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On 09/10/10 13:42, Gordon Henderson wrote: > On Sat, 9 Oct 2010, tom brough wrote: > >> >> Mary has just dug out a (not so old) USB ZOOM modem. There are some >> (commercial / tainted) drivers out there that work (limited without >> buying a license), however just wondering in this broadband fibre optic >> / 3G dongle age if anyone really used these types of device any longer, >> or if they are consigned to the "when I was a young lad" trophy case. > > I'd have said there still is a point to them - unless you've got backup > of some sort (if Internet is that esential to you!). O2 don't have 3G > coverage where I am at home, so I still have my old USR 56K modem alive > and kicking... Well it was the last time I blew the dust off it... (And > a dial-up account to use it with!) > > And it's a real modem too - one with an rs232 serial line! > > However... What's the best deal on a PAYG 3G dongle these days - it'd > have to be Three or T-Mobile as those are the only ones that supply 3G > where I live... > > Gordon > Hmm the general consensus is that I should keep it for just in case of Armageddon, however I do wonder if enough of the telephone infrastructure will still exist to make even a modem operable? Given that main trunking for the POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) is probably carried down the same digital fibre anyway. There is probably the plot to a totally unbelievable post Armageddon survival film where a (unlikely) group of surviving heroic IT bods dust off their modems in order to co-ordinate world recovery via dial up modems ... or maybe not. Then again Holywood "Blockbusters" have been made on more flimsy plot lines than this. Tom. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq