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Originally Posted by Incognitas
So what is actually wrong with a USB connection?I have one and I've never had any problems with it.
However if I had to go ferreting inside my PC I suspect I'd soon have a whole heap of problems.
Incog.  |
Well we'll soon have you in that case installing a graphics card. The inside of PCs are like lego these days (well more like sticklebricks actually), just find a slot and push the card in.
This whole point of not needing a CD is a bit moot, you may well need a CD to install the NIC driver instead of the USB driver, but Windows may well accept it and install a generic driver.
I'm a bit confused why you are using usb. Your specs listed on the graphics thread
Motherboard Physical Info:
CPU Sockets/Slots 1
Expansion Slots 2 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 AMR
RAM Slots 2 DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video,
LAN
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Chipset SiS730S
Indicate integrated LAN, so you should have a LAN socket on the back of your PC. If you are happy it is back up and running now you have upgraded the OS, and this integrated LAN was made availible on the back of the Machine you might want to consider switching to it.
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Originally Posted by MatTman
only package PC's have a warranty to void in this situation, If the PC is homebuilt (or my l33t rig for example) I'd install it myself rather than let some NTL tech feck it up, No warranty to Void apart from he individual Part life expectancy dealies..  |
And the
average NTL customer (or any other ISP customer) will be using a package PC from Dell, HP, Compaq, Avent, Evesham. The selfbuild market is small and shrinking, I was going to selfbuild until I realised my local computer shop could do the job for £25 more than me and provide it working, rather than go through a Richard M style fault finding for a week.
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Originally Posted by greencreeper
Not sure if this is correct but I've always likened USB to a software modem - all the processing is done by the CPU and not by the modem, which is basically just a PCB with a hole to plug the cable into. This introduces variances in performance that are dependant on a huge number of factors, including the CPU, motherboard, BIOS and software installed.
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Likened, thats pretty much bang on the mark, which being as you generally find the USB and no NIC on older machines makes the who soft processing of IP packets on the processor even more noticable than say on an AMD2400 where their overhead would be less noticable.
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Originally Posted by greencreeper
When I suggested the idea I had in mind that it would be entirely optional. There's no way I would expect (or allow  ) an engineer to install the card - that would mean NTL staff interfering with a user's PC, which opens up all sorts of liability issues. I hear what people are saying about not having the skill or a person with the skill, but I honestly think most people these days have either the skill or access to the skill. They could always try PC World 
Like I said, some of the commoner questions on this forum relate to switching from USB to Ethernet, which might indicate that once a user is made aware of Ethernet and hears, either via word of mouth or from the Internet, that it's better than USB, they may want to make the switch and see for themselves.
It would be useful to conduct a survey to see if USB really is PnP, or whether, as many seem to experience, Ethernet is more problem free. |
NTL USB is not so PnP as you need the install disk, the device driver is not on the PC, unlike say my camera, scanner etc all which find XP device drivers and need no install CD.
Most people find opening up electronic devices daunting, you would probably not think of advising people to crack open their STBs, VCRs, DVDs, TVs, but a PC is somehow different.
IMHO It is a good idea that NTL should offer NIC cards, many people do know someone who will install it, or PC world, or on reading a well put together set of instructions will find it less daunting than they thought and it may well cause less problems, but I found in generall USB did not cause me any problems, I moved off it principaly because I bought a NIC as it was cheaper than a USB hub and I needed more USB ports. It also meant that the PC could be networked through a router. For web surfing (at this point it was not much cop for games), my Celeron 333 did not noticable suffer performance wise from creating the IP packet to send to the USB port.