Free Dialup UK Article - Introduction to Cable Modems

The modems have been used for ages in the history of the internet. Modems are primary devices to connect to internet. One of the most predominantly used modem in the developed countries like United States, Canada and members of European Union. Here, we try to put focus on this very useful and popular device. Cable modem technology offers high-speed access to the Internet and World Wide Web services.

In simple words, a Cable Modem is a modem that operates over the ordinary cable TV network cables. In technical terms, a cable modem is a special type of modem that is designed to modulate a data signal over cable television infrastructure. Hence, cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access with the aim of taking advantage of unused bandwidth on a cable television network. After this explanation, we must confess that the term "Cable Modem" is ambiguous. This is because the cable modem works more like a Local Area Network (LAN) interface than as a modem.

In terms of connection speed and range, a typical simple modem connection can range from 25Kbps to about 50 Kbps. It is used point-to-point technology. The distance is virtually unlimited. This includes data transfer through multiple satellite networks if necessary. On other end, a local area network or LAN connection is 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps. It is used to connect many computers at a very high speed and amount of data transfer so that the terminal at a distance of a few hundred meters can virtually "talk" to each other with servers and printers at some time. A Cable Modem connection is something in-between these two. The speed can range from 3 Mbps to 15 Mbps at times. The distance can be up to 50 Km to 100 km or even more.

Under standard procedure, you just connect the Cable Modem to the TV outlet for your cable TV and the cable TV operator connects a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) in his Head End. The end-to-end network architecture enables a user cable modem to connect to a CMTS. The CMTS in turn connects to a regional data center for access to Internet services. Thus, through a system of network connections, a cable data network is capable of connecting users to other users anywhere in the global network. The Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) can talk to all the Cable Modems. However, the Cable Modems can only talk to the CMTS. If two Cable Modems need to talk to each other, the CMTS will have to relay the messages.

Cable modems integrates the elements necessary to progress beyond standard modem technology and provide better internet access with privacy, security and best quality service features. The main advantage of the cable modem technology is that that people who have cable TV can now also get a high-speed Internet connection from their cable provider. The propagation of cable modems has advanced the age of Internet access in the developed countries. Today, cable modems compete with technologies like digital subscriber lines (DSL) and asymmetrical digital subscriber lines (ADSL) and has a great future ahead.