More Resources on 56k Modems

56k.com, a whole site dedicated to 56k modems

1999

• Mac DSL Center. Faster internet connections may be available in your area.
• xDSL Q&A, Vicomsoft. Various forms of DSL will compete head-to-head with cable modems in many markets.
• News: New Mexico breaks DSL deadlock, c|net, 12/16. "...a glaring example of how rural areas have been excluded from the boom in broadband services."
• AT&T to open door to net rivals, Washington Post, 12/5. AT&T working with MindSpring to give cable modem customers an ISP alternative.
• Web: Week in Review, Low End Mac, 12/4. A look back at some of this week's new site content.
• Cable charges stirr up Big Pond users, Fairfax IT, 12/1. Australia's only provider of cable internet service wants to charge users by the megabyte.
• Faster browsing on older Macs, Online Tech Journal
• Net victory could cut DSL prices, c|net, 11/8. "...Baby Bell companies must allow competitors to share the main telephone line into homes to offer high-speed digital subscriber line service."
• 56k modems to improve, PC World, 11/18. "V.90 Plus modems could speed uploads and connect more quickly."
• Online with a PowerBook Duo, Julie Fugett, Mac Daniel, 11/17. "To do everything you want to accomplish, you're going to need a DuoDock."
• Free web access, even for older Macs, Rob Myers, Mac Musings, 11/17. Free web access with a standard PPP connection and no extra ad banners in your brower.
• The hell that is DSL, Interactive Week, 11/8 [56k.com]. Getting DSL installed can be a nightmare.
• A new age of consumer cable modems, ZDTV [56k.com]. "One big surprise . . . was just how simple the installation process is for the end user."
• VDSL offers ten times ADSL speed, TechWeb, 11/2 [56k.com]. "VDSL technology has an aggregate capacity of up to 60 Mbist/second over short distances...."
• IPNetRouter 1.4.4 released, 11/4. It's how I connect my network to the internet.
• Six months with a cable modem, 56k.com. "The lesson in this is that a modem is only as good as the network behind it...."
• 3Com scores with modem geared toward serious gamers, Excite News, 10/26. PCI modem designed for faster pings, more stable connections, and reduced lag times. (No info on Mac support.)
• The social cost of connectivity, Wired, 10/20. Does "being connected" mean being disconnected from those around us?
• At last, DSL gets real, ZDNet, 10/18. "Somewhere in the spectrum of DSL choices is a cost-effective offer that will work for you, whether you need to feed Net access to a family, a small office, or a home office."
• FCC to re-examine "modem tax," MSNBC. "The 'modem tax' is now officially classified as an urban myth; however, the idea is not completely dead inside the FCC; it's just on long-term hold."
• DSL: One man's life in the fast lane, Gary Krakow, MSNBC. "If you know what T-1 lines cost per month, or how ISDN "per minute/per channel" charges add up, DSL starts to look like a bargain (even in the Big Apple)."
• Why DSL will win the fast-access fight, Jesse Berst, ZDNet, 10/6. In a word, competition.
• How to avoid a $400 "free" ISP phone bill, c|net, 9/23. Free internet access may be via costly "local toll" phone number.
• Cable modems or DSL: which is better?, Simson Garfinkel, Salon, 9/23. "...both technologies have merits and should be able to stand on their own."
• Earthlink, MindSpring to merge, Yeahoo/Reuters, 9/23. "The combined company would form the second largest Internet service provider in the U.S. with more than three million members...."
• Vicom Internet Gateway vs. IPNetRouter, brindley.net. Two popular programs for sharing internet access among networked Macs.
• You have fast access in your home right now, Jesse Berst, ZDNet, 8/25. Well, not quite yet, but your power lines could double as high speed data lines.
• 56k PCI modem, Excite/Business Wire, 8/23. Not a Winmodem, this may be the first full-fledged modem on a PCI card. (Alas, no Mac support.)
• 56k USB modems, MacNN Review, 8/20. "...56K USB modems simply do not perform as well as they should."
• G.Lite: Mass Market ADSL, Online Tech Journal, 8/17. "...a cost effective DSL technology with good enough performance for most users most of the time."
• Dale Sorensen's Mac DSL Page.
• New flavor of DSL brings faster, cheaper net access, CNN, 8/13. G.Lite will reach 1.5 Mbps downstream and 384 kbps upstream - over 25x faster downloads and 11x faster uploads than 56k modems!
• Cable or DSL?, Dan Knight, 56k Modem Page, 8/11. Which is the better choice, a cable modem or DSL?
• Apple, SingTel team up to bring ADSL to iMacs, iMac NewsPage, 7/20. This is the first time SingTel has offered broadband internet access for anything besides Windows.
• How fast is fast?, Online Tech Journal, 7/19. Trying to put throughput in perspective.
• Apple lays plans for bundled DSL, Mac OS Rumors, 7/19. "Information from reliable sources indicates that Apple is currently refining its plans for bundling xDSL 'modems' as an option on all professional Macs, and perhaps also on the iMac and Consumer Portable as well."
• Why users are satisfied (or not) with their ISPs, ZDNet, 7/19. "Fast access is one of the keys to ISP customer satisfaction."
• Upgrade Guy: sharing modems, MacCentral, 7/16.
• A better way to share, PowerBook Source (dead site), 7/12. Sharing an internet connection with multiple Macs.
• Judge to AT&T - free access for all!, ZDNet, 6/4. No, not free access for end users, but AT&T-owned cable systems must allow user choice of ISP.
• Life beyond the modem: PacBell FasTrak DSL, MacGeeks, 6/3. "...I shudder at the thought of going back to life with a modem."
• Modems' last stand, Macworld
  "...today's fastest modems can't compete with digital technologies such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), and cable modems...."
• DSL, Cable, T-1 performance compared
  Real world tests show T-1 fastest, cable and DSL comparable. Note that cable and DSL results can very by locale. (Also see Keynote Press Release)
• DSL speeds can smoke cable, c|net, 5/17
  "...even low-grade DSL is as much as 12 percent faster than cable - at least during consumers' prime-time evening hours...."
• Mac-friendly DSL Providers List
• What life with a cable modem is really like, CNN interactive
  "...after six months of use, I can say cable was worth the wait. At least, that's what I tell myself on the good days. "
• Beyond 56k modems: Cable and DSL, MacFixIt
  "Wishing, hoping or planning to get a cable modem soon? There are some downsides as well as upsides to these devices."
• Apple bug cause of Road Runner woes, MacTimes, 4/19
  "...the problems are in fact related to both the Macintosh OS and [Road Runner] equipment upgrades."
• Myth of the 56k modem, Wired News
• Cable modem sales surge, Wired News
• Is a 56k Modem a Good Match for a IIci?, Mac Daniel
• The iMac & a cable modem - pure speed baby!, the iMac.com

1998

• The Mac and the cable modem, Mining Co.
• Will DSL seriously challenge cable?, Red Herring
• Cable modems go retail, PC World
• ADSL gets a future, Computer Shopper
• DSL rides the rocky road to standards, Network Computing
• Apple modem script generator
• iMac modem troubleshooting guide, the iMac.com
• Why super-fast cheap access is taking so darned long, ZDNet
• MSNBC looks at faster web access
• Breaking the speed limit, US News and World Report
• SpeedChoice offers high speed wireless downloads, but uses poky old modems on the upload side
• AuthorITies looks at cable modems
• AMUG (Arizona Mac Users Group) to offer DSL service
• Bob Metcalfe discusses MVL DSL, Infoworld
• ADSL users: the few, the happy, Inter@ctive Week
• Mac Resource Page looks at cable modems
• ADSL in Colorado, a users experience, MacCentral
• Microsoft, 3Com push high-speed remote access, InfoWorld
• Transcend announces 112Kbps modem, MacWeek
• GTE to roll our xDSL in 16 states, TeleChoice
• Experts Predict Cable Will Dominate, TechWeb
• AOL, GTE team up to offer ADSL (xDSL according to GTE news release).
• Bare Feats asks, "Does the speed of the internet mean a cable modem offers no real advantage over a 56k modem?"
• Hurry Up and Wait to Buy Newer, Faster 56K Modem, says Christian Science Monitor
• Editorial The disposable modem.
• My experience with the Supra 56e modem.
• 56k standard eestablished; new name for standard is V.90.
• Adam C. Engst writes, "DSL: Will its promise come through," in MacWeek.
• Bob Metcalfe, inventor of ethernet, labels phone modems "an abomination;" see incredible promise in cable modems.
• Hayes shows $300 DSL modem.
• Cnet asks How Real is DSL?
• Lucent announces WildWire, 1.5mbps DSL over conventional phone lines.
• Is the 56k modem already obsolete? Hiawatha Bray thinks so.
• Rockwell and PCM Modem News have information on the upcoming ITU 56k standard.
• Newsbytes reports internet bandwidth averages approximately 40kbps. This means 56k modems are an excellent match for the internet.
• A look at modem bonding.
• 3Com announces USB (universal serial bus) modem. Benefits: faster serial throughput, plug and play ease. More at cnet.
• Thessasource and 56k.com report that Rockwell and 3Com/US Robotics have agreed to bury the hatchet and support the new standard proposed by the ITU last week.
• Rockwell has created a new, less costly high-speed technology called Consumer DSL (Digital Subscriber Line). CDSL will offer 1Mbps performance, somewhat less than ADSL promises, but with less hardware and lower cost. Like ADSL, CDSL is an asymmetric protocol: downloads may reach 1Mbps, but uploads will be limited to 128Kbps (about three times faster than a typical 56k connection).
• Macintosh Online Technical Journal has an article detailing serial throughput for various Macs - and how LocalTalk can greatly reduce it.
• MacConnect, UUNET, Microsoft Network, GTE Networking, EarthLink, and BellSouth have announced support for the K56flex protocol in the past days. AOL has expanded deployment of X2 modems.
• Bonded 56k modems have become the hot new thing, allowing 112Kbps using paired modems with two phone lines - and requiring an ISP that support bonding. Imagine bonding 10 modems over 10 phone lines for 560Kbps.... Lots more information at 56k.com.

1997

• Just my luck, Mark Hall's column, "Standards Don't Matter for High Speed Modems," in ZD Internet Magazine (12/97) isn't available online. He points out that you buy what works with your ISP, so standards are less important than we think.
• Just not worth it? That's what Cnet's "10 Technologies That Don't Stand a Chance" says about 56k modems. Read the article and let them know what you think.
• No 56k standard? PCWeek Online reports on a lawsuit filed by Brent Townshend against Rockwell for violating his intellectual property rights by using his 56k technology. With this unsettled, it could throw a wrench in hopes of a single 56k modem standard for some time. (Lucent, which also makes K56flex chips, is not affected.)
• Internet access via your power line? Nortel and Norweb promise 1 MB/sec. throughput without using phone lines. Read more.
• Filter unwanted email. The Spam Filtering Guide can get you started.
• PC Magazine has an overview of 56k technology and reviews a dozen modems.
• Looking for an ISP that supports 56k? Visit isps.com.
• PCToday reviews eight K56flex modems.
• PCWorld has an article that notes a 57.6 kbps serial port limitation for AOL 3 for Windows 95 - this limitation of reduces average throughput by 20%.
• Cnet.com has an overview of 56k technology and 23 modems. Best analog speed was 31.3Kbps; top digital speed was 43.6Kbps. Testing showed no appreciable difference between X2 and K56flex but some significant differences between brands.
• PC Computing reviews the Diamond SupraExpress 56e (K56flex), Hayes Accura 56K (K56flex), Motorola ModemSurfr 56K (K56flex), IBM 56K (X2), and Cardinal Connecta 56k (X2).
• Computer Shopper has a very favorable review of the Diamond SupraExpress 56e.
• 56k.com has reports from Rockwell that K56flex can achieve 56k performance without violating FCC requirements.
• PC Today Online reviews X2 modems from US Robotics, Global Village, Practical Peripherals, Cardinal, Logicode, ActionTec, and IBM.
• 56k.com has information on early K56flex modems v.0.5) that simply aren't up to date - and how you can upgrade them to K56flex 1.0.
• Communications Week asks, "Should you take the leap?"
• 56k.com has customer feedback on speed of Diamond, Global Village, Motorola, and US Robotics modems.
• ISDN slows while 56K, DSL gain, according to MacWeek.
• HomePC, "56K Modems: Will they end the world wide wait?" reports K56flex significantly slower than X2 (this may be due to modems with defective chips). More info on defective chips at Hiwaay.net.
• McHenryCom has compared four brands of K56flex modems and found no significant speed difference between them.
• TechWeb has a troubling article from EETIMES online asking whether K56flex is really a standard or just a marketing ploy.
• TechWeb has a lot of information about 56k modems.
• PC Week proclaims, "Labels on 56Kbps modem packages should actually read '40-something'."
• Computer Shopper test X2 and reports,

Some Web sites were accessed in the mid-30Kbps range where they had formerly transferred at mid-20Kbps levels, but we still had more than our share of sub-10Kbps sites. The problem, of course, is that no matter what the connect speed with AOL might be, you still must deal with slow responses from busy Web sites.

• "Download Derby" at ComputerLife Online compares throughput with various technologies with 10 MB file.
• Family PC finds X2 "44% faster than 28.8."
• AOL announces support for X2 standard. Expects 65% of network will use 3Com/US Robotics Total Control remote access equipment, which can be software configured for X2. AOL expects to have 120 cities accessible with X2 by August 31, 200 cities by the end of September. All this at no surcharge, hopefully setting a trend for the rest of the industry.
• First head-to-head review of X2 and K56flex modems in PC Week of June 2, 1997.

• How 56Kbps Modems Stack Up.

• Reports 56k modems show "as much as 76 percent increase in throughput" v. conventional v.34 modems in lab tests (not the real world).
• Compares Supra, Hayes, Motorola, and US Robotics 56k models.
• Notes 56k modems may connect at one speed, then fall back to a slower speed for data transmission.
• Projects "real-world connections for these modems will probably be in the 42K-bps-to-46K-bps range."
• Neither protocol seems better than the other.

• Why 56Kbps Modems Aren't Always That Speedy.

• Discusses limitations of phone lines, particularly residential ones, that may limit throughput to 33.6.

• The High Cost of Handling High-Speed Traffic.

• Discusses limitations of 56k for remote access.

• Infoworld reports E-Tech plans modems supporting both X2 and K56flex standards.
• Ed Foster's column on US Robotics X2 modems.
• First Look at X2 and lab results from Windows Sources.
• Seven Reasons Not to Buy a 56k modem from The Site.
• 56k Modem from KRON-TV.
• 56k Analog Modem FAQ from 24 Hour Support.
• 56k Modem Vendors Push for Standard from ZD Internet Magazine.
• 56k Modem FAQ from Echo Communications.
• What about 56k Modems? on Dundee.net.
• 56k Modem Technology - The Basics from Logicworld Pty Ltd.
• 56k Modem Info from ModemShop.
• First 56k Modems: Fast, Inexpensive, but Not for Everyone from PC World.
• Hurry Up ... and Wait from PC Magazine.
• New Modems to Hit Warp 56 from Mac User.
• Look Before You Leap from MultiTech Systems.
• How 56k modems work from PC Week.