:: About Cable Modems

A cable modem is a digital device, which connects the computer system to the Internet, via a coaxial cable, usually the same as used in a cable television network.

It is used for transmission of data. The cable line is typically filtered and separate from the cable TV lines in your home. This technology can have speed as high as 30 Mbps, compared to the phone modems, which have a speed of 56 Kbps. In cable modems the actual transfer speed becomes slower (in the range of 256 Kbps to 4 Mbps) because the bandwidth is commonly divided up among all subscribers in a defined area, such as a neighborhood or a subdivision. A cable modem typically has two connections, one to the cable wall outlet and the other to a computer (PC). Most cable modems are external devices that connect to the PC through a standard 10Base-T Ethernet card and twisted-pair wiring. External Universal Serial Bus (USB) modems and internal PCI modem cards are also available.

The end user can also watch Cable TV through the same cable line; however the installation of a splitter is essential. In some cable systems, this may not be possible.