Hardware controlled modems can handle all the
telephone
signal
processing. They don't need to use other computer
resources for help.
Earlier home computers
didn't have the processing power
of todays. They couldn't handle multi tasking very well. If
you needed to be online while running a high end
application or playing online games, your computer would slow
down
quickly. Its easy to see the advantage of a hardware
controlled modem
if a
situation like this occurred.
Hardware controlled modems can
function on computers that have operating systems other than
windows installed on them.
I
think the single biggest disadvantage associated with a hardware
controlled modem is the price. Controller based is
the highest
performance type of dial up modem. Depending on the
manufacturer, a controller based modem can cost upwards of
$100. Do some
research and
decide what sort of modem you want before you buy.
A
dial
up controller based modem can be
internal or
external.
Controller
based modems are also referred to as hardware modems or hardware
controlled modems. Serial modems are also associated with
being
controller based. Serial modems are so named because that is the port
located on the back of the
computer that serial modems connect to.
Hardware modems were
for a time essential if you
lived
in a rural area. Dial up internet service providers normally
recommend
an "external modem", although they probably mean a
"controller based" modem. Dial up ISP's recommend
(and still
do) hardware modems because they have a reputation
for suffering less
disconnects, deal with line noise better, and on average provide a
higher dial
up connection speed than
controllerless and softmodems.
