What is the difference between a dial-up modem and a broadband (ADSL) modem?
A dial-up modem uses analogue sound waves to communicate with another modem across a telephone line. This type of modem sends and receives information by interpreting and transforming the sound into digital information for your computer. Hence the term MODEM, this stands for Modulator-Demodulator. A broadband (ADSL) modem, or ‘router’, sends digital information across the phone line in computer language. This increases the speed of the transfer of data as the modem does not need to convert the signal from analogue to digital and vice-versa. Your broadband (ADSL) modem uses a protocol called Discrete Multi Tone (DMT), which operates at a frequency above that of normal voice, fax, or data transfer.
