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| New modem standard boosts dial-up options
(IDG) -- A new modem standard called V.92 tweaks 56K bit/sec modems in ways that can save companies money, but might scare ISPs. Modems deploying the proposed technology, which could be available by the end of the year, will feature faster setup times. This means direct-dial remote-access calls to companies will be shorter and, in the case of 800 and toll calls, cheaper. V.92 modems also boost upload speeds from 33.6K to 48K bit/sec and let users with call waiting put Internet modem connections on hold to take incoming phone calls. Current 56K bit/sec modems had been touted in some circles as the end-all in analog modems, but developmental work since 1998 (when the current 56K bit/sec standard was approved) has wrung out more features. In addition, 56K bit/sec modems have proved wildly popular, with about 95 million in service worldwide, according to Amy Helland, an analyst with Cahners In-Stat Group in Phoenix. The new devices could be even more popular. "The faster setup times alone will make upgrading to V.92 worthwhile for direct-dial remote access. Five to 15 seconds is a long time if you are paying for long-distance or 800 numbers and you get thousands of calls," says Ken Krechmer, technical editor of Communications Standards Review in Palo Alto, who sits on International Telecommunication Union modem committees. These modems will also send data faster from remote sites than 56K bit/sec modems do today, meaning remote dial users will get offline sooner, again promoting cost savings. But ISPs might be reluctant to use these improved modems because they also let customers put an ISP's modem on hold while customers take phone calls on call waiting. That would promote longer calls from customers, resulting in either more busy signals when other customers try to connect or in ISPs installing more modems to keep the rate of busy signals low.
Average online dial-up times now range from 28 to 30 minutes, and the call-waiting feature would likely increase that, says Neil Harrington, manager of network operations for Sprint's technical services division, which sells modem pool services to ISPs. But Sprint's ISP customers have not focused on that potential drawback. They are aware of V.92 technology and crave its faster training times and greater upload speeds, Harrington says. For end users, the call-waiting feature means they can log on to the Internet and, if they have call waiting, take an incoming call without having to break the Internet connection. The Internet call goes on hold for a set period of time, saving the user from having to redial, wait for the modems to set up and then log on again. While broadband access methods such as DSL and cable modems are making inroads against dial-up modems, analog modems will still dominate remote access through 2004, according to IDC in Framingham, Mass.. For those still using dial-up modems, the new V.92 features will make telecommuting and remote access more efficient, says Kevin Lacey, a firmware development manager for U.S. Robotics. Lacey not only works on U.S. Robotics' V.92 modem development, but he is a telecommuter who uses a dial-up connection to link to his office. He says the call-waiting feature will let people work at home without buying a separate phone line for Internet connections. And the feature will encourage him to stay connected consistently throughout the day rather than checking in periodically for e-mail. That could save him time and work by keeping him better updated about what progress other members of his team have made on projects and thereby letting him avoid duplicating work. The technologyCurrent 56K bit/sec modems (V.90) work at top speed only if one end of the connection is digital, such as a T-1 phone line to a corporate site or to an ISP. The other end is an analog connection like the one available on a single-line phone. In the downstream direction - that is, from an ISP or corporate server to a user's PC modem - a V.90 modem can pass data at 56K bit/sec on a good-quality circuit. But the upload speed maxes out at 33.6K bit/sec. In the rush to get V.90 approved, standards makers decided to use the upstream modulation scheme used in the previous fast modem, V.34. It had a top speed of 33.6K bit/sec. Now with more time, they have found a way to boost the top upload speed to 48K bit/sec by dropping the old modulation scheme and adopting the same method used in the downstream direction. Upstream is slower than downstream because it involves converting the analog signal to digital, which impedes the data flow. V.92 modems will also be able to handshake faster than V.90, cutting the time to start a session from about 30 seconds to as low as 10 seconds, including dialing time, according to Craig Garen, general manager for client access for Lucent Technologies. Some of the steps in the current startup are overkill, and they have been cut from the new standard, Communications Standards Review's Krechmer says. Another difference is that current modems ignore the call waiting beep that phone switches send to customers when they have an incoming phone call and are logged on to the Internet using the same phone line. Some modems are fragile enough that they drop sessions when they hear this tone. V.92 modems will use the beep to trigger an on-hold feature. The customers' modem and the server modem being called will agree to suspend the session for a set period of time ranging from 1 to 16 minutes. That lets the customer take the incoming call, then switch back to the Internet connection. The modems have to resume their session, but without redialing or retraining from scratch. If a customer has caller ID as well as call waiting, modem makers could fashion software that displays that an Internet user has an incoming call and what the calling number is, says U.S. Robotic's Lacey. The V.92 standard has won preliminary approval from the International Telecommunication Union, an endorsement that invariably leads to full ratification. Krechmer says he expects the standard to be set in September. Vendors say they are gearing up to deliver modems by early next year. PCTel, a PC software-modem maker, says it will be able to upgrade its current modems with a software download by early next year. Major modem vendors U.S. Robotics and Lucent Technologies are more aggressive, saying they will ship V.92-compliant gear by the third quarter of this year. These vendors also say they are already working on making their V.92 modems compatible with those made by other firms. Furthermore, if a V.92 modem calls a V.90 modem, it will be able to interoperate as a V.90 modem. RELATED STORIES: Study says DSL and cable will coexist RELATED IDG.net STORIES: Will your cable modem censor the Web? RELATED SITES: 3Com Home Page | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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