1.1 General Questions about Cable Modems
Cable Modem Termination SystemThe CMTS provides, at the cable-provider's head-end, many of the same functions provided by the DSLAM in a DSL system. The CMTS takes the traffic coming in from a group of customers on a single channel and routes it to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for connection to the Internet. At the head-end, the cable providers will have, or lease space for a third-party ISP to have, servers for accounting and logging, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) for assigning and administering the IP addresses of all the cable system's users, and control servers for a protocol called Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS), the major standard used by U.S. cable systems in providing Internet access to users.
The downstream information flows to all connected users, just like an Ethernet network -- it's up to the individual network connection to decide whether a particular block of data is intended for it, or not. On the upstream side, information is sent from the user to the CMTS -- other users don't see that data at all. The narrower upstream bandwidth is divided into slices of time, measured in milliseconds, in which users can transmit one "burst" at a time to the Internet. The division by time works well for the very short commands, queries and addresses that form the bulk of most users' traffic back to the Internet.
A CMTS will enable as many as 1,000 users to connect to the Internet through a single 6 MHz channel. Since a single channel is capable of 30-40 megabits per second of total throughput, this means that users may see far better performance than is available with standard dial-up modems. The single channel aspect, though, can also lead to one of the issues some users experience with cable modems.
If you are one of the first users to connect to the Internet through a particular cable channel, then you may have nearly the entire bandwidth of the channel available for your use. As new users, especially heavy-access users, are connected to the channel, you will have to share that bandwidth, and may see your performance degrade as a result. It is possible that, in times of heavy usage with many connected users, performance will be far below the theoretical maximums. The good news is that this particular performance issue can be resolved by the cable company adding a new channel, and splitting the base of users.
A It is an acronym for "Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification" - an industry standard that nearly all cable companies are adopting as they upgrade their systems. Being DOCSIS - compliant means your Cable Modem will work with virtually all upgraded cable systems in North America, should you ever decide to move.
A cable modem will provide you with rapid download transmission speeds. Downloading a file that would take one-half hour using a telephone modem connection will take only a few minutes with a cable modem connection.
A cable modem provides a continual connection to the Internet. Two-way cable modems do not require the use of a telephone line.
Your service will not be interrupted or receive external static since the outer layer of the cable line will not allow any noise to enter the transmission line.
As a high-speed medium, you will be able to view many different multimedia presentations---"live" or streamed---such as concerts, movies, etc.