My investigation on Camble modems

Cable modems are the most popular choice for people who want to connect to the internet at very fast rates without paying an enormous amount of money. This is a very good reason for someone to choose the Cable option but competition is getting bigger and bigger and various other technologies, discussed above, are able to provide the required services at reduced prices. Although there are alternatives to cable modems, they are still market leaders in most countries that have cable networks. This shows that there are more reasons for that.

5.1.1 Cable modem advantages

The basic reason for cable modems popularity is that it offers a high bandwidth in an always on service, in other words the user is logged on to the net whenever he switches on his computer and can straight away use the fast services without dialling or answering needed. Moreover this service makes the user able to use a variety of applications found in the internet that would be a distant dream if he used any other service. Also this service provides good quality connections and does not depend on the quality of the telephone line since it doesn’t occupy one, leaving it free for use.

Furthermore cable modems were the first broadband devices in the market. This gave an important first-to-market advantage to cable modems that the providers took full advantage advertising it and making the service available to many areas at reduced prices so that more and more people register for the cable companies. Moreover the cable modem vendors did not stopped working bringing new standards for better quality products so that cable modems will still be market leaders.

5.1.2 Traffic Jam

On the other hand the cable networks have an important disadvantage over the alternative technologies that have to be solved in the near future so that cable modems doesn’t fail to provide the required services. The problem occurs in the LAN networks used to provide the cable service. It is called traffic jam and occurs when many users want to use the internet in a Local Network. When this happens users are limited to a very small bandwidth so that the network can serve all users logged on.

Pic. 12 Traffic jam

At this time the speeds can be very low and the bandwidth reduced. Some companies overcame this problem by introducing new LAN so that more users could be served but some other providers that did not want to spend any money for investment in the future, put limits to user downloads.

This way of handling things is not the best since the users are not satisfied with limits set, especially when there is a very big advertisement about the services that the company provides but they don’t mention anything about the limits.

5.2 Cable modem Future.

The future of the cable modems is a bit complicated and unpredictable. One thought is that the cable operators will invest in this technology and solve the traffic jam problems. If they do that the speeds and the quality of the services will be better in the near future and costs will decrease making the service available for everyone to have. Furthermore new emerging standards will provide better services and applications. The new improved technology will transform the CATV network to a powerful communication tool that will change the way we view communication for ever.

On the other hand a more pessimistic thought is that the traffic jam problems will not be solved and the speeds will decreased instead of increased. This will make cable users try to find an alternative solution for connecting to the internet avoiding cable modems. Furthermore competition is very close and may be in the next years their offers will be much more interesting than the ones that cable providers offer.

At this point I’d like to add that I’ve send e-mails to several cable companies asking them about what do they think about the cable modem’s future and the answers I got varied. This shows that Cable modem’s future is very uncertain even for the companies providing them.

5.3 Broadband Technology Evaluation

The term broadband became a part of our lives in the last few years. Before that it was used only by telecommunications companies but now it has much more importance. The importance of the broadband technology is so big that some broadband internet providers changed their “name” to “name” broadband.

The broadband internet is offered by many providers that use a variety of technologies. This variety of technologies in conjunction with the industry competition that is also very big will provide better technology products at reduced prices.

Furthermore the new wireless technologies will be more favoured from this development since more people will want to use them if prices get lower.

The new high speed internet services are going to change the internet and many new areas of interest will be created. E-commerce will be an area that will change the businesses for ever since the new improved broadband services will make businesses able to sell services or products through their e-commerce site even if they are far away.

The new developments of broadband technologies will make internet available globally at fast speeds. One example is the satellite internet that makes users able to connect to the net even if they are in an area with no land lines. Furthermore these new developments make the users have more choices when deciding which one is the most suitable technology for them.

One important feature of broadband technology is the communication part. Communications are changed for ever since now someone is able to write, talk or even watch someone in video that is far away without paying money except the fixed ISP bill. This development brings people closer and enables them to communicate at reduced costs. Before a few years if someone told you that you would be able to chat with someone in a differed country watching him on video without paying anything extra you should thing that he is dreaming. Nowadays thought this dream became true with this technology.

5.4 Broadband Technology Future

The future of broadband is very bright. Next years the dial up connections will be a thing of the past since the broadband services provided by various companies will replace this old technology providing much faster links and higher bandwidth. Moreover the architects that built new houses will take under consideration this aspect and will implement the appropriate wiring in the houses they built. This shows the importance of internet for households around the country.

Furthermore in a few years time broadband internet will be available everywhere and most devices we use in our everyday life will be broadband compatible. The first examples of this are the mobile phones, after a few years of their existence, they started offering internet services. These services will be increased over the next years and more devices like TVs, Radios and others will adopt the broadband technology.

A broadband technology with bright future is the Fast TCP. The Fast TCP is a very new technology introduced last year to the public but it is only in testing stage but shows very high potential for being the future of broadband since the first tests done were very satisfactory.

Finally the future of broadband technology will include higher data rates and security as well as new applications that will be used to take advantage of the new developments.

5.5 Conclusion

Cable modem is the edge of broadband technology having to offer many features in a suitable for all budgets cost. Their versatility and flexibility made them market leaders in the UK’s and other countries markets. The features they offer can suit a variety of people, from a simple user that wants to serf the web up to small businesses that need internet access at fast data rates.

Nowadays many homes have chosen to use the cable modems in order to connect to the internet. The number is increasing day by day and the cable modem became something more than a simple modem. It changed the way people see the internet and computer communication in general. Some people compared it with the invention of the steam engine before the industrial revolution. Although this might sound a little over exaggerated they had true reasons to say that.

Cable modems industry is at its best time. All major cable companies all over the world have partnered with manufacturers in order to provide internet through their cable network. Moreover this partnership helps in the improvement of the products since important feedback in given back to manufacturers.

Data rates have enormously increased over the last years providing faster speeds something that makes the cable modem’s user happy. Furthermore the quality of the signal has been improved very much in order to reduce lost and bad information (data packets).

< CM Alternatives - CM Pictures>