Advantages of 56K

• Introduction

• Speed

• Cost

• Availability

• The cardboard box factor

Speed

It goes without saying, but 56K modems perform better than their 28.8K and 33.6K cousins. No surprise there.

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. See "56K? I can't even get 28.8K"

Most people can expect speeds in vicinity of 40-50K. It's not a huge leap, but it's natural progression over today's speeds, and it will be an easy decision for people buying their first modem, and for anyone who's still using a 14.4 modem.