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The term 56K refers to modems capable theoretically of download speeds of 56,000 bits per second (shortened to 56 Kbps or 56K) over standard phone lines. Unfortunately, there are currently two incompatible 56K "standards". The first 56K standard on the market was developed by US Robotics (USR), a company now owned by 3Com. This standard is known under the trademark "X2". The second, 56KFlex, was developed jointly by Rockwell Industries and Lucent Technologies. Last fall the international body that sets telecommunications standards met to determine whether to approve as a protocol based on X2, 56KFlex, or a third alternative that took the best parts of both.. The result was a deadlock. In the meantime both 3Com and Motorola are talking about a compromise that would allow users to apply software upgrades to 56K modems, regardless of which “standard" they currently support. Does this mean the battle will soon be over and you can safely buy a 16K modem that will work with All internet service providers? Not quite. Even if an agreement is reached this month the ratification won't take place until September! Lucent Technologies engineers annoyed at the delays are rumored to be working on another 56K method that could appear this spring. And yet another company is putting forward a "shotgun" scheme that uses two modems with separate phone lines. While we wait for this to be settled, let's look at examples of the two contenders on the market. I recently got to try both methods made possible because my Internet service, Internet Direct, supports both. The two external modems I tested were a Motorola Modem SURFR (using the 56KFlex protocol) and a 3Com/USR X2. Both modems were detected immediately by Windows 95 and both were properly detected on my external COM I serial port. Both models come with a phone line-in and line-out bypass port for hooking up a telephone (or another phone device such as a fax machine). Both also come equipped with a 25-pin serial connector but not a serial cable - so knowing the type of port you have on your computer before you go shopping will help you get the correct cable and avoid an extra trip to the store. Both modems are about 6.5 inches wide and roughly 1.5 inches thick, but the 3Com X2 takes up less desk space - about 3.5- inches deep compared to the Motorola's five-inch depth. Both have external status light displays, although the X2 has an extra light to indicate fax mode. The 3Com modem also has an external volume control knob (while the Motorola's speaker volume can only be set through software commands). The 3Com modem also has an on/off switch, whereas the Motorola's power is on or off depending on whether it is plugged in. 3Com's X2 also won the speed battle (but hold off jumping to conclusions. In repeated testing, the Modem SURFR produced 44 or 46 Kbps speeds (although I did get 48 Kbps once). The 3Com X2 produced mostly 49.33 Kbps, with occasional fallbacks to 45.33 Kbps. These results, however, may not tell the whole story. I had length discussions with Internet Direct's technical staff to include or rule out any influence the ISP's implementation of the two schemes may have had on the tests. Arthur Ferdinand, assistant manager of technical support, told me, "Our experience seems to indicate that while you may get better results from your neighborhood with one brand over another, it may not reflect the reality in another neighborhood across the city. Regardless, based on various reports on the Internet, it does seem safe to say that connection rates for 56KFlex modems are usually slightly slower than the connection rates of X2 modems. Obviously, it's very important to find out what standard your present or potential ISP supports before buying your modem. But it also helps if manufacturers let you know what they sell. The box the Modem SURFR came in, as well as the printed documentation inside, gave no indication that it used the 56KFlex method. If you can't tell from the box which of the schemes a modem supports may wish to give it a pass.
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