cable modem Last modified: Thursday, July 14, 2005
A modem designed to operate over cable TV lines. Because the coaxial cable used by cable TV provides much greater bandwidth than telephone lines, a cable modem can be used to achieve extremely fast access to the World Wide Web. This, combined with the fact that millions of homes are already wired for cable TV, has made the cable modem something of a holy grail for Internet and cable TV companies. There are a number of technical difficulties, however. One is that the cable TV infrastructure is designed to broadcast TV signals in just one direction - from the cable TV company to people's homes. The Internet, however, is a two-way system where data also needs to flow from the client to the server. In addition, it is still unknown whether the cable TV networks can handle the traffic that would ensue if millions of users began using the system for Internet access. Despite these problems, cable modems that offer speeds up to 2 Mbps are already available in many areas. Also see Cable vs. DSL in Webopedia's "Did You Know...?" section.
•E-mail this definition to a colleague• Sponsored listings Cisco Modems - Online seller of refurbished Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Juniper, and F5 networks hardware offers Cisco modems. Cable Modem Internet Access - Get Internet For Your Business and Add Phone For $19.95/Line per Mo. Cable Internet - Get HughesNet Broadband. Cable Internet for your Business. Choose which HughesNet Business solution is right for you! For internet.com pages about cable modem . Also check out the following links! Article on cable modems  This Byte magazine article, from September 1996, provides information on the development of technologies that will solve bandwidth problems, with information on cable modems, ADSL, copper vs. coaxial, phone and cable problems, and infrastructure debates. Cable modem resource site  This resource page contains links to cable modem systems, including manufacturers, system trials, organizations, articles, and papers. CableLabs Web site  Defines interface requirements for cable modems involved in high-speed data distribution over cable television networks. Cable modem FAQ FAQ focusing on the speed of the cable modems, Internet traffic, and deployment issues. Cable Modem Information Provides links to sites that describe how cable modems work, as well as resources for software and tools, and information on sharing modems. CableLabs home page Home page for Cable Television Laboratories. Here, you'll find links to their research and development projects in the area of cable technology, collaboration efforts, cable Web sites, publications, and news. Sharing Cable Modems Good resource for information on sharing a cable modem connection with multiple computers. Contains clear, easy-to-follow instructions for both the PC and Mac, as well as other related resources. Yahoo!'s cable modems page Yahoo!'s directory of cable modems. Sponsored listings Cable Internet for Businesss - Business Cable Internet, Digital Phone & Digital Cable TV. Buy together and Save. Call us today! Network Routers - An online destination for discount used, refurbished, and new open box network equipment. Up to 90% off list price. Cisco Modems at Focus Technology - Focus is a leading provider of servers and IT hardware including Cisco Modems. Trained professionals serving our broad spectrum of product lines.	Convergence Modems Peripheral Devices cable head-end CMTS DOCSIS WebTV Give Us Your Feedback Modems cable modem Products Shop by Top Models: Motorola SURFboard® SB5101 Cable Modem 5 store offers from $50 - $80 D-link (DCM-202) Cable Modem 15 store offers from $43 - $80 Linksys BEFCMU10 Cable Modem 1 store offers from $70 - $70 Zoom 5241 Cable Modem (52410200) 6 store offers from $57 - $63 Zonet ZFM5621CF Analog/Cable Modem 2 store offers from $13 - $13