Super Fast Modem

Group 1

Michael Peoples, Brent Rowe, Bat-Ulzii Bataa

Key Words: Channel Bonding, Modem, FiOS

Comcast Corp., a cable company, has developed a new high-speed modem. This device will make surfing the internet much faster than any modem on the market now. This new modem will allow people to surf the web and download movies nearly 25 times faster than the standard cable modems used today. The new super-modem will help many online businesses complete their online shopping transactions much faster and allow more people to purchase merchandise with fewer delays and disruptions due to busy servers.

Comcast Corp. Chief Executive Brian Roberts introduced the new modem in May at a Las Vegas Convention. This modem will allow internet users to download movies, games and other media 25 times faster than the average modem found in homes today. The modem downloads at a speed of 150 megabits per second. Comcast Corp. developed this new technology in order to compete with Verizon Communications Inc., who is now using a fiber-optic network in their TV and internet service transmissions. Verizon calls their speedy new service FiOS, which offers at a rate of 50 megabits per second. Verizon has unlimited potential with their fiber-optic lines.

The new technology, DOCSIS 3.0, which was developed by Cable Television Laboratories. The laboratory said that it expects manufacturers to begin submitting modems for certification under their standard by the end of 2007. The technology bonds together four cable lines together but is not limited in that capacity.

Technology is now part of everyday life for almost every American and the majority of the world. For this reason it is important for the hardware that we use be able to keep up to speed with the amount of people using the internet. This new modem will allow internet users to finish their tasks online 25 times faster than the average person could today.

This new modem will improve many businesses who sell their merchandise online. This is because they will be able to complete 25x more transactions in a given period of time. Shopping online will now be even more convenient because the customer will not have to wait for pictures of the products to load, because it will be almost instantaneous. Purchasing movies online will soon become more common than purchasing them at a traditional store such as Wal-Mart. Similar to the way songs are downloaded today.

Netflix, a movie rental company, allows you to put movies into a list and they mail the movies to you in the order that they are put into the list. They also offer a limited number of movies online that you can watch from you home computer rather waiting on a movie to come in via traditional mail. This is a service that many traditional movie rental businesses are moving toward such as Blockbuster.

We all use computers today, whether we are at home surfing the internet or at work using e-mail. This new modem will improve performance time with businesses that use computers as a main source of information. Wal-Mart is a company that is so large that it requires the internet to complete many of the necessary daily tasks within each individual store. Wal-Mart stores almost anything that an employee could use online, referred to as the WIRE. It allows managers to look at sales from previous years for any store within the company. This allows managers to make sure that the products that sold very well last year are on order and in stock this year. Wal-Mart changes its prices on a daily basis on a system called the SMART system. This system uses the internet to send and receive price changes and information from the home office. This is only one example of how businesses use the internet and how much quicker some activities will be.

References

MSNBC. (2007). Super quick cable modem in your future? Retrieved October 14, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18569662/#storyContinued

Engadget. (2007). Comcast shows off blisteringly fast channel bonding modem. Retrieved October 14, 2007, from http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/09/comcast-shows-off-blisteringly-fast-channel-bonding-modem/

Super Fast Modem

Group 1

1. __________ is the cable company that developed the new super fast modem.

A. Conway Corp.

B. Comcast Corp.

C. Time Warner Inc.

D. Viacom Inc.

2. The super fast modem downloads _____ faster than the standard modem used today.

A. 2.5x

B. 12x

C. 25x

D. 250x

3. Which of the following companies is using a fiber-optic network to transmit their cable information?

A. Comcast Corp.

B. Verizon Communications Inc.

C. DirecTV

D. Dish Network

4. This new super-fast modem technology is called_______.

A. ARRIS

B. FiOS

C. DOCSIS 3.0

D. None of the above

5. A 30 second, 300 megabit television commercial was downloaded in _______, when a standard modem took about _________.

A. 1 minute, 20 minutes

B. A few seconds, a few minutes

C. A few seconds, 10 minutes

D. A few seconds, 16 minutes

6. The new super-fast modem downloads at a rate of _____.

A. 15 megabits per second

B. 150 megabits per second

C. 500 megabits per second

D. 1500 megabits per second

7. The new modem downloaded a 32-volume encyclopedia in under ______.

A. 2 minute B. 3 minutes C. 3.5 minutes D. 4 minutes