3DVelocity would like to thank Zoltrix and especially Wallace Lam for their help and courtesy in providing this Modem for review.

Introduction :

With more and more people now enjoying the benefits of broadband Internet, it's all too easy to forget that many people, either for financial or geographical reasons, are still very much tied to the "old" dial up modem. Cable, ADSL and ISDN are no doubt the better choice for a fast and reliable online experience but for those (and I include myself in this category) who cannot yet experience these pleasures, it's nice to know that manufacturers are still working to help make our surfing as efficient and enjoyable as possible. One of the main advancements about to be witnessed in the dial up modem world are the new V92/V44 standards which I'll cover in a moment. First let's take a closer look at the modem we have under the knife for today's review, the Zoltrix Smart Spirit 56K (known in Poland as the Saggita).

 

Specifications :

Description	More Stable, Faster and Reliable line connection. "With Hardware based DSP" The new Zoltrix Smart Spirit 56K Modem featuring the new technology that let you connect the Internet in a SMART way! Its build-in smart detection capability is able to sense whether the phone line is use, a third party call is waiting, or remote hangs up and more. With the on board DSP (digital signal processor), it leaves more room for your CPU to handle other calculations. That's resulted in more stable, faster and reliable line connection
Product Features	-Dual Mode : Automatically detects all ITU V.92, V.90 ,K56 Flex or 33.6Kbps connection Smart DAA technology Caller ID (U.S. version only) Line-in-use detection Remote Hang up Extension off-hook detection Calling waiting Digital PBX line protection Wake-on ring filtered in hardware Enchanced voice features Extension pick-up detection Line-in-use;stop recording TAM message Data/Fax/Voice call identification Full-duplex speakerphone Hardware based DSP (Digital signal processor) Fax Features Automatically detects and routes incoming voice,fax and data call to proper module Fax speed upto 14,400 bps Send and receieve faxes to or from any group 3 fax machine Voice Mail Features Easy voice message retrieval through amplified speakers, sound card,or from remote loactions
System Requirements	Pentium 133 or above 32 MB RAM One available PCI Rev.2.1 Compliant Slot Mircosoft Windows 95/98 CD ROM drive required for software installation

You may have noticed that the Spirit (this is how I'll refer to this modem from now on) is one of the much maligned "Winmodem" type devices, but before you close the page in disgust, let's dispel a few Winmodem myths right now.

Winmodem is actually a registered trademark of 3Com/US Robotics but has come to mean any modem that relies on the Windows operating system in order to function. Winmodems use the system's CPU to emulate certain hardware functions and rely on a Windows driver to simulate a "virtual" Com port.

One of the great myths surrounding the Winmodem is that they rob CPU cycles, particularly when used for online gaming. Ed Schulz of Lucent said in a newsgroup reply that "In one lab study, the CPU load of our modem host controller was less than that of the Windows serial driver handling a standard external modem while downloading identical files at identical DCE rates. The fear that a well designed "Win Modem" will tax your precious CPU cycles is simply not true. "

Of course with Winmodems, it is vital that you keep on top of driver and firmware releases for maximum performance and reliability. Almost all problems on early Winmodems were software related and were cured through updating firmware and drivers.

But even in the world of Winmodems there are two distinct varieties, those with onboard DSP's (Digital Signal Processors) and those without. There is no doubt that having an onboard DSP in hardware significantly cuts the demands on your CPU, even if this load isn't huge to begin with, and thankfully the Spirit does indeed boast a hardware DSP. Personally I would never use a Winmodem that wasn't equipped with a DSP.

 

Just to correct any confusion there may be over the Conexant name, Conexant were formerly known as Rockwell International Corps. Conexant was born when Rockwell floated the Semiconductor arm of their business back in 1999.

Embracing V92 :

You may remember that historic day back in February '98 when in Geneva, Switzerland, when the ITU finally ended the war between the two 56k camps and agreed on the V90 standard. Until then two standards had existed leading to all kinds of uncertainties, not just for the consumer, but for the ISP's who were faced with deciding whether they should adopt the X2 or K56flex standard. V90 unified all 56K analogue modems under a single standard and thus ended the battle in one fell swoop. Fortunately, the V92 standard wasn't created from backroom squabbles, but is a natural progression from V90 that adds some the functionality that was deemed missing. Let's take a quick look at what V92 has added.

Quick Connect :

There are four steps to connecting to your host ISP. First the number is dialled and a physical connection is set up. Next a handshake takes place which sets an optimum connection rate based on line conditions. Thirdly, V.42 is used to establish an error free link through various compression techniques and finally the actual PPP log in takes place. The typical timescale for all this to happen is between 25 and 35 seconds.
What the V92 standard aims to do is to store vital information about physical line conditions ( equaliser taps and echo cancel taps etc.) on the client computer. When the connection is then made, the host computer (ISP) does a quick check to make sure stored line parameters match those in use. If the parameters differ then the normal V90 handshake takes place, but when they do match, a significant time saving can be made reducing time from off hook to logged to around 12 to 15 seconds.

Modem On Hold/Call Waiting :

The trouble with call waiting often comes from those who forget to disable it before connecting to the 'net. A call waiting signal is interpreted by a V90 modem as a line disconnect signal and the connection is subsequently often dropped. The ability to "survive" a call waiting signal was identified early on as a feature that was required for V92. Partially as a result of the Quick Connect advancements, V92 will now allow a client to basically put the ISP's server on hold for a mutually agreed period of time in order to answer the incoming call.Once the call has terminated, Internet connection through your ISP is able to resume as normal without needing to reconnect. Even for those who don't subscribe to the call waiting service, it should be possible to put the ISP server on hold in order to make an outgoing phone call, offering broadband like voice and data capabilities on a single line. ISP's may decide they will make a charge for this feature.

PCM Upstream :

PCM Upstream boosts data transfer rates between the client (user) and host (ISP). Current PCM upstream rates are capped at 33.6Kbps, while the new standard allows for up to 48Kbps, an increase of over 30%. One thing that often isn't mentioned is that optimising PCM upstream will lower the downstream rate slightly. It will most likely be possible to disable optimised PCM upstream in software if necessary.

V.44 Compression :

Developed by Hughes Network Systems, the new V.44 compression standard should increase compression rates over the current V.42bis standard by around 25%. For data which is easily compressed such as is encountered when web browsing, estimated speed gains are around 20% to 50%, but for data which is already compressed, often the case when downloading files, gains are likely to be minimal.

V92 modems are just beginning to appear in any real quantity, and Zoltrix wasted no time in getting a solid, V92 ready product to the market before anybody else. With 11 years in the PC communication and multimedia field, they have quite a pool of experience to draw on, coupled with 500 staff and a 4,300 square metre production floor you can rest assured that this is no tin hut organisation.

ISP's are unlikely to be ready for the V92 standard until at least Q4 2001, but for anyone looking to upgrade their modem, a V92 ready unit is clearly the clever choice.

 

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