U.S. Robotics instructions on bonding two 56K modems in Windows 98
56K* modems are fast - the fastest connections you can make on a single analog phone line. But who ever said you're only allowed to use a single analog phone line? If you have Windows 98, two phone lines and two V.90 U.S. Robotics 56K modems, check out this math: double your modems and double your phone lines, and you may get up to double your current modem speed!
Windows 98 natively supports a cool new feature called multi-link bonding. The technology that makes this bonding possible has been around for years, but up to now, has only been widely used to bond ISDN channels. (If you're a speed demon, you know all about the two 64K "B
channels" of ISDN and how they can be bonded to get 128K speeds.) The Windows 98 Dial-up Networking application now supports this bonding process for analog connections as well, so you can easily configure a pair of modems and phone lines to achieve download speeds up to twice as fast as your current modem speed.
To use this capability, you need the two modems and phone lines we mentioned above, and Windows 98. In addition, your Internet service provider (ISP) has to support this functionality. Most ISP servers can handle this on a technical level, but because they are in essence giving you two connections, they may be unwilling to do it (because of capacity limitations), or they may charge extra for it. Call your ISP and make sure they
provide analog bonding service before you set it up on your computer. The checklist below will help you determine if you can take advantage of analog multi-link bonding.
To be sure you can take advantage of this technology, please review the following checklist of requirements:
1.Windows 98 and Windows 98 Dial Up Networking installed
2. Two analog phone lines
3. Two modems - One modem must be a V.90 U.S.Robotics 56K (remeber this article was written by U.S. Robotics. It will probably work with other modems.) and the second modem must be a 33.6 (any brand) or faster modem.We do strongly recommend using two U.S. Robotics 56K
modems, with either V.90 or x2TM technology.
4. ISP that supports analog multi-link bonding. To support speeds faster than 80 kilobytes per second, the ISP must support x2 technology or V.90.
Depending on the slots you have available in your computer, you may want to use two internal modems like this one -
U.S. Robotics 56K V.90 PCI Modem For Windows
or use an internal along with an external like this one -
USR External V.92 56K Data/Fax Modem
Using two externals isn't practical for most people because few computers have two serial ports.
If you have all the above requirements, then you're ready to take advantage of Windows 98 analog multi-link functionality.
Step 1 - Open your Dial Up Networking folder Previous Next
Open your Dial Up Networking folder by clicking
Start—>Accessories—>Communications—>Dial Up Networking.
Step 2 - Make New Connection Previous Next
Double click on Make New Connection. You'll then be prompted to enter a name for the account and select your U.S. Robotics 56K modem. After you've done so, click Next. If you have two U.S. Robotics 56K modems, it doesn't matter which modem you choose as the primary modem.
Step 3 - Area code and telephone number Previous Next
Type in the area code and telephone number of the server modems you're calling at your ISP. Then click Next.
Step 4 - Complete first portion of setup Previous Next
Click Finish to complete the first portion of the setup.
Step 5 - Multilink Bonding Account Previous Next
After the connection is finished and saved, right click on it and scroll down to Properties. Then click once on the Multilink tab.
Step 6 - Edit Extra Device Previous Next
This will prompt you to select a modem. Select the U.S. Robotics 56K modem and click OK. If you have two U.S. Robotics 56K modems, it doesn't matter which modem is configured first.
Step 7 - Configure your secondary modem Previous Next
Click Add again to configure your secondary modem. This will bring up the same dialog box seen in Step 5. To select your secondary modem, click on the Device name pull down list then click on the appropriate modem.
Important Note - DO NOT select the modem you chose in Step 5.
Step 8 - Congratulations! Previous Next
Congratulations! You have successfully configured analog multi-link bonding. - To make an analog multi-link connection, just double click the Dial Up Networking connection you created and click on Connect.