What speed should I connect at?

The speed at which you connect to the Internet is determined by a number of factors:

• the speed of your modem
• the modem type and speed supported at the number you dialed
• the quality of the phone lines in your area
• the amount of traffic on the Net

Because of all these factors, you should not expect your connection speed to be exactly the same as the speed listed for your modem. Very often it is actually less.

Why doesn't my modem connect as fast as it is supposed to?

The factors mentioned above will affect your connection speed. Again, you should not expect to connect at exactly the same speed as is listed on your modem.

Why doesn't my 56K modem connect at 56K?

Aside from the factors mentioned above, other circumstances prevent 56K modems from actually connecting at 56K. That is actually only the theoretical speed of the modem; in practice, the Federal Communications Commission capped the connection speed at 53K, and real-world access is generally in the 35-45K range for these modems. Despite these limitations, 56K modems still attain the fastest standard modem speeds currently available on the market.

What does v.34 mean?

v.34 (pronounced "V-dot-thirty-four") is the name of the international standard established for modems connecting between 28.8Kbps and 33.6Kbps.

What does V.90 mean?

v.90 (pronounced "V-dot-ninety") is the name of the international standard agreed on for all 56K modems. Before that standard was reached, there were two different proprietary standards for 56K modems: one called x2 and supported by 3Com/U.S. Robotics; the other called K56flex and supported by Rockwell and Lucent.

What is bandwidth?

Bandwidth is the amount of information (usually measured in bits-per-second) that can be sent through an Internet connection. Bandwidth is commonly compared to a water pipe — a large pipe (a high-bandwidth connection) can carry more water (information) than a small pipe (a low-bandwidth connection).

What is throughput?

On the Internet, throughput measures the speed of a communications channel or connection. A connection's throughput is the number of bytes per second it can transfer. Throughput is closely related to bandwidth.

How can I connect to the Internet faster?

Yes. WonderWave.net offers a high-speed Internet access . Email us to learn more about connecting faster.

What is frame relay?

Frame relay is a high-speed networking protocol popular for connecting multiple local-area networks (LANs) across remote distance.