding. Hmmm? End task. When you go to Windows and check the device manager the modem is listed, shows no conflicts, so it must have worked, right? You make a dial-up connection and give it a try. It dials out and, after giving you enough time to go and make a sandwich, eat it, and brush your teeth (perhaps floss), it logs in at laughable 19,200 bps, receives a few bytes, and promptly disconnects. I checked for updated drivers, IRQ conflicts, swapped PCI slots, etc., etc. Same thing. This card sucks. This card was supposed to replace a 6+ year old USR 56k external, which worked on the same system just fine up until it died (electrical storm I think). How do you pronounce Broadxent anyway?!?

Simply stated, this is the worst modem money can buy.
Consistant very low connection speeds and downloads.
I replaced it with another brand and got back the speed.
It's not the phone line Broadxent.
Don't buy this modem.

I agree 100% with Jackcrow-fool's review. I bought this modem as a replacement for a failed Conexant modem on my 3-year old Dell desktop computer. I looked over the box very carefully; it said nothing about being a Winmodem (i.e. not controller-based). As soon as I opened the box I realized from its size that it was not controller-based, but since I had opened the box I installed it. It installed easily and works well. But, I wanted a controller-based modem, so I plan to exchange it at Office Depot. I'm a little reluctant to do so since it works well, and I might be exchanging it for something that doesn't work well. Why do manufacturers hide essential info from buyers, such as the controller issue.