The Easy Route

The Computer/Modem’s Manufacturer is Known

Use the Modem Manufacturers A-Z Page if certain of the suppliers name. It attempts to list every:

• Computer Manufacturer
• Motherboard Manufacturer (used for AC`97--AMR, CNR etc.--modems)
• Modem Retailer
• Modem Manufacturer, including OEM/ODM
• Trademark

The above order is also, in general, the best to use on these pages to find a modem.

Each link on the listing page goes directly to a Modem Manufacturer page on this site. That page contains external links for products, drivers, support, etc., where available. It also contains this-site links for each modem, so you will need to know the modem model-name. If this is a stumbling-block, or you want to go straight for the modem, try the Identification pages.

Watch out!

If you think that your modem is made by ‘Conexant’, ‘Lucent’, ‘Intel’ (or a few other names) you may have a problem... These people manufacture the chipset in the modem, and not the modem itself. There are lots of modems listed for each chipset manufacturer--with strange names--but these modems are Reference Designs provided to OEMs/ODMs (modem manufacturers that supply computer--or even other modem--manufacturers). All 3 names mentioned do provide generic drivers on their web-sites, but you will either need to have a good technical knowledge of the modem or use the Search pages.

Finding Updated Drivers or Info

One of the commonest problems is needing a driver for a new operating system, or an update for the existing OS, or just some info on the modem. This simple need often seems impossible to achieve. Once the modem is found, the solution is provided quite easily by using cross-links between every similar modem - just click on the link on the modem page:

• EEPROM ID
• BABT & FCC ID
• Chipset

EEPROM IDs

These are used by the computer system to identify the modem & load the correct drivers - clicking on the link will search for every compatible modem with the same ID. This is the best link to click on.

BABT & FCC IDs:

These are (or was - the BABT ID is now redundant) provided by the central Telco of the UK & the USA. This is also a good link to click on, there are just not very many of them yet.

Chipset

Modems with the same chipset usually use compatible drivers, etc.. With one caveat, this is also a good link to click on to extend a search for more drivers/info. The caveat arrives because some manufacturers customise their modems (which means--unless you are willing to hack the driver--that that manufacturer’s specific driver is required). Here now follows a little tale from history:

Near the end of the 2nd World War, when the Americans had occupied Japan, some of their troops found a factory with an odd feature. The factory was manufacturing all-terrain vehicles - nothing very odd about that, even at the end of the war, but what was odd was that the vehicle was a British Land-Rover. Later, it became clear that the Japanese had captured such a vehicle--intact, and in working order--and shipped it back home. The factory had then cloned it, screw for screw, plate for plate, down to the point where the clones possessed the same engine block id-number.

Modem chipset manufacturers generally do not sell modems to the public, but they do make a lot of modems. These modems are sold to the actual modem manufacturers as an example of what can be done with the chipset. It has been the habit of many of these modem manufacturers to simply clone the Reference Designs (just as happened with the Land-Rovers in the story above). If your modem is a clone (and many are) then the chipset link will work well (as long as you find another clone, of course). If not, then either stick with the manufacturer drivers, or try the EEPROM ID.

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