External Modem

An external modem is a computer device that allows you to connect your computer to the Internet. Modems have been around since the 1950s, when they were used in the United States Military as a means of long distance communication. In the 1960s, AT&T released the first modem onto the public market. Since then, telecommunications and modem technology has increased at a fast rate. Today, there are a number of modem types available on the market. This article will discuss the external modem and its different kinds. Read More >

The external modem usually comes in the form of a small box that is connected to a computer or other devices. The external modem gets its signal from telephone lines, which are plugged directly into the modem. The advantage to using an external modem is that they offer portability and indicator lights that allow you to quickly determine the working conditions of the modem.

There are two kinds of external modem. The first is the narrow-band external modem. These modems are usually referred to as dial-up modems. This type of modem connects to the Internet using an analog signal that is identical to the line used for telephones. As such, the dial-up modem and the telephone cannot be used at the same time. The second kind of external modem is call a broadband modem. These modems get signal from telephone lines, however, they use digital signals which allow for much higher speeds than narrow-band modems. To compare the two, narrow-band modems can reach speeds of 56 kilobytes per second, while broadband modems can have speeds of up to 8 megabytes per second.