As modems have become increasingly fast, the UART has come under greater scrutiny as the cause of transmission bottlenecks. If you are purchasing a fast external modem, make sure that the computer’s UART can handle the modem’s maximum transmission rate. The newer 16550 UART contains a 16-byte buffer, enabling it to support higher transmission rates than the older 8250 UART.
Pronounced u-art, and short for universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter, the UART is a computer component that handles asynchronous serial communication. Every computer contains a UART to manage the serial ports, and some internal modems have their own UART.
