MODEM Full Form

MODEM transfer data by converting it into digital-to-analog information. On the other hand, the receiver’s job is to extract the real information containing signals from the  carrier waves. So we can say that the MODEM  had the aim of making a signal which could be transmitted easily and would be reliable while decoding it. MODEM  were used widely in telephones during the 1970s and in 1990s. There was a wave of phone modems which provided a band width of 56 blips. However by the 1990s and 2000s, the rise of the modem devices and use of the internet on a large basis proved to be the last nail in the coffin for MODEM.

History of MODEM 

The closest device to a MODEM  were the multiplexers which were used in the 1920’s for connecting the teleprinters through normal phone based liners and not the expensive leased lines. 

Next, during World War II the Allied powers had created a system known as SIGSALY which was a system used for voice encryption. It was using the digital modulation which can term this as an early version of the MODEM .

However even after modems being created and used, they were not commercially available till the late period of 1950s. Modernisation played a very important role in the rise of modem as increase in the number of digital devices and computers led to Bell company and other products to make a number of MODEM . As of recently, cable television, power line, etc work with modems with higher speeds through the telephone lines.

Broadband

During the 1990s there was uproar with the term broadband. It was the term used to signify the internet technology which provides a speed of more than 56 kilobit/second. There are also known broadband technologies such as DSL and cable broadband.

Now, the DSL can be further classified into ADSL, HDSL and VDSL, all of these technologies were using the wires installed by the telephone companies. Although the wires were some , the signals were received by a new machine known as DSLAM and not the usual phone exchanges.

On the other hand there were cable broadbands or modems. They used the wiring for carrying the TV signals. The television and broadband internet signals would receive signals at the same time.

These were the major broadbands, there are some other broadband modems too such as satellite modems, Powerline modems and FTTX modems.

Advantages and Disadvantages of MODEM 

 The following are the advantages and disadvantages of MODEM  are :-

• Easy signal conversion, the computer sends the digital signals which get converted into analog signals by the MODEM  and then transferred to the destined computer and the signals become as they were in the beginning. 
• MODEM  provide great speed as it uses the telephonic lines for getting transferred
• Fax messages can be sent with the help of MODEM . 
• Possibility of accepting orders from different computers, for Communication.
• MODEM  offers a large variety of internet plans which are flexible in terms of prices

Disadvantages of MODEM  are :-

• Increase in the possibility of a malware attack.
• The external modems are not mobile.
• Poor availability and service in rural and remote areas 
• It only works with the telephone line region. If it gets turned down then internet access would be lost.

Conclusion 

MODEM  have been in use since the 1920s till recent times in one or the other form. These devices proved to be a very important invention for helping the conversion of data from a digital form into easily understandable analog form for other devices. Different variants of a modem have been evolving through the years. You can understand the extent of it’s use when you see that it was first used in 1920 in multiplexers and a type of them were also used in smartphones . However new technologies are making modems fade away from the scene. MODEM  importance in modernization cannot be denied.