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In the Forums... |
Posted: December 26, 1999 Written by: tapped Goin' for a Spin (cont.) Once again, I refreshed GameSpy, and again, GameSpy reported some pretty impressive ping-times. I chose another sub-150ms server, and again, I experienced excessive time outs and fairly pervasive lag in general. What to do? What to do? I repeated the above once more, only the second time around, I used a different PCI slot, but there was no change in the modem's performance. Frustrated, I did the only thing I could think there was left to do... After hooking up with a recommended ISP, I again took the modem for a spin on a few sub-150ms servers; unfortunately, I saw no discernable change. Facing failure, I decided the only thing left to do was to re-install Windows and start afresh. (I know I said the new ISP was the only thing left to do, but everything is the only thing left to do before re-installing Windows. =) What fruits did my efforts bear? Sadly, I have to say, "not much." Consistent with the pattern of performance I'd seen before all of my work, the Gaming modem's actual in-game performance remained diametrically opposed to the ping-times reported by GameSpy, VisualRoute, and the good ol' DOS box "ping" command. On the upside, I discovered that my new ISP is actually pretty good, better than the ISP I'd been using previously. After re-installing my trusty 3Com U.S. Robotics 56k ISA modem, not only where my pings somewhat improved over those I'd seen with my old ISP, but also the in-game perfomance proved to be a bit better than it had been. =) Wrap It Up (Would I Take It?) What can I say about this modem? Well, to start, I'd have to first say that I've seen a couple other reviews of the 3Com U.S. Robotics Internet Gaming Modem, and from those reviews I can gather that it's not a bad modem - not bad even for gaming. Why then did I get such relatively poor performance from it? It could simply be that I received a "bad apple." It could also be one of those freak occurrances in which it simply didn't like something about my machine. So rather than bash 3Com's Internet Gaming Modem over my own, seemingly isolated experience with it, I think it would only be fair to direct you to S T O M P E D's review as well as FiringSquad's. Both had somewhat better - much better, in fact - results with the Internet Gaming Modem. The fact that my results were less than favorable doesn't mean 3Com's new modem for gamers is a flop; it only means that it didn't work out in my machine, in my tests, in my applications, and as much as we might like to think so, Tweak3D is not the be-all, end-all. =) For the suggested retail price of $130, you get a hardware-based PCI modem (which can be tough to find to begin with), three free full-version games, and Quake III Arena for twenty-five dead presidents. That taken into consideration, along with the fact that my experience with the modem seems to've been somewhat isolated, you have what is potentially a great deal, especially if you're in the market for a new PCI modem or builiding a new machine. The Good:
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