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        New Message Board Archives >> Jul-Sep 2003 >> Tech question
        
(Message started by: JDH on Aug 29^th, 2003, 9:06am)

Title: Tech question
Post by JDH on Aug 29^th, 2003, 9:06am

Okay, I’m a dinosaur and STILL have a dial up connection at home and I have a question.
I think my ‘puter got hit by lightning Wed morning ‘cause the modem seemed to be fried (couldn’t find a dial tone). I change modems yesterday and everything seems ok now but I’m wondering if there’s going to be any degradation to the system down the road because of this. Anyone know what I can expect?
Also would like to know if there’s anyway to tell if a lightning strike is what caused the old modem to die such a horrible death.

Jim

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by TomM on Aug 29^th, 2003, 9:26am

Hey Jim--Modems, and any computer component, are sensitive to voltage spikes. I've fried motherboards and memory modules by just touching them.
What kind of degradation are you mean? Slower speed? If you replaced the modem with the same speed (I assume its 56K) and use the v.90 drivers you should, I say should, have the same speed.
My suspicion was not the lightening but a power surge. My humble opinion.

TomM

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by JDH on Aug 29^th, 2003, 9:54am

Thanks Tom,
My speeds seem ok and maybe even a little better.
Is it possible to fry a modem w/out damaging the motherboard?

Jim

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by Mark C on Aug 29^th, 2003, 9:56am

The PSU (power supply unit) takes the brunt of spikes & brown outs. I see these fail the most. If you can, invest in a good $$ UPS to lengthen the life of your PC.

on 08/29/03 at 09:54:00, JDH wrote:

Is it possible to fry a modem w/out damaging the motherboard?
Jim

Oh yeah!

http://www.drfeller.com/Mark/mark.gif

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by Kirk on Aug 29^th, 2003, 12:15pm

Get a good UPS that you can also plug the phone cord into. Lightning coming through a phone line is not unknown. Since it took out the modem and not the power supply, it is a good bet it came trough the phone line.

TTFN

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by Drk^Angel on Aug 29^th, 2003, 12:20pm

And if you can't afford a UPS, get a good, high quality surge protector... One you can also plug a phone line into.

PFDAN........................... Drk^Angel

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by TomM on Aug 29^th, 2003, 12:31pm

Oh Yeah, is right. You can fry one component, two or more and yes, I've done that too.

UPS, quality surge protector for power and phone line are great ideas. All it takes is $$$$.

Good ideas, Drk and MArk.

Tom

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by JDH on Aug 29^th, 2003, 12:50pm

Thanks guys. I know the importance of a good UPS.
I guess I better break down and get one before something worse happens...always looking for an excuse to go to Best Buy anyway ;D
Since everything else seems to be running ok for now do any of you think I might have anymore problems down the road because of this?

Jim

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by TomM on Aug 29^th, 2003, 2:53pm

I would mail order it from some place like www.cdw.com. You'll save $$ and have better quality. As a matter of fact, I mail order everything. Staples, BestBuy, CompUSA etc. usually have a high mark up.

Title: Re: Tech question
Post by Drk^Angel on Aug 29^th, 2003, 4:54pm

I would say, whatever will happen, has happened, unless there's problems you haven't noticed. Although, if you get another spike without protection, all bets are off.

PFDAN............................... Drk^Angel