Modem Problem

[Staar]

First off, I'm primarily a windows user so you'll have to bare with my ignorance a little.  I installed Xandros on an old pc for a relative so he could avoid spending obscene amounts of money on windows just to check email.  The dialup connection was always slow and recently began dropping out on him often.  So I decided to try Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS (Dapper Drake), but I am having problems configuring the PCI dialup modem.  Using ubuntu, Under Network Settings, when I attempt to activate it, I receive 'Could Not Enable the Interface ppp0'.  When I go to Interface properties and attempt to auto-detect the modem, I receive 'Could not autodetect modem device'.

When I looked up the device it indicates the following:
HCF 56K Data/Fax/Voice Modem (Worldwide)
Vendor: 
Conexant
HCF 56K Data/Fax...
OEM Vendor: DIGICOM Systems, Inc.

Any idea what the problem is?  I stumbled across a HCF driver downloads page on linuxant.com (http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hcf/full/downloads-ubuntu-x86.php?PHPSESSID=9e8a2e93e875447ced96514bfc3b4ed2) that says I need to pay to get 56K support?  Is that true?  That could explain why the connection was so slow on Xandros.  I'm probably going to be trying different distrtos often until I find one that my relative likes and would like to avoid paying for a driver every time I upgrade or go to a different distro.  If I purchased an external modem, would I have to worry about a different driver every time I change distros?

Any info would be greatly appreciated... 

Thanks,


Mike