56K Basics

• Introduction

• How it works

• 3 things you need to use 56K

• Standards wars

• "I can't even get 28.8K now"

• "Should I buy 56K now?"

"I can't even get 28.8K now"

A common response to 56K is "if I can't even get 28.8K/33.6K now, why should I even bother with 56K?" The answer is that you can get higher connect speeds with 56K. The half-digital nature of 56K means that your connect rates will be higher than with pure analog technology.

How much faster? As with 28.8K and 33.6K modems, the exact performance will depend on the line quality in your area. MindSpring is currently testing x2, and found that a majority of their users (81.3%) connected at between 40 and 50K, with 58.2% connecting between 45 and 50K:

Speed     # Calls    Percentage
          Connected
52000         2       0.1%
50666        10       0.5%
49333        71       3.7%
48000       159       8.3%
46666        567      29.6%
45333       317      16.6%
44000       132       6.9%
42666       189       9.9%
41333        82       4.3%
40000        39       2.0%
38666        24       1.3%
37333        72       3.8%
36000        45       2.3%
33333       126       6.6%
32000        20       1.0%
29333        60       3.1%