Hi could any body tell me a modem thats supported by Linux as opposed to Windows and if the is a program with which I can read Windows type File extensions. :

Regarding Linux and modems;

here is my experience:

although most recommend an external serial modem as the easiest hookup for Linux (it probably is), I did not want to deal with "spaghetti" wiring on the outside case and since I had a free ISA bus slot and not the least, the ISA serial modems (used) were very cheap, I bought a USRobotics (3COM) ISA serial modems from a guy on e-bay. I checked out the auctions, found one with a good history record, and then emailed him direct to make a deal. (rather than get into an auction for a $12 item)

He sent me for a total of $15 US (included the $2 S&H), a beautiful piece with big fat TI chips on board that sold for new $139. I popped it into the slot and here is where a newbie may start to get frustrated.

The problem is that many computers have their own serial ports that are recognized by BIOS and have IRQ's and identifying memory locations. The ISA serial modem has its own (is itself a) hardware serial port and as such needs a dedicated interrupt and address.

The best/easiest situation is to call it TTYS2 (COM3) and hope that Linux recognizes it on boot; the surefire way is to have a command "setserial" load and do it for you. There is documentation available to help with this.

Presuming this problem is successfully negotiated, using KPPP or wvdial will hook you right up to your ISP (presuming the ISP doesn't throw any unusual requirements at your modem). The USRobotics ISA is a true hardware modem and as such, downloads are faster than Win/Lin modems.

I have the email address of the bloke selling the used modems that I had such good luck with if somebody wants it. I do not know what the rules are regarding posting commercial emails here so I will wait for your email or some advice about posting. robertn