US Robotics 56K USB Soft Modem - Fax/Modem (USR5639)

So I did a lot of research on the best and easiest modem to get for my parents who unfortunately still use dial-up; based on the other reviewers I went ahead and purchased this one and it worked perfect. The plug-and-play was so easy, it installed itself but I did download the drivers off the US robotics website just in case. It's small and takes up no space which is perfect and connected to the internet without any trouble. So for others looking for a dial up modem, this is your best bet! Its affordable and simple to use. For reference, my parents have a HP desktop, with Windows 7 and use Netzero.

Worked nicely with WinXP after first installing the drivers. On Win7, it installed automatically without using the driver disk. BUT, a Win8 machine was another matter. The install proceeded automatically and everything appeared normal, even the modem squawks, squeals, and beeps, but the connection would fail every time. I emailed U.S. Robotics customer support and within a few days and 2 emails, they provided the answer concerning USB 3.0 ports. I disabled the USB 3.0 features in the BIOS setup of the laptop and that did the trick!

I bought this at some point after the horror that was Hurricane Sandy but never had a reason to use it until today (bad storm last night knocked out the cable modem). Worked exactly as I wanted it to (slower than cable of course but one must be patient in these types of situations) and bonus was that it didn't make all the horrible noises that the old dial-up modems did. Good product, cheap, grab one to put in your survival kit! :-)Technical information - I'm on Windows 7 and used AOL dial-up, really only used it get on the internet. I simply plugged in my phone line and plugged it into the computer and it sorted itself out.

My HP Pavilion Desktop 550-126 (6th Generation Intel Core i5-6400, 12GB DDR 3L System Memory, 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive) came pre-installed with Windows 10 Home. I chose to purchase this US Robotics USB Dial-Up Softmodem (USR5639US) based on its brand name (i.e., I’ve used US Robotics products reliably in the past), cheap price, the mostly positive Amazon reviews, and the fact that the US Robotics support web page for this 5039 model currently specifies the following OS compatibility: Win10, 2012R2, 2012, Win8, 2011, Win7, 2008, Vista, Vista 64, 2003, XP 64, XP, and 2000. Unfortunately, after way too much time and frustration spent troubleshooting, this modem totally FAILED to operate at all with Windows 10.Interestingly, another Amazon reviewer has stated that he contacted the US Robotics technical support staff who said that this modem does NOT work with USB 3.0 and they do NOT currently have drivers for Windows 10, the latter of which is obviously contradictory to the information that is currently posted on their website. Other Amazon reviewers seem to mostly indicate that the modem works fine with all of the other aforementioned Windows versions for which it is supposedly compatible. Worth adding here is that the package contents for this modem only include the USB modem itself, a short telephone cord, and VERY brief instructions; no installation CD or other documentation is included.My specific issue with this modem is as follows. Upon connecting the modem to my desktop, it was successfully detected by Windows 10 and automatically configured to use the Agere Systems USB 2.0 Soft Modem #3 driver dated 11/11/2008 version 2.2.89.3. However, while attempting to connect with my ISP, the modem would dial my ISP correctly but could not ultimately complete the handshake with my ISP; another reviewer on here indicated having this exact same problem. On each of my numerous dialing attempts, the modem would simply disconnect after a few short moments followed by an ‘Error Connecting to Dial-up Connection’ dialog box appearing on-screen. That dialog box would specify there being either an ‘Error 678: The remote computer did not respond. To make sure that the server can be reached, ping the remote computer.’ or ‘Error 777: The connection attempt failed because the modem (or other connecting device) on the remote computer is out of order.’ To confirm that I was indeed using the appropriate driver, I then went to the US Robotics support web page for this 5039 model and downloaded the USB_2.2.102.zip file, extracted its contents, and completed the installation. Unfortunately, the exact same connection problem persisted. After multiple telephone calls to my local ISP’s technical support personnel and a significant amount of frustration on my end, neither I nor my ISP could find any solution whatsoever and I, therefore, had no choice but to return this modem to Amazon for a full refund.As a quick side note, it would obviously be very difficult for a user to even access the technical support resources available on the US Robotics website if his/her dial-up modem does not even work to begin with! Fortunately, I was able to use my high-speed internet connection at work to access the US Robotics website while I was troubleshooting.Out of necessity and urgency, I subsequently drove to my local Staples and purchased the only USB modem carried in-store which is the Zoom 3095 USB Mini External Modem - USB - 1 x RJ-11 Phone Line - 56 Kbps. Although this modem is considerably more expensive than similar USB dial-up modems, getting it to work with Windows 10 was relatively effortless and its operation has been flawless, thus far. The Zoom modem also has the added advantage of being USB 3.0 compliant. My full 1/22/2016 review of the Zoom 3095 USB modem can be found on that Amazon product page.My 1-star rating for this modem is based solely on its apparent incompatibility with Windows 10, despite US Robotics specifying such Windows 10 compatibility on its technical support page for this model. I literally wanted to pull my hair out while trying to get this modem to work properly. As such, this is one big Windows 10 dial-up modem fail, in my opinion. Unless you're a glutton for punishment, save yourself the unbelievable grief and aggravation and look elsewhere!!!

I installed this on a Windows 8.1 computer and used Windows Scan & Fax. Every time the modem answered a fax it disconnected immediately after the handshake was completed. It did the same thing when sending a fax. I contacted US Robotics and they told me it was because I have FiOS and my line had to be optimized for faxing. That did not make any sense because the whole idea behind faxing is that it uses voice frequencies to communicate. My voice communications are working perfectly over FiOS. I had a cheap internal Winmodem on the same FiOS line, which worked perfectly when sending or receiving faxes every time. I contacted Verizon. They checked my line and told me that everything was working normally. If I sent AT commands to the modem to go on hook and off hook with a terminal program, the modem worked normally. Since I bought this modem only for faxing, I had to return it because it did not work for me.Update: I tried another USB modem and it disconnected every time as soon as the handshake was completed. After a lot of research on the internet, I found out that Scan and Fax on Windows 8.1 does not work. Most likely, no modem will work with Windows Scan and Fax on Windows 8.1. I raised my rating because of this, and because the modem did respond correctly when I sent AT commands to it with a terminal program. I also liked that the dialing and handshake sounds came out of the computer speakers with this modem. If you have Windows 8 or 8.1, you will need a stand-alone fax program to use this or probably any modem until Microsoft corrects the problem. I would have given it five stars if it had Off Hook and Data Transfer LEDs like some other USB modems have.