by Orlando C. Fernando
version 1; June 27, 1998
The purpose of this guide is to help out the many newcomers understand the buzz about cable modems. It is not meant to be a whole encyclopedia of facts. This is based upon my experience and I'm by no means an expert in this form of technology. There are other guides becoming available in more detail as we speak. This guide, though meant to be kept low-tech, will attempt to be updated and polished as newer info on this technology develops.
This guide assumes you have a modest knowledge of PCs and the Internet in general. Advanced telecommunications or networking knowledge is not necessary.
A cable modem is a new means of accessing the Internet (or a LAN server if you're more ambitious) from your PC. It's not really a modem per say, in that you do not use a traditional modem card in your PC and that you are not using your telephone line. It takes advantage of the cable system - the same system used for your cable TV.
The new funky peripherals that you require to have a cable modem connection are a cable wire, the cable modem itself, and a Network Interface card. From your cable outlet, you have a cable wire (much like the one you use for cable TV from the cable outlet to your cable TV box) that goes to your cable modem box. This cable box is constantly left powered on so that it can monitor the cable traffic across the outside wires so you (almost) always have a connection available. From the cable modem box, you have a power supply that plugs into the wall with a transformer. Also from the cable modem box, you have a RJ45 telephone-like line that connects to your PC. Inside the PC slot which this connects to is the Network Interface Card (NIC). Typically, it's an Ethernet card, such as by 3Com.
If you have cable TV as well, the cable wire will need one device in the middle to separate the signals and physical connections intended for the computer and the TV: a coupler. The coupler receives the cable wire from the cable outlet and sends two separate cable wires to the cable TV and the cable modem.
Ignore everything I just said if either (a) you already have a second cable outlet available near your PC or (b) you plan on having a new cable outlet made near your PC. The cable wire, in this case, is dedicated for PC use.
Note: Although a splitter, you may have heard, is another means to spread one cable outlet's use for the cable TV and cable modem, it is generally illegal and non-secure. Hackers attempt using this to get "free cable". Such a crime is punishable by law and it's HIGHLY not recommended.
You can get cable wire inexpensively from any electronics store (i.e., Radio Shack). NIC cards can be obtained from any computer store (i.e., CompUSA) which are around the $30-$60 range. The cable modem box would come from your cable company providing cable modem service. It may be the case that they will provide the other peripherals too (the price gets lumped up in your installation fee). And hopefully you already have at least one cable outlet in your house!
This is the main reason that attracts Internet home customers to cable modems, all the buzz about how fast you can send stuff to a server or others (upload) and how fast you can receive and see stuff from the e-mail and web (download). The speeds compared to traditional telephone modem are significantly faster, in fact, astonishingly faster. With my cable modem provider, I was able to download a 33 Megabyte file in about 10 minutes. Compare that with leaving a computer and modem on-line overnight to download a 17 Megabyte file! Exact speeds depend mainly on the quality of your NIC card, your PC processor (that Pentium chip you got there), and the amount of traffic in your cable zone. Co-axial cable has much higher bandwidth (capacity to move data across the wire) than current telephone lines.
One minor downside is that everyone in a certain cable area or zone shares the same cable line for the bandwidth. People in one zone can be people in the same apartment complex, or private houses close together on a private street. As more people are accessing a bit of data at the same time, the speed per user divides by half. But such cases, I'm told, are only supposed to occur if several people are accessing the same bit of data (such as the same web home page) at the same time. A good cable modem provider should have tested their cable modem tolerance under the highest traffic conditions.
Since you are going through your cable wires, and not a telephone modem, to connect to the Internet, your phone is unoccupied! Arguably, for telephone modem users, cable modem service saves the cost of purchasing call waiting or getting a second phone line because their PC ties the phone up when they're on the Internet.
Network game speeds should be increased as well. Ping rates (the rates at which a signal can be sent from your computer to the network game's server and back) are significantly reduced and they don't seem to fluctuate much to worse speeds. Chat sessions in network games, the game portions in which on-line players may chat back and forth, are significantly better, with little or no delay of your messages sent to them and vice versa. Your game speeds would only be limited by the quality of the game server (if poor, everyone on-line suffers from it). My findings are based on playing Mech Warrior 2: Mercenaries and POD 2.1, both played on a PC with 266MHZ. and a 3dfx graphic card. Your mileage with your own PC and network games, of course, may vary.
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Copyright 1998 by Orlando C. Fernando. This page is for personal use only. It may be openly distributed for non-profit in wholeor part, but authorship must be credited.
1.2: How does a cable modem connect to my PC?
1.3: But I got cable TV too! What about the cable wire?
1.4: Where do I get all this stuff?
Section 2: Basic Features on Web Pages
2.1: How are download/upload speeds?
2.2: Does this free up my telephone for calls now?
2.3: Will network games be speeded up?
2.4: Can I be on-line and watch my cable TV at the same time?
