dude...what the heck are u talkin about a cable modem IS NOT A ROUTER! so shut the heck up ure the most unexperienced person i've seen in these forums.

I just finished a networking class last quarter which covered this kind of information, so I do know what I am talking about. The word modem is came from the idea that your signal is modulated and demodulated. From a digital signal to analog, and analog back to digital. When you are on dial up that is what is happening.

On a cable connection there is no need to modulate or demodulate the signal. It is all digital. Yes I realize many people call it a modem, but it is NOT a modem. Also, I don't appreciate you telling me to shut up. Please be respectful of other members here from now on.

>On a cable connection there is no need to modulate or
>demodulate the signal. It is all digital. Yes I realize many
>people call it a modem, but it is NOT a modem.

Uhh... you're mistaken. A cable connection is made by sending analog signals across a coaxial cable. These analog signals are modulated and demodulated into a digital signal in the modem. It is a modem.

You may have misunderstood some parts of your networking class. There is no way to transmit digital data without first sending analog signals. Those analog signals are interpreted by the receiver and converted back into digital data. But everything that travels across a wire (any wire) is an analog signal. Wire's do not know how to do anything other than analog. It's the computing machinery's job to determine that +5v is equvilant to 1 and -5v is equivilant to 0. But all transmissions must be made in analog signals and then interpreted into bits by the device that is reading them.

So must a cable modem.

You are very ignorant. An analog signal in the case of a modem (phone line) is much different from a digital signal which uses sine waves to determine the difference between a 1 and a 0. If you use your definition of an analog signal then you would be stating that computers are analog which is not the case.

said by ReduX:

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dude...what the heck are u talkin about a cable modem IS NOT A ROUTER! so shut the heck up ure the most unexperienced person i've seen in these forums.

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An attitude like that is NOT welcome in this forum. Do us all a favour and drop it...or leave.

Do you SEE what you are arguing about? Routers, modems, jeez get a LIFE. Geek-fest Deluxe!

Ya you are happy with EL now but wait, the best is to come.I have had EL DSL for over two years and have watched the service fall apart.You have cable so that means that when all the rest of the neighbors sign on your servive will fall apart and just wait till you call tech and wait for 40 min(yes you can get through now cause you are a nebiee) after a while and they have some money they don't care.The standard is "How far is the moden form the computer" blab blab which doesn't make any difference as for what they sent you IT IS A MODEM not a router and the person that taught you the course should be flogged ie question how many ports are on the "router" and how many computers do you have runnning

Earthlink DSL (my provider) IS COMPLETELY SEPERATE from Earthlink cable. Sure, both Earthlink, but who provides the cable? Timewarner or Charter Pipeline, completely different companies and serivices than the many Earthlink DSL partners.

everyone compares el dsl with el cable. well as long as people believe AOL and roadrunner are the next messiahs i DOUBT ill have a problem with my neighbors signing on. as you can see nobody is having a problem with el cable except you and another person, both of whom are begrudging over DSL. if you havent tried it, dont crack it. and as for tech? everytime i call el cable i get connected instantly. and by people who are more saccharince sweet than picie sticks. so i dont care how bad your experience with el dsl was, i have reiterated that with time warner under earthlinks belt, its a whole different ballgame. sorry you had to go for dsl, but not my problem.

I currently have both EarthLink DSL and EarthLink Cable Modem. I've had EarthLink DSL for 2 years now and had no major problems execpt for some lag once in a blue mood. I ordered Cable a week ago and have been happy with the service also. I guess it all depends on the area.

Him being a newbie has absolutely nothing to do with the hold times for EL technical support. Had you called in recently, you would find that the wait times are the lowest they have ever been since the NYC travesty. Get your facts straight before you bash this ISP!
And the correct terminology is a dsl/cable modem HOWEVER they are not actually modems as they do not modulate and demodulate analog/digital signals as does a dial up modem. These practical devices, had you done your research, are actually bridged routers preconfigured to interpret, send and receive digital signals. There is no modulation/demodulation taking place whatsoever.

said by ITRep28:

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they are not actually modems as they do not modulate and demodulate analog/digital signals as does a dial up modem. These practical devices, had you done your research, are actually bridged routers preconfigured to interpret, send and receive digital signals. There is no modulation/demodulation taking place whatsoever.

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I already explained that....

If there is no modulation, then please explain QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation. Note the word modulation.

Remember you LOVE EL--keep saying that LOVE EL-AGAIN

said by ArchAngel21x:

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After conducting a series of tests, I have come to the conclusion that ping times on Earthlink over Time Warner kind of suck. The only time I can get good ping times over 100 ms is late at night. Even then it spikes less than 100 ms.

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Actually for ping times, lower is better. You have an even better connection than you thought .

I meant to say the only time I can get UNDER 100 ms. Let me correct that.

That is pretty sweet. Is there any cap?

said by C4Xplosive:

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That is pretty sweet. Is there any cap?

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2 Mbit down/ 384 Kbit Up. Speed is good. Ping times are not.

Previously had Time Warner RR for 8 months before signing up with Earthlink. I was getting horrible pings with RR, around 150-250 constantly, depending on game server. I decided to switch over to Earthlink and try it out. It couldn't hurt since my ping was already terrible. Well Earthlink called me up when service was available and I immediately changed over. Took around 5 days to switch over and I got a new modem, which Time Warner brought to me. After hooking up the modem, I immediately checked my ping....I WAS IN SHOCK. I had a constant 20-30 ping in my local servers now rather then the usual 150. Everywhere I play now, my ping is very LOW! I LOVE EARTHLINK!!!

They are not modems but the connection is a NETWORK BRIDGE. That is the official term, that is how "cable modems" on this network function. END OF DISCUSSION

you guys are to much .. getting mad over some dumb shit is way funny cuz the dude did not even sign up for this site.What a waste of time in my book..

PS i have Earthlink DSL and i got cable on order in my new apart and all i can is i cant wait to move in 2 weeks ..GOOD JOB Elink keep it up.BTW i been with EL for over a year on DSL and never had a out or bad service.

1. Yes, you can transmit a digital signal over a cable; you can even transmit one over tinfoil. A digital signal isn't magic; it's simply a very simple signal which uses one voltage level to represent a '1' and another to represent a '0'. A good analogy would be Morse code. A "cable modem" transmits this kind of signal on top of a ~ 1 GHz analog carrier which is carried through a length of RG-6 coaxial cable.

2. It is possible to change ISPs without changing cable modems if the modem is purchased from a vender instead of provided by the ISP.