How does the quality of a 56k leased line differ from the quality of a 56k modem connection?
When you order a 56k leased line from the telco, they’re making a commitment to provide a telephone line provisioned to successfully operate at 56,000 bps at all times. Referred to as a “conditioned” line, a 56k leased line comes a higher standard of maintenance and service when transmission problems arise. In contrast, modems operate over voice lines, and telcos are only obligated to provide voice grade service. (In some states, telcos are in fact obligated by law to maintain voice lines of sufficient quality to run modems at minimum speeds of 14.4k or 9600 bps; but no faster.) Customers experiencing transmission problems with modems typically get no cooperation from the telco. Moreover, in a significant number of cases, voice grade lines will have characteristics that will prevent modems from getting anywhere near 53k bps, and a modem user has no formal recourse when stuck with a low quality line. The consequence of this is that with, it is exceedingly optimistic to rely on a modem b
Related Questions
- I have a Frame Relay connection to my ISP and some clients cannot get to my network reliably. Line quality has checked out, what could be wrong?
- How is an analog modem connection different from a cable modem or a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem connection?
- How does the speed of a 56k leased line differ from the speed of a 56k modem connection?
