From infoseek The News Channel
At Comdex, 3Com's US Robotics pushed the technology by introducing the first cable modem to meet standards set by an industry group known as the Multimedia Cable Network System, comprising of Comcast, Cox, TCI and Time Warner. US Robotics say its modem has the capability of delivering up to 38 megabits per second, which is more
than 1,000 times faster than today's widely used 33.6 kbps modem. (The upstream flow - data going from a user to a Web site - would remain at 33.6 kbps, at least initially). Because a "node" of several hundred users would share a cable modem feed, a single surfer's speed likely will slow down (depending on how many other users are online) to "only" 100 times faster than today's norm. The cost of the modems, set to ship next spring, are about $200. In West Seattle, where TCI started testing last spring, the monthly fee for cable-modem access is
$40. guide-p.infoseek.com |
