Modem Drivers
A modem, or "modulator-demodulator," is a networking device that provides an interface between a system such as a PC and the network itself. Most users are familiar with telephone based modems used for dial-up 56k communications, but the device your cable or DSL provider uses to interface between their network and your home PC (or router) is also a modem.
The specific function that a modem performs (from Wikipedia) is to "modulate an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulate such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information." A modem provides two-way communications in most cases. Modems are manufactured by several companies, including D-Link, US Robotics, and Motorola. Some are still available as traditional add-on devices, but external telephone modems are largely extinct. Today USB based modems are the most common external variant, and most laptops still retain built-in 56k devices. Some desktop machines still provide built-in modem ports, but this is becoming less common with the rise of high-speed networking. The first modems used with PCs were connected to the serial port, and operated at speeds as low as 75 baud (bits per second). Many early models were "acoustically coupled," which meant the user literally placed the handset from a desktop telephone into a cradle built into the modem. The cradle contained a speaker and microphone that sent and received audible signals to and from the telephone network. Most acoustically coupled modems were limited to perhaps 1200 baud. In the 1980s they were replaced by newer devices that connected directly to the phone line via the RJ-11 jack. Modem speeds increased with the rise of faster chips, finally achieving a landmark 9,600 baud in the mid 1980s. Further speed increases were accomplished using improved error correction such as the Microcom Networking Protocol (MNP) standards and data compression techniques. Compression algorithms such as V.32, V.32bis, and V.42 eventually enabled modem manufacturers to achieve the then lightning-fast speed of 56k, but actual connection speeds were often limited by noisy phone lines or faulty connections. Modems are designed to "fall back" to lower speeds if they are incapable of connecting to a given destination at their maximum 56k data rate. These devices live on today as cable or DSL modems, but the day of the dial-up modem is over. This technology has been largely abandoned, aside from occasional on the road use by business travelers, or by users whose homes are not located within DSL or cable service areas. » Download Modem Drivers |
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