CHAPTER 6 Networks and Networking: Linking the World
The V.92 Modem Standard For the last decade, modem manufacturers have been paralleling another industry's century-old attempt to build a better mousetrap. In each case the inherent limitations enable only incremental gains in performance. In the case of the modem, there is only so much technology can do to speed up digital signals sent over an analog communications link. The new V.92 modem standard is expected to result in modems that can outperform V.90-modems by 20 to 40 percent. Also, the connect time is substantially reduced, as well as the "squawking and spitting." The standard allows for voice and data to coexist, thus enabling call-waiting services. Of course, a modem based on the V.92 standard can only realize improved performance if the ISP to which it is connected is V.92-enabled. Analog modems may be only distant memory in a few years as people migrate toward broadband DSL, cable modem, and satellite links.
Making the Connection Over the "Last Mile" Relatively few, less than 6 percent, of America's office buildings are actually linked to high-speed fiber-optic networks. The primary reason for this is that laying fiber-optic lines can be expensive and cumbersome, especially over that last mile into an office or home. The last mile is a term used to describe that distance (as little as a few feet to a mile or so) from the nearest fiber-optic cable to an organization's server or an individual's PC. A company called Terabeam is offering a solution. Their wireless laser-beam technology provides line-of-site links that enable transmission rates of up to 1000 Mbps, as fast as fiber-optic cable. A 10-hour download via an analog modem connection can be done in less than one second over such a line. The kinks in the technology are being worked out in Seattle, WA. Six other major cities are expected to have this capability by the end of 2001. The quicker we conquer this "last mile" hurdle, the quicker the Internet shifts from mostly text to most video, audio, and graphics.