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Should You Upgrade to V.92?
By Stephen Buaro
In 1998, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) approved the V.90 standard.
This raised the fasted speed of data transfer with a modem from 33.6Kbps(kilobits per
second) to 56Kbps. With this specification, modem technology has reached the
technological limit for transferring data over plain old telephone lines.
In 2000, the ITU approved the V.92 standard. This specification does not raise the
transfer speed, but only adds a few minor features. The "Modem On Hold" feature
applies call waiting to your Internet connection. If a telephone call comes in while
you are using your browser, this feature lets you put your Internet connection on hold
while you answer the call. It works with Caller ID, so you can identify the caller and
decide whether to answer the call.
Each time your modem connects, it has to negotiate a protocol and speed with the other
modem. The beeps and tones you hear when your modem dials is that negotiation. The
"Quick Connect" feature makes the modem remember the connection setting from the last
time it connected to that number, and it uses that setting to quickly reconnect.
V.90 modems, referred to as "56k modems" cannot actually communicate at 56Kbps. Because
of the antiquated design of the telephone system, signals with a frequency that high
would interfere with signals on adjacent circuits. This phenomenon is called "cross talk".
In order to prevent cross talk, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set a
limit on the power you can send over the telephone line. A V.90 modem can usually
transfer data at only 44Kbs to 48Kbps.
In order for the new V.92 features to work, modems at both end of the line must be
capable of using the V.92 protocol. You can usually upgrade your modem to V.92 by
downloading and installing the latest driver from your modem manufacturer’s Web site.
Although V.92 does not increase the maximum download speed, it does increase the
maximum upload speed from 33.6Kbps to 48Kbps. Many service providers equipment’s
bandwidth is already stretched to the limit and they are not interested in upgrading
to the new standard.
A service provider has the option to disable the new V.92 features. They can set the
amount of time a connection can stay on hold. If you answer a call, don’t expect your
Internet connection to stay on hold for more than a few minutes. A service provider
may disable Quick Connect in order to throttle the bandwidth back when his equipment
is reaching full utilization.
The V.92 standard is associated with the new V.44 compression standard. This standard
increases the compression ratio to 6:1 from the 4:1 ratio of the V.42bis standard.
When uncompressed, the data can be passed to your computers UART (Universal
Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) at speeds up to 180Kbps. The standard UART has a
maximum speed of only 115.2Kbps.
Should you upgrade your modem’s driver to the new V.92 standard? With the V.90
specification, modem technology has reached the technological limit for transferring
data over plain old telephone lines. The new V.92 standard only adds a few trivial
features. Many service providers are not upgrading to the new standard, or are
disabling the new features. No need to hurry to upgrade your modem’s driver.
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