What is 56K?

• With the latest advancements in the telecommunications industry, companies such as Rockwell, Lucent and 3com have produced and released chipsets and modems that can obtain speeds as high as 56Kbps. This is almost double that of the speed of the current standard V.34 28.8 Kbps modems.

I see there are 3 kinds of 56K modems, Why?

• During the early stages of 56K technology, Lucent coupled with Rockwell and produced the Flex protocol while 3Com (formerly US Robotics) dished out the X2 protocol. While both flavors of 56K are good, they had have their limitations most noticeably the incompatibility between each other.
  After a little more than a year, the three chipmakers agreed on an international standardized protocol called V.90.

Why is V.90 better than a Flex or X2 based modem?

• V.90 is the recognized International Standard of the 56k protocols.
  V.90 opens up more access avenues because there is no need to find an ISP
  to "FIT" your modem type since most ISP's offer V.90 access (we do)
  Also, V.90 has shown great improvement over the X2 and Flex protocols in the following areas.

1. Full interoperability with V.90 servers such as Monmouth Internet
2. Better connect speeds and throughput
3. Backwards compatibility to Flex and X2 depending on modem type and server equipment
4. All three major chipmakers and modem manufacturers support V.90 56K

What if I don't want to upgrade my Flex or X2 modem.

• No problem, Our V.90/X2 lines are backwards compatible to X2 as is our V.90/Flex lines are backwards compatible to Flex. If you are not sure what V.90 access number to use, please check out our phone search or contact our Technical Support Team.

Before I buy a 56K modem, can I check my line for compatibility ?

• Absolutely, check out 3Coms line test

Where do I get a V.90 upgrade for my modem.

• Please check with your modem manufacturer for a an upgrade path to V.90. Most brand name modems have a free upgrade program to V.90. Please check your owners manual or manufacturers website for more information. You can also check out the Monmouth Internet 56k Support Page.

Does Monmouth Telecom recommend a particular modem brand?

• We do not want to tell you what brand to buy, but for your benefit please purchase a quality "Brand Name" modem. Doing so, gets you good technical support and updates for your modem. No-name or generic brand modems usually do not provide updates/upgrades or even technical support.
  Also, these low quality generic/no-name modems do not yield the same performance levels as "Brand Name" modems get.

Related Pages:  56k Support Page