I n late 1998, some internet providers were starting to upgrade their modem standard to accomodate the new V.90 modem standard. While you have probably heard about it, you may be less certain exactly what it is, and even less certain whether upgrading your modem will benefit you. If you have a Kflex or x2 modem, should you upgrade? Without getting too technical, this article addresses these points. |
When 56K modems first reached the market, there were two competing standards: Kflex, and x2. Lucent and Rockwell were the chip manufacturers pioneering the Kflex standard, which achieved higher market share than US Robotics' x2. Approximately 60-70 percent of modems used Kflex, which was not compatible with x2. Maximum connection speed can only be attained between compatible technologies. While x2 can connect to Kflex at 33.6 Kbps, higher speeds were unattainable unless modems at both ends of the connection used the same technology.
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V.90 was introduced as a way to resolve the discrepancy between the two modem standards x2 and Kflex. It is an entirely new standard, and suffers from the same compatiblity issues with both x2 and Kflex, which means that you should not upgrade to V.90 unless you know your internet provider is using V.90, or if your modem can simultaneously support more than one standard (and if one of those standards is supported by your internet provider). This is a rare situation in which it is possible to actually decrease performance by upgrading at the wrong time, so contact your internet provider to be sure.
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