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PC Access for Windows Reference Guide
for PC Access Version 4.30
Modems
PC Access uses your modem to call up your MLS and other remote computer services.
Due to the great variety in modem brands, you must know exactly what kind of modem you have. Otherwise, you may set up PC Access incorrectly for your modem and be unable to log in to your MLS.
When you bought your modem you should have received a manual with it. The manual should identify the modem brand, speed, and type. If you didn't get this information with your modem, call your computer vendor and ask for it. If you have a problem with your modem and call your MLS vendor for technical support, the support engineer will need to know what kind of modem you have.
A modem is a device which enables your computer to "talk" to another computer across an ordinary dial-up telephone line. The other computer (which we call the remote computer) must also have a modem, and its modem must be compatible with your modem. Two modems are "compatible" when they can transmit at the same speed, and they use the same protocol. (A protocol is like a "language" the modem uses to encode information for transmitting over a telephone line.)
Generally, you don't have to worry about the protocol your modem uses, unless you buy a high-speed modem. That's because modem speeds tend to increase every few years as a result of technological breakthroughs. The newest, fastest, and most expensive modems tend to use proprietary protocols, so they often don't work with modems from other manufacturers. This is bad for the customer (you), because the customer wants to be able to communicate with any other computer she or he pleases, without having to worry about what protocol someone else's modem uses.
Therefore, as time goes on, modem manufacturers feel market pressure to make their modems "speak the same language." As a result, modems can almost always talk to each other at less than the fastest speed currently possible. For example, today virtually all 2400 BPS modems are compatible with each other, and 9600, 14400, and 28800 BPS modems are rapidly standardizing.
Modems can either be internal or external.
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