IF YOU鈥橰E buying a new modem you had better make sure it bears the legend
鈥淰92 ready鈥�. If you don鈥檛, you鈥檒l miss out on two major new features: the chance
to halve the tiresome delay when you log on, and the ability to pause surfing
sessions to take phone calls without losing your Internet connection.
The 鈥淰鈥� standards for modems are set by the International Telecommunication
Union in Geneva. Today鈥檚 widely used V90 standard gets the most out of the data
capacity of an ordinary phone line, by receiving at up to 56K and sending at up
to 33K. Because reliable working speed varies with line quality, V90 modems
waste up to a minute each time a connection is made as they exchange
鈥渉andshaking鈥� signals to test the line.
On lines with a call-waiting service, which sends bleep tones down a busy
line when someone is trying to call in, V90 modems often mistake the bleeps for
a disconnect tone and hang up.
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V92 solves both these problems. When the modem dials an Internet service with
matching V92 software, they quickly recognise each other and skip the rest of
the tedious handshake. A V92 modem also recognises a call-waiting tone for what
it is, stores information about your Internet connection, and puts it on hold
while you take the incoming call. When you鈥檝e finished, it uses stored settings
to reconnect quickly to the Net.
Connexant, a California-based spin-off from modem chip maker Rockwell, which
has pushed the V92 standard, expects Internet service providers to offer the V92
service by the end of this year. Some modems already promise V92 in the small
print, but vendors may keep it quiet until remaining V90 stock is sold.