How Does a Computer Modem Work?

The first easy-to-use modem was the Smartmodem from Hayes Technologies modems and the maximum transmission rate was 300 bits per second.

The 56K modem that most people remember can transmit up to 56,000 bits per second. The real-life maximum was more like 43,000 bits per second- a true 56K connection can only be established in laboratory conditions. Ask a phone engineer about it if you are interested- the phone system and even the wires themselves play a role.

AT&T's fastest ADSL offering in my area is 6 Mbps download/receive and 512 Kbps upload/send. That is a theoretical maximum of 524,288 bits per second for uploads and a whopping 6,291,456 bits per second for downloads. The actual connection speed can vary though- I can explain what my ISP taught me about how mainstream providers work.

Cable, Fiber optic aka FIOS, and DSL offerings in other areas can be even faster. A lot has changed since the days of the first modems, hasn't it?


How Does a Computer Modem Work? -- powered by eHow.com