ok here is my situation:
i live in a caribbean island where the telecominucation infastructure is not the best.
the only real (affordable) solution for resedential internet connection is still dial up. (dsl is gaining ground but not in my area)
my phone is unusually noisy. i ve called the phone company on many occasions and they have "fixed" the problem twice.
(its still there but it's better)
so basicaly my internet connection speed sucks!!!!(20- 30 kbps)
this is compounded with a crappy modem!( intel 537 )
this modem will not stay connected for more than an hour and takes forever to connect!!

i have come up with a soultion buy a hardware modem!
this hopefully would
- decrease the effects of the noise on my phone line therefore give in me greater speeds
- i might be able to connect on the day i want to connect
- i might be able to stay connected
- i might get online with LINUX FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i would appreciate anyone recommending any modems that they
think would help me out preferably ones they have had personal experence with.

thanks!

I recommend any external serial port modem. All of them are real modems and connect much better than any winmodem.

I agree. External modems dont need any drivers to run either. Just plug 'em in and run 'em.

kool thanks any recomendations as regards to which brands or any particular model
and i am on a budget here!

Modems are dirt cheap these days. Buy a brand name like US Robotics, Hayes, Rockwell, etc. Because they're so cheap there's no point in going for a possibly unreliable noname. I have a Rockwell Lightfax. Never had a problem with it. Not to mention the name brand modems will be more likely to counter your line noise problem.