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(disambiguation). his article needs additional citations for verification. !lease help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. "nsourced material may be challenged and removed. (#ctober $%&%) ' modem (modulator(demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. he goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data. Modems can be used over any means of transmitting analog signals, from light emitting diodes to radio. he most familiar e)ample is a voice band modem that turns the digital data of a personal computer into modulated electrical signals in the voice fre*uency range of a telephone channel. hese signals can be transmitted over telephone lines and demodulated by another modem at the receiver side to recover the digital data. Modems are generally classified by the amount of data they can send in a given unit of time, usually e)pressed in bits per second (bit+s, or bps). Modems can alternatively be classified by their symbol rate, measured in baud. he baud unit denotes symbols per second, or the number of times per second the modem sends a ne, signal. For e)ample, the - " ..$& standard used audio fre*uency(shift keying, that is to say, tones of different fre*uencies, ,ith t,o possible fre*uencies corresponding to t,o distinct symbols (or one bit per symbol), to carry /%% bits per second using /%% baud. 0y contrast, the original - " ..$$ standard, ,hich ,as able to transmit and receive four distinct symbols (t,o bits per symbol), handled &,$%% bit+s by sending 1%% symbols per second (1%% baud) using phase shift keying. 2ontents 3hide4 & 5istory &.& he 2arterfone decision &.$ he 6martmodem and the rise of 006es &./ 6oftmodem $ 7arro,(band+phone(line dialup modems $.& -ncreasing speeds (..$&, ..$$, ..$$bis) $.$ -ncreasing speeds (one(,ay proprietary standards) $./ 8,9%% and :,1%% bit+s (..$;ter, ../$) $./.& <rror correction and compression $.8 0reaking the :.1k barrier $.8.& ../8+$9.9k and //.1k $.8.$ ..1&+..;% 'nalog+=igital 6imultaneous .oice and =ata $.> "sing digital lines and !2M (..:%+:$) $.1 "sing compression to e)ceed >1k $.1.& 2ompression by the -6! $.; ?ist of dialup speeds / @adio modems /.& WiFi and WiMa) 8 Mobile modems and routers > 0roadband 1 5ome net,orking

; =eep(space telecommunications 9 .oice modem : !opularity &% 6ee also && @eferences &$ <)ternal links &$.& 6tandards organiAations and modem protocols &$.$ Beneral modem info (drivers, chipsets, etc.) &$./ #ther 3edit4 5istory 7e,s ,ire services in &:$%s used multiple) e*uipment that met the definition, but the modem function ,as incidental to the multiple)ing function, so they are not commonly included in the history of modems.

eleBuide terminal Modems gre, out of the need to connect teletype machines over ordinary phone lines instead of more e)pensive leased lines ,hich had previously been used for current loop(based teleprinters and automated telegraphs. -n &:8/, -0M adapted this technology to their unit record e*uipment and ,ere able to transmit punched cards at $> bits+second.3citation needed4 Mass(produced modems in the "nited 6tates began as part of the 6'B< air(defense system in &:>9, connecting terminals at various airbases, radar sites, and command( and(control centers to the 6'B< director centers scattered around the ".6. and 2anada. 6'B< modems ,ere described by ' C Ds 0ell ?abs as conforming to their ne,ly published 0ell &%& dataset standard. While they ran on dedicated telephone lines, the devices at each end ,ere no different from commercial acoustically coupled 0ell &%&, &&% baud modems. -n the summer of &:1%3citation needed4, the name =ata(!hone ,as introduced to replace the earlier term digital subset. he $%$ =ata(!hone ,as a half(duple) asynchronous service that ,as marketed e)tensively in late &:1%3citation needed4. -n &:1$3citation needed4, the $%&' and $%&0 =ata(!hones ,ere introduced. hey ,ere synchronous modems using t,o(bit(per(baud phase(shift keying (!6E). he $%&' operated half(duple) at $,%%% bit+s over normal phone lines, ,hile the $%&0 provided full duple) $,8%% bit+s service on four(,ire leased lines, the send and receive channels running on their o,n set of t,o ,ires each. he famous 0ell &%/' dataset standard ,as also introduced by ' C in &:1$. -t provided full(duple) service at /%% bit+s over normal phone lines. Fre*uency(shift keying ,as used ,ith the call originator transmitting at &,%;% or &,$;% 5A and the ans,ering modem transmitting at $,%$> or $,$$> 5A. he readily available &%/'$ gave an important boost to the use of remote lo,(speed terminals such as the E6@//,

the '6@//, and the -0M $;8&. ' C reduced modem costs by introducing the originate(only &&/= and the ans,er(only &&/0+2 modems. 3edit4 he 2arterfone decision

he 7ovation 2' acoustically coupled modem For many years, the 0ell 6ystem (' C ) maintained a monopoly on the use of its phone lines, allo,ing only 0ell(supplied devices to be attached to its net,ork. 0efore &:19, ' C maintained a monopoly on ,hat devices could be electrically connected to its phone lines. his led to a market for &%/'(compatible modems that ,ere mechanically connected to the phone, through the handset, kno,n as acoustically coupled modems. !articularly common models from the &:;%s ,ere the 7ovation 2' and the 'nderson(Jacobson, spun off from an in(house proFect at 6tanford @esearch -nstitute (no, 6@- -nternational). 5ush(a(!hone v. F22 ,as a seminal ruling in "nited 6tates telecommunications la, decided by the =2 2ircuit 2ourt of 'ppeals on 7ovember 9, &:>1. he =istrict 2ourt found that it ,as ,ithin the F22Ds authority to regulate the terms of use of ' C Ds e*uipment. 6ubse*uently, the F22 e)aminer found that as long as the device ,as not physically attached it ,ould not threaten to degenerate the system. ?ater, in the 2arterfone decision of &:19, the F22 passed a rule setting stringent ' C (designed tests for electronically coupling a device to the phone lines. ' C Ds tests ,ere comple), making electronically coupled modems e)pensive,3citation needed4 so acoustically coupled modems remained common into the early &:9%s. -n =ecember &:;$, .adic introduced the .'/8%%. his device ,as remarkable because it provided full duple) operation at &,$%% bit+s over the dial net,ork, using methods similar to those of the &%/' in that it used different fre*uency bands for transmit and receive. -n 7ovember &:;1, ' C introduced the $&$' modem to compete ,ith .adic. -t ,as similar in design to .adicDs model, but used the lo,er fre*uency set for transmission. -t ,as also possible to use the $&$' ,ith a &%/' modem at /%% bit+s. 'ccording to .adic, the change in fre*uency assignments made the $&$ intentionally incompatible ,ith acoustic coupling, thereby locking out many potential modem manufacturers. -n &:;;, .adic responded ,ith the .'/81; triple modem, an ans,er(only modem sold to computer center operators that supported .adicDs &,$%%(bit+s mode, ' C Ds $&$' mode, and &%/' operation. 3edit4 he 6martmodem and the rise of 006es

"6 @obotics 6portster &8,8%% Fa) modem (&::8) he ne)t maFor advance in modems ,as the 6martmodem, introduced in &:9& by 5ayes 2ommunications. he 6martmodem ,as an other,ise standard &%/' /%%(bit+s modem, but ,as attached to a small controller that let the computer send commands to it and enable it to operate the phone line. he command set included instructions for picking up and hanging up the phone, dialing numbers, and ans,ering calls. he basic 5ayes command set remains the basis for computer control of most modern modems. !rior to the 5ayes 6martmodem, dial(up modems almost universally re*uired a t,o( step process to activate a connection: first, the user had to manually dial the remote number on a standard phone handset, and then secondly, plug the handset into an acoustic coupler. 5ard,are add(ons, kno,n simply as dialers, ,ere used in special circumstances, and generally operated by emulating someone dialing a handset. With the 6martmodem, the computer could dial the phone directly by sending the modem a command, thus eliminating the need for an associated phone instrument for dialing and the need for an acoustic coupler. he 6martmodem instead plugged directly into the phone line. his greatly simplified setup and operation. erminal programs that maintained lists of phone numbers and sent the dialing commands became common. he 6martmodem and its clones also aided the spread of bulletin board systems (006s). Modems had previously been typically either the call(only, acoustically coupled models used on the client side, or the much more e)pensive, ans,er(only models used on the server side. he 6martmodem could operate in either mode depending on the commands sent from the computer. here ,as no, a lo,(cost server(side modem on the market, and the 006s flourished. 'lmost all modern modems can interoperate ,ith fa) machines. =igital fa)es, introduced in the &:9%s, are simply a particular image format sent over a high(speed (commonly &8.8 kbit+s) modem. 6oft,are running on the host computer can convert any image into fa)(format, ,hich can then be sent using the modem. 6uch soft,are ,as at one time an add(on, but since has become largely universal. 3edit4 6oftmodem

' !2- Winmodem+softmodem (on the left) ne)t to a traditional -6' modem (on the right). Main article: 6oftmodem ' Winmodem or softmodem is a stripped(do,n modem that replaces tasks traditionally handled in hard,are ,ith soft,are. -n this case the modem is a simple interface designed to create voltage variations on the telephone line and to sample the line voltage levels (digital to analog and analog to digital converters). 6oftmodems are cheaper than traditional modems, since they have fe,er hard,are components. #ne do,nside is that the soft,are generating and interpreting the modem tones is not simple (as most of the protocols are comple)), and the performance of the computer as a ,hole often suffers ,hen it is being used. For online gaming this can be a real concern. 'nother problem is lack of portability such that non(Windo,s operating systems (such as ?inu)) often do not have an e*uivalent driver to operate the modem. 3edit4 7arro,(band+phone(line dialup modems ' standard modem of today contains t,o functional parts: an analog section for generating the signals and operating the phone, and a digital section for setup and control. his functionality is often incorporated into a single chip no,adays, but the division remains in theory. -n operation the modem can be in one of t,o modes, data mode in ,hich data is sent to and from the computer over the phone lines, and command mode in ,hich the modem listens to the data from the computer for commands, and carries them out. ' typical session consists of po,ering up the modem (often inside the computer itself) ,hich automatically assumes command mode, then sending it the command for dialing a number. 'fter the connection is established to the remote modem, the modem automatically goes into data mode, and the user can send and receive data. When the user is finished, the escape se*uence, GH HHG follo,ed by a pause of about a second, may be sent to the modem to return it to command mode, then a command (e.g. G' 5G) to hang up the phone is sent. 7ote that on many modem controllers it is possible to issue commands to disable the escape se*uence so that it is not possible for data being e)changed to trigger the mode change inadvertently. he commands themselves are typically from the 5ayes command set, although that term is some,hat misleading. he original 5ayes commands ,ere useful for /%% bit+s operation only, and then e)tended for their &,$%% bit+s modems. Faster speeds re*uired ne, commands, leading to a proliferation of command sets in the early &::%s. hings became considerably more standardiAed in the second half of the &::%s, ,hen most modems ,ere built from one of a very small number of chipsets. We call this the 5ayes command set even today, although it has three or four times the numbers of commands as the actual standard. 3edit4 -ncreasing speeds (..$&, ..$$, ..$$bis) he /%% bit+s modems used audio fre*uency(shift keying to send data. -n this system the stream of &s and %s in computer data is translated into sounds ,hich can be easily sent on the phone lines. -n the 0ell &%/ system the originating modem sends %s by playing a &,%;% 5A tone, and &s at &,$;% 5A, ,ith the ans,ering modem putting its %s on $,%$> 5A and &s on $,$$> 5A. hese fre*uencies ,ere chosen carefully, they are in the range that suffer minimum distortion on the phone system, and also are not harmonics of each other. -n the &,$%% bit+s and faster systems, phase(shift keying ,as used. -n this system the t,o tones for any one side of the connection are sent at the similar fre*uencies as in the /%% bit+s systems, but slightly out of phase. 0y comparing the phase of the t,o signals, &s and %s could be pulled back out, .oiceband modems generally remained at

/%% and &,$%% bit+s (..$& and ..$$) into the mid &:9%s. ' ..$$bis $,8%%(bit+s system similar in concept to the &,$%%(bit+s 0ell $&$ signalling ,as introduced in the ".6., and a slightly different one in <urope. 0y the late &:9%s, most modems could support all of these standards and $,8%%(bit+s operation ,as becoming common. For more information on baud rates versus bit rates, see the companion article list of device band,idths. 3edit4 -ncreasing speeds (one(,ay proprietary standards) Many other standards ,ere also introduced for special purposes, commonly using a high(speed channel for receiving, and a lo,er(speed channel for sending. #ne typical e)ample ,as used in the French Minitel system, in ,hich the userDs terminals spent the maFority of their time receiving information. he modem in the Minitel terminal thus operated at &,$%% bit+s for reception, and ;> bit+s for sending commands back to the servers. hree ".6. companies became famous for high(speed versions of the same concept. elebit introduced its railblaAer modem in &:98, ,hich used a large number of /1 bit+s channels to send data one(,ay at rates up to &9,8/$ bit+s. ' single additional channel in the reverse direction allo,ed the t,o modems to communicate ho, much data ,as ,aiting at either end of the link, and the modems could change direction on the fly. he railblaAer modems also supported a feature that allo,ed them to spoof the ""2! g protocol, commonly used on "ni) systems to send e(mail, and thereby speed ""2! up by a tremendous amount. railblaAers thus became e)tremely common on "ni) systems, and maintained their dominance in this market ,ell into the &::%s. ".6. @obotics ("6@) introduced a similar system, kno,n as 56 , although this supplied only :,1%% bit+s (in early versions at least) and provided for a larger backchannel. @ather than offer spoofing, "6@ instead created a large market among Fidonet users by offering its modems to 006 sysops at a much lo,er price, resulting in sales to end users ,ho ,anted faster file transfers. 5ayes ,as forced to compete, and introduced its o,n :,1%%(bit+s standard, <)press :1 (also kno,n as !ing(!ong), ,hich ,as generally similar to elebitDs !<!. 5ayes, ho,ever, offered neither protocol spoofing nor sysop discounts, and its high(speed modems remained rare. 3edit4 8,9%% and :,1%% bit+s (..$;ter, ../$) <cho cancellation ,as the ne)t maFor advance in modem design. ?ocal telephone lines use the same ,ires to send and receive, ,hich results in a small amount of the outgoing signal bouncing back. his signal can confuse the modem, ,hich ,as unable to distinguish bet,een the echo and the signal from the remote modem. his ,as ,hy earlier modems split the signal fre*uencies into Dans,erD and DoriginateDI the modem could then ignore its o,n transmitting fre*uencies. <ven ,ith improvements to the phone system allo,ing higher speeds, this splitting of available phone signal band,idth still imposed a half(speed limit on modems. <cho cancellation got around this problem. Measuring the echo delays and magnitudes allo,ed the modem to tell if the received signal ,as from itself or the remote modem, and create an e*ual and opposite signal to cancel its o,n. Modems ,ere then able to send over the ,hole fre*uency spectrum in both directions at the same time, leading to the development of 8,9%% and :,1%% bit+s modems. -ncreases in speed have used increasingly complicated communications theory. &,$%% and $,8%% bit+s modems used the phase shift key (!6E) concept. his could transmit t,o or three bits per symbol. he ne)t maFor advance encoded four bits into a combination of amplitude and phase, kno,n as Juadrature 'mplitude Modulation (J'M).

he ne, ..$;ter and ../$ standards ,ere able to transmit 8 bits per symbol, at a rate of &,$%% or $,8%% baud, giving an effective bit rate of 8,9%% or :,1%% bit+s. he carrier fre*uency ,as &,1>% 5A. For many years, most engineers considered this rate to be the limit of data communications over telephone net,orks. 3edit4 <rror correction and compression #perations at these speeds pushed the limits of the phone lines, resulting in high error rates. his led to the introduction of error(correction systems built into the modems, made most famous ,ith MicrocomDs M7! systems. ' string of M7! standards came out in the &:9%s, each increasing the effective data rate by minimiAing overhead, from about ;>K theoretical ma)imum in M7! &, to :>K in M7! 8. he ne, method called M7! > took this a step further, adding data compression to the system, thereby increasing the data rate above the modemDs rating. Benerally the user could e)pect an M7!> modem to transfer at about &/%K the normal data rate of the modem. =etails of M7! ,ere later released and became popular on a series of $,8%%(bit+s modems, and ultimately led to the development of ..8$ and ..8$bis - " standards. ..8$ and ..8$bis ,ere non(compatible ,ith M7! but ,ere similar in concept: <rror correction and compression. 'nother common feature of these high(speed modems ,as the concept of fallback, or speed hunting, allo,ing them to talk to less(capable modems. =uring the call initiation the modem ,ould play a series of signals into the line and ,ait for the remote modem to respond to them. hey ,ould start at high speeds and progressively get slo,er and slo,er until they heard an ans,er. hus, t,o "6@ modems ,ould be able to connect at :,1%% bit+s, but, ,hen a user ,ith a $,8%%(bit+s modem called in, the "6@ ,ould fallback to the common $,8%%(bit+s speed. his ,ould also happen if a ../$ modem and a 56 modem ,ere connected. 0ecause they used a different standard at :,1%% bit+s, they ,ould fall back to their highest commonly supported standard at $,8%% bit+s. he same applies to ../$bis and &8,8%% bit+s 56 modem, ,hich ,ould still be able to communicate ,ith each other at only $,8%% bit+s. 3edit4 0reaking the :.1k barrier -n &:9%, Bottfried "ngerboeck from -0M Lurich @esearch ?aboratory applied channel coding techni*ues to search for ne, ,ays to increase the speed of modems. 5is results ,ere astonishing but only conveyed to a fe, colleagues.3&4 Finally in &:9$, he agreed to publish ,hat is no, a landmark paper in the theory of information coding.3citation needed4 0y applying parity check coding to the bits in each symbol, and mapping the encoded bits into a t,o(dimensional diamond pattern, "ngerboeck sho,ed that it ,as possible to increase the speed by a factor of t,o ,ith the same error rate. he ne, techni*ue ,as called mapping by set partitions (no, kno,n as trellis modulation). <rror correcting codes, ,hich encode code ,ords (sets of bits) in such a ,ay that they are far from each other, so that in case of error they are still closest to the original ,ord (and not confused ,ith another) can be thought of as analogous to sphere packing or packing pennies on a surface: the further t,o bit se*uences are from one another, the easier it is to correct minor errors. ../$bis ,as so successful that the older high(speed standards had little to recommend them. "6@ fought back ,ith a &1,9%% bit+s version of 56 , ,hile ' C introduced a one(off &:,$%% bit+s method they referred to as ../$ter (also kno,n as ../$ terbo or tertiary), but neither non(standard modem sold ,ell. 3edit4 ../8+$9.9k and //.1k

'n -6' modem manufactured to conform to the ../8 protocol. 'ny interest in these systems ,as destroyed during the lengthy introduction of the $9,9%% bit+s ../8 standard. While ,aiting, several companies decided to release hard,are and introduced modems they referred to as ..F'6 . -n order to guarantee compatibility ,ith ../8 modems once the standard ,as ratified (&::8), the manufacturers ,ere forced to use more fle)ible parts, generally a =6! and microcontroller, as opposed to purpose(designed '6-2 modem chips. oday, the - " standard ../8 represents the culmination of the Foint efforts. -t employs the most po,erful coding techni*ues including channel encoding and shape encoding. From the mere 8 bits per symbol (:.1 kbit+s), the ne, standards used the functional e*uivalent of 1 to &% bits per symbol, plus increasing baud rates from $,8%% to /,8$:, to create &8.8, $9.9, and //.1 kbit+s modems. his rate is near the theoretical 6hannon limit. When calculated, the 6hannon capacity of a narro,band line is , ,ith the (linear) signal(to(noise ratio. 7arro,band phone lines have a band,idth from /%%M8%%% 5A, so using (67@ N /%d0): capacity is appro)imately /> kbit+s. Without the discovery and eventual application of trellis modulation, ma)imum telephone rates using voice(band,idth channels ,ould have been limited to /,8$: baud O 8 bit+symbol NN appro)imately &8 kbit+s using traditional J'M. (=6? makes use of the band,idth of traditional copper(,ire t,isted pairs bet,een subscriber and the central office, ,hich far e)ceeds that of analog voice circuitry.) 3edit4 ..1&+..;% 'nalog+=igital 6imultaneous .oice and =ata he ..1& 6tandard introduced 'nalog 6imultaneous .oice and =ata ('6.=). his technology allo,ed users of v.1& modems to engage in point(to(point voice conversations ,ith each other ,hile their respective modems communicated. -n &::>, the first =6.= (=igital 6imultaneous .oice and =ata) modems became available to consumers, and the standard ,as ratified as v.;% by the -nternational elecommunication "nion (- ") in &::1. ,o =6.= modems can establish a completely digital link bet,een each other over standard phone lines. 6ometimes referred to as Gthe poor manDs -6=7,G and employing a similar technology, v.;% compatible modems allo, for a ma)imum speed of //.1 kbit+s bet,een peers. 0y using a maFority of the band,idth for data and reserving part for voice transmission, =6.= modems allo, users to pick up a telephone handset interfaced ,ith the modem, and initiate a call to the other peer.

#ne practical use for this technology ,as realiAed by early t,o player video gamers, ,ho could hold voice communication ,ith each other ,hile in game over the !6 7. 'dvocates of =6.= envisioned ,hiteboard sharing and other practical applications for the standard, ho,ever, ,ith advent of cheaper >1kbit+s analog modems intended for -nternet connectivity, peer(to(peer data transmission over the !6 7 became *uickly irrelevant. 'lso, the standard ,as never e)panded to allo, for the making or receiving of arbitrary phone calls ,hile the modem ,as in use, due to the cost of infrastructure upgrades to telephone companies, and the advent of -6=7 and =6? technologies ,hich effectively accomplished the same goal. oday, Multi( ech is the only kno,n company to continue to support a v.;% compatible modem. While their device also offers v.:$ at >1kbit+s, it remains significantly more e)pensive than comparable modems sans v.;% support. 3edit4 "sing digital lines and !2M (..:%+:$)

Modem bank at an -6!. -n the late &::%s @ock,ell+?ucent and ".6. @obotics introduced ne, competing technologies based upon the digital transmission used in modern telephony net,orks. he standard digital transmission in modern net,orks is 18 kbit+s but some net,orks use a part of the band,idth for remote office signaling (e.g., to hang up the phone), limiting the effective rate to >1 kbit+s =6%. his ne, technology ,as adopted into - " standards ..:% and is common in modern computers. he >1 kbit+s rate is only possible from the central office to the user site (do,nlink). -n the "nited 6tates, government regulation limits the ma)imum po,er output, resulting in a ma)imum data rate of >/./ kbit+s. he uplink (from the user to the central office) still uses ../8 technology at //.1 kbit+s. ?ater in ..:$, the digital !2M techni*ue ,as applied to increase the upload speed to a ma)imum of 89 kbit+s, but at the e)pense of do,nload rates. For e)ample a 89 kbit+s upstream rate ,ould reduce the do,nstream as lo, as 8% kbit+s, due to echo on the telephone line. o avoid this problem, ..:$ modems offer the option to turn off the digital upstream and instead use a //.1 kbit+s analog connection, in order to maintain a high digital do,nstream of >% kbit+s or higher.3$4 ..:$ also adds t,o other features. he first is the ability for users ,ho have call ,aiting to put their dial(up -nternet connection on hold for e)tended periods of time ,hile they ans,er a call. he second feature is the ability to *uickly connect to oneDs -6!. his is achieved by remembering the analog and digital characteristics of the telephone line, and using this saved information to reconnect at a fast pace. 3edit4 "sing compression to e)ceed >1k odayDs ..8$, ..8$bis and ..88 standards allo, the modem to transmit data faster than its basic rate ,ould imply. For instance, a >/./ kbit+s connection ,ith ..88 can

transmit up to >/./O1 NN /$% kbit+s using pure te)t. 5o,ever, the compression ratio tends to vary due to noise on the line, or due to the transfer of already(compressed files (L-! files, J!<B images, M!/ audio, M!<B video).3/4 't some points the modem ,ill be sending compressed files at appro)imately >% kbit+s, uncompressed files at &1% kbit+s, and pure te)t at /$% kbit+s, or any value in bet,een.384 -n such situations a small amount of memory in the modem, a buffer, is used to hold the data ,hile it is being compressed and sent across the phone line, but in order to prevent overflo, of the buffer, it sometimes becomes necessary to tell the computer to pause the datastream. his is accomplished through hard,are flo, control using e)tra lines on the modemMcomputer connection. he computer is then set to supply the modem at some higher rate, such as /$% kbit+s, and the modem ,ill tell the computer ,hen to start or stop sending data. 3edit4 2ompression by the -6! 's telephone(based >1k modems began losing popularity, some -nternet service providers such as 7etAero and Juno started using pre(compression to increase the throughput and maintain their customer base. 's e)ample, the 7etscape -6! used a compression program that compressed images, te)t, and other obFects at the modem server, Fust prior to sending them across the phone line. 2ertain content using lossy compression (e.g., images) may be recompressed (transcoded) using different parameters to the compression algorithm, making the transmitted content smaller but of lo,er *uality. he server(side compression operates much more efficiently than the on(the(fly compression of ..88(enabled modems due to the fact that ..88 is a generaliAed compression algorithm ,hereas other compression techni*ues are application(specific (J!<B, M!<B, .orbis, etc.). ypically Website te)t is compacted to 8K,3citation needed4 thus increasing effective throughput to appro)imately &,/%% kbit+s. he accelerator also pre(compresses Flash e)ecutables and images to appro)imately /%K and &$K, respectively. he dra,back of this approach is a loss in *uality, ,here the B-F and J!<B images are lossy compressed, ,hich causes the content to become pi)elated and smeared. 5o,ever the speed is dramatically improved such that Web pages load in less than > seconds, and the user can manually choose to vie, the uncompressed images at any time. he -6!s employing this approach advertise it as Gsurf >P fasterG or simply Gaccelerated dial(upG.3>4314 hese accelerated do,nloads are no, integrated into the #pera ,eb bro,ser. 3edit4 ?ist of dialup speeds 7ote that the values given are ma)imum values, and actual values may be slo,er under certain conditions (for e)ample, noisy phone lines).3;4 For a complete list see the companion article list of device band,idths. ' baud is one symbol per secondI each symbol may encode one or more data bits. 0itrate 2onnection Modulation Qear @eleased 3kbit+s4 &&% baud 0ell &%& modem F6E %.& &:>9 394 /%% baud (0ell &%/ or ..$&) F6E %./ &:1$ &$%% modem (&$%% baud) (0ell $%$) F6E &.$ &$%% Modem (1%% baud) (0ell $&$' or J!6E &.$ &:9%R3:43&%4 ..$$) $8%% Modem (1%% baud) (..$$bis) J'M $.8 &:98 3:4 $8%% Modem (&$%% baud) (..$1bis) !6E $.8 89%% Modem (&1%% baud) (..$;ter) !6E 8.9 3&&4

:1%% Modem ($8%% baud) (../$) J'M :.1 &:98 3:4 &8.8k Modem ($8%% baud) (../$bis) J'M &8.8 &::& 3:4 $9.9k Modem (/$%% baud) (../8) J'M $9.9 &::8 3:4 //.1k Modem (/8$: baud) (../8) J'M //.1 3&$4 >1k Modem (9%%%+/8$: baud) (..:%) >1.%+//.1 &::9 3:4 >1k Modem (9%%%+9%%% baud) (..:$) >1.%+89.% $%%% 3:4 0onding modem (t,o >1k modems)) (..:$) &&$.%+:1.% 3&/4 5ard,are compression (variable) >1.%($$%.% (..:%+..8$bis) 5ard,are compression (variable) >1.%(/$%.% (..:$+..88) 6erver(side ,eb compression (variable) &%%.%( (7etscape -6!) &,%%%.% 3edit4 @adio modems =irect broadcast satellite, WiFi, and mobile phones all use modems to communicate, as do most other ,ireless services today. Modern telecommunications and data net,orks also make e)tensive use of radio modems ,here long distance data links are re*uired. 6uch systems are an important part of the !6 7, and are also in common use for high(speed computer net,ork links to outlying areas ,here fibre is not economical. <ven ,here a cable is installed, it is often possible to get better performance or make other parts of the system simpler by using radio fre*uencies and modulation techni*ues through a cable. 2oa)ial cable has a very large band,idth, ho,ever signal attenuation becomes a maFor problem at high data rates if a baseband digital signal is used. 0y using a modem, a much larger amount of digital data can be transmitted through a single piece of ,ire. =igital cable television and cable -nternet services use radio fre*uency modems to provide the increasing band,idth needs of modern households. "sing a modem also allo,s for fre*uency(division multiple access to be used, making full(duple) digital communication ,ith many users possible using a single ,ire. Wireless modems come in a variety of types, band,idths, and speeds. Wireless modems are often referred to as transparent or smart. hey transmit information that is modulated onto a carrier fre*uency to allo, many simultaneous ,ireless communication links to ,ork simultaneously on different fre*uencies. ransparent modems operate in a manner similar to their phone line modem cousins. ypically, they ,ere half duple), meaning that they could not send and receive data at the same time. ypically transparent modems are polled in a round robin manner to collect small amounts of data from scattered locations that do not have easy access to ,ired infrastructure. ransparent modems are most commonly used by utility companies for data collection. 6mart modems come ,ith a media access controller inside ,hich prevents random data from colliding and resends data that is not correctly received. 6mart modems typically re*uire more band,idth than transparent modems, and typically achieve higher data rates. he -<<< 9%$.&& standard defines a short range modulation scheme that is used on a large scale throughout the ,orld. 3edit4 WiFi and WiMa) Wireless data modems are used in the WiFi and WiMa) standards, operating at micro,ave fre*uencies.

WiFi is principally used in laptops for -nternet connections (,ireless access point) and ,ireless application protocol (W'!). 3edit4 Mobile modems and routers 6ee also: Mobile broadband and 2onnect card

(Mobile "niversal Mobile elecommunications 6ystem !2 2ard modem

5ua,ei 2=M'$%%% <volution(=ata #ptimiAed "60 ,ireless modem Modems ,hich use a mobile telephone system (B!@6, "M 6, 56!', <.=#, WiMa), etc.), are kno,n as ,ireless modems (sometimes also called cellular modems). Wireless modems can be embedded inside a laptop or appliance or e)ternal to it. <)ternal ,ireless modems are connect cards, usb modems for mobile broadband and cellular routers. ' connect card is a !2 card or <)press2ard ,hich slides into a !2M2-'+!2 card+<)press2ard slot on a computer. "60 ,ireless modems use a "60 port on the laptop instead of a !2 card or <)press2ard slot. ' cellular router may have an e)ternal datacard ('ir2ard) that slides into it. Most cellular routers do allo, such datacards or "60 modems. 2ellular @outers may not be modems per se, but they contain modems or allo, modems to be slid into them. he difference bet,een a cellular router and a ,ireless modem is that a cellular router normally allo,s multiple people to connect to it (since it can route, or support multipoint to multipoint connections), ,hile the modem is made for one connection. Most of the B6M ,ireless modems come ,ith an integrated 6-M cardholder (i.e., 5ua,ei <$$%, 6ierra 99&, etc.) and some models are also provided ,ith a micro6= memory slot and+or Fack for additional e)ternal antenna such as 5ua,ei <&;1$ and 6ierra Wireless 2ompass 99>.3&843&>4 he 2=M' (<.=#) versions do not use @( "-M cards, but use <lectronic 6erial 7umber (<67) instead. he cost of using a ,ireless modem varies from country to country. 6ome carriers implement flat rate plans for unlimited data transfers. 6ome have caps (or ma)imum limits) on the amount of data that can be transferred per month. #ther countries have plans that charge a fi)ed rate per data transferredSper megabyte or even kilobyte of data do,nloadedI this tends to add up *uickly in todayDs content(filled ,orld, ,hich is ,hy many people are pushing for flat data rates.

he faster data rates of the ne,est ,ireless modem technologies ("M 6, 56!', <.=#, WiMa)) are also considered to be broadband ,ireless modems and compete ,ith other broadband modems belo,. "ntil end of 'pril $%&&, ,orld,ide shipments of "60 modems still surpass embedded /B and 8B modules by /:& due to "60 modems can be easily discarded, but embedded modems could start to gain popularity as tablet sales gro, and as the incremental cost of the modems shrinks, so by $%&1 the ratio may change to &:&.3&14 3edit4 0roadband

=6? modem '=6? modems, a more recent development, are not limited to the telephoneDs voiceband audio fre*uencies. 6ome '=6? modems use coded orthogonal fre*uency division modulation (=M , for =iscrete Multi oneI also called 2#F=M, for digital . in much of the ,orld). 2able modems use a range of fre*uencies originally intended to carry @F television channels. Multiple cable modems attached to a single cable can use the same fre*uency band, using a lo,(level media access protocol to allo, them to ,ork together ,ithin the same channel. ypically, DupD and Ddo,nD signals are kept separate using fre*uency division multiple access. 7e, types of broadband modems are beginning to appear, such as double,ay satellite and po,er line modems. 0roadband modems should still be classed as modems, since they use comple) ,aveforms to carry digital data. hey are more advanced devices than traditional dial( up modems as they are capable of modulating+demodulating hundreds of channels simultaneously. Many broadband modems include the functions of a router (,ith <thernet and WiFi ports) and other features such as =52!, 7' and fire,all features. When broadband technology ,as introduced, net,orking and routers ,ere unfamiliar to consumers. 5o,ever, many people kne, ,hat a modem ,as as most internet access ,as through dial(up. =ue to this familiarity, companies started selling broadband modems using the familiar term modem rather than vaguer ones like adapter or transceiver, or even GbridgeG. 3edit4 5ome net,orking 'lthough the name modem is seldom used in this case, modems are also used for high(speed home net,orking applications, especially those using e)isting home ,iring. #ne e)ample is the B.hn standard, developed by - "( , ,hich provides a high(speed (up to & Bbit+s) ?ocal area net,ork using e)isting home ,iring (po,er lines, phone lines and coa)ial cables). B.hn devices use orthogonal fre*uency(division multiple)ing (#F=M) to modulate a digital signal for transmission over the ,ire.

he phrase Gnull modemG ,as used to describe attaching a specially ,ired cable bet,een the serial ports of t,o personal computers. 0asically, the transmit output of one computer ,as ,ired to the receive input of the otherI this ,as true for both computers. he same soft,are used ,ith modems (such as !rocomm or Minicom) could be used ,ith the null modem connection. 3edit4 =eep(space telecommunications Many modern modems have their origin in deep space telecommunications systems of the &:1%s. =ifferences bet,een deep space telecom modems and landline modems: digital modulation formats that have high doppler immunity are typically used ,aveform comple)ity tends to be lo,, typically binary phase shift keying error correction varies mission to mission, but is typically much stronger than most landline modems 3edit4 .oice modem .oice modems are regular modems that are capable of recording or playing audio over the telephone line. hey are used for telephony applications. 6ee .oice modem command set for more details on voice modems. his type of modem can be used as an FT# card for !rivate branch e)change systems (compare ..:$). 3edit4 !opularity