Cable Modem Basics
Traditional dial-up modems
provide online access through the public telephone network at up to 56 kbps
(equal to 56,000 bits per second). A cable modem, on the other hand, gives
users high-speed Internet access through a cable TV network at more than 1
mbps (1 million bits per second), or about 20 times faster.
When a cable modem unit is
installed next to your computer, a splitter also is placed on the side of
your household. It separates the coaxial cable line serving the cable modem
from the line that serves your TV sets. A separate coaxial cable line is
then run from the splitter to the cable modem.
Cable modems typically connect
to computers through a standard 10Base-T Ethernet interface. A wire, called
"Category 5 cabling," is run from the cable modem to an Ethernet card in the
computer. Data is transmitted between the cable modem and computer at 10
mbps. Tomorrow's cable modem technology also will support Universal Serial
Bus (USB) and home phone-line networking connections to computers.
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