[cousinlucky]

Novell lists 5 external modems to use with their operating system:

Ovislink of
U.S. Robotics 5630
U.S. Robotics 5686
Zoom 3049
Zoom 3048

Back in November of 2005 I purchased a U.S. Robotics 5686 to connect my Suse 10 os to the Internet. That modem lasted 22 months. Six weeks ago I purchased another 5686 modem but it only lasted a month. I could not return it to the store because the 14 day replacement period had expired.

I called the phone number on the U.S. Robotics box and explained to the clerk that my new U.S. Robotics 5686 modem still dialed my I.S.P. and connected but the modem did not allow any traffic between my computer and the Internet.

The clerk told me that I had to hook up the modem to a windows operating system and go to the U.S. Robotics website for a test. He refused to provide me with an address to ship the modem to U.S. Robotics. I asked the clerk if he realized just what he was telling me. The clerk then went on to state U.S. Robotics policies.

I took my computer to the shop that I go to and had my hard drive reformatted again and had my computers serial port tested ( $55.00 ). I brought my computer back home and the U.S. Robotics 5686 still did not work correctly.

Today I went and purchased a Zoom 3048 and hooked it up and here I am happily back on the Internet and gladly back at LinuxForums.

I am going to ship this defective U.S. Robotics modem, and a copy of the receipt, to the U.S. Robotics address provided by the store I bought it from.

I have been recommending this modem for the 22 months that my first one worked; but I am now feeling a little guilt for so doing.

It will be interesting to see what, if any, actions U.S. Robotics takes after they receive the defect modem that I bought.

[Dapper Dan]

Hi cousinlucky,
Hopefully the Zoom 3048 will give you better service than the US Robotics modem. If it should give you problems too, I've had years of satisfactory service out of my Actiontec V92 serial modem.

[ozar]

I've had several of both those modems in the past and the Zooms outlasted the US Robotics every time for me. In fact, one of the US Robotics went out after the first week, while one of the Zooms has been working for years, and still works to this day. Good luck on the refund. They might try to send you another modem, which probably won't be much better than the first one.

[cousinlucky]

I'm old and quite cynical: I do not believe I will get a refund from U.S. Robotics. Their clerk reminded me of the clerks at AOL that will not let you close your account.

" Planned Obsolescence " is the way that manufactures design and develop their products in this day and age. It is a shame but that is the way it is.

I would just love it if there was a website notating all of the manufactured products not worth buying.

Thank You DapperDan for the link. With New York's taxes included I paid $97.52 for the U.S. Robotics 5686 and $74.84 for the Zoom 3048!!

[ozar]

I still have two of the broken US Robotics modems in their original boxes.

I didn't even try for a refund, and won't sell them since neither of them will work properly. I would put them out for the trash man, but I don't want him grabbing them up and running home with them thinking he's found a new treasure.

[Dapper Dan]

Originally Posted by cousinlucky

" Planned Obsolescence " is the way that manufactures design and develop their products in this day and age. It is a shame but that is the way it is.

I would just love it if there was a website notating all of the manufactured products not worth buying.

You're exactly right! No, there isn't much we can do but we can do something. I had a similar experience recently with a really peice of crap Coby DVD player. This is what I did. See the third review down on this page: Link
We both have similar feelings about modern manufacturing practices because both of us can remember when products were made to last! Not any more.

[cousinlucky]

The first U.S. Robotics 5686 that I bought still dials out and connects to the Internet; just like the one I bought a month ago now does. The second failed as it was loading my gmail account.

There must be a thin strip that either burns up or erodes with time within these modems that causes them to fail in the same manner. If I had a schematic diagram of them I could probably figure out where the flaw is and solder some filler in to make the thing last forever.

Earlier today I was on the phone with a female friend who lives in Boston.and she ranted about her one year old Sirius car radio that she can no longer get parts for because that model has been discontinued.

Like the craftsmen that I learned from I take pride in the job that I do. How people can be so shallow as to only want to " rip-off as many people as possible " is not something to be proud of. I suppose that my abhorance of advertizing is linked to the fact of how far I have seen my society fall in the last fifty years. It is very sad!!

[Dapper Dan]

Originally Posted by cousinlucky

Like the craftsmen that I learned from I take pride in the job that I do. How people can be so shallow as to only want to " rip-off as many people as possible " is not something to be proud of. I suppose that my abhorance of advertizing is linked to the fact of how far I have seen my society fall in the last fifty years. It is very sad!!

Agreed. We are old enough to remember when this practice was almost unheard of. If a manufacturer did do business this way, their reputation for making shoddy goods very quickly spread and they were out of business for lack of sales. Remember the Edsel?

My wife is 15 years younger than me, and I know she gets tired of hearing me rant about planned obsolescence, but it's the way everything works now. Take the money as quickly as possible and run! I tell her this and it's true: You can go into a pawn shop or thrift shop and find an eight track stereo player made in 1970, and chances are it will still work perfectly, whereas DVD players made today won't last two years! It's all about keeping the consumer on the hook and keeping them coming back to get flogged again and again for money they should only need to spend once.

I don't wish to offend anyone, but so called "goods" made in China are the cheif offenders. But the American consumer has no choice because just about EVERYTHING now is made in China! In my closet are a pair of Red Wing work shoes made in the U.S.A. that I bought in 1986. They are still in fine condition with no holes are rips and the stitching is still tight! Try getting a pair of work shoes made in China to last even a year!

We bought what we thought was a pretty nice lawn furniture set a few years ago for almost four hundred dollars. It came recommended by a popular consumer magazine! All of it now is falling apart and rusted. Made in China of course! Yet the lawn chairs on my mother's patio, given to her by my grandmother and purchased in the 1950's is still in fine usable condition!

I could go on, but I won't bore you. I wish we could return to the system we used to have where quality meant dollars. Time was, if you were a manufacturer who built a quality product that lasted, word would spread and that's how you gained more customers, more business and more profits.

Those days are long gone I'm afraid.

[cousinlucky]

Dan,

My highest ranking peeve is the food. Right up there are the public schools and government in general. My oldest son says that the only thing that has improved is the supply of drugs. Legal and Illegal!!!

I remember how General Mills and Kellogg never put chemicals, or anything in else into their cereals. I start to drool thinking about how great a bowl of Wheaties and bananas tasted. The fish and chiken taste terrible from the chemicals.

Years ago I used to go out on boats fishing with my friends off of Cape Cod and up in Maine we would eat fish and corn on the cob all day long. There was a wild female cat that lived at the very far end on my back yard. We would bring her the fish heads and tails. My friends and I liked that big cat because most of the neighborhood dogs were scared of her.

I tried to find a new telephone that was not made in China but gave up. My oldest son has a BMW and my cousin has a Nissan. I have to admit that cars made overseas handle much better than American cars.

Talk about ranting; it is surely time for me to shut up!!

[cousinlucky]

I have received instructions from U.S. Robotics on how and where to mail their defective modem. Whatever they intend to do about it remains to be seen.

I went to your Actiontec link, DapperDan, and could not believe the $20.00 price for the modem. Is that a misprint?