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Laporte On Computers

Q:I just want to send e-mail and visit some bulletin board systems. How fast a modem do I really need?

Bare Bones in Baton Rouge A:If you're just going to sign on, get your mail and sign off, you might be able to get by with a relatively slow 2400 or 9600 bps modem, but you'll only save a few dollars buying one of these tortoises. We don't recommend any modem slower than 14.4 Kbps. Turns out that's probably the most common modem out there. Newer super high-speed modems that transfer data at twice that rate are starting to be all the rage. They're so new that most online services still don't offer access at 28.8 Kbps. And you can only go as fast as the guy on the other end of the telephone line. It's like buying a car that can hit speeds of 200 miles per hour to drive on an Interstate with a speed limit of 55. But as super high-speed modems become more common, we'll probably see more places that offer 28.8 Kbps connections. So, unless you're prepared to buy another modem in a year or two, you might want to consider spending a little extra to get a super high-speed modem.

The Consultative Committee for International Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT) sets standards for how modems communicate. Computer geeks like to use the modem standard designations to describe modems. Here's what the designations are, and what the mean in plain English. The V stands for Version, followed by a period (pronounced "dot") and the standard number. Look for modems that are "compliant" with these standards, not merely "compatible":

* V.22 - 1,200 bps data communications. You won't see any of these modems except in a museum

* V.22bis - 2,400 bps modem speed. A successor to V.22 (bis is Latin for second). The slowest kind you can still buy

* V.29 - The fax standard used by Group III fax machines and fax/modems running at 9600 bps.

* V.32 - 9,600 bps

* V.32bis - 14,400 bps. Successor to V.32.

* V.32ter - 19,200 bps. Successor to V.32bis. (ter is Latin for third). This standard was a short-lived interim solution. You should avoid it and go with either V.32bis or V.34.

* V.FAST - A non-standard 28,800 bps modem. Avoid these like the plague. If you've got one, upgrade it to V.34 as quickly as you can.

* V.34 28,800 bps. This standard was just ratified in late 1994. These super-high speed modems should become common in the next few years. They represent the highest speed that can be transmitted over standard voice telephone lines.

* V.42 - an error correction standard. Most modern modems have this built-in to reduce the number of data errors.

* V.42bis - hardware data-compression. This reduces the size of your data up to four times before transmission, speeding up transmission. A V.32bis modem with V.42bis data compression can transmit 56,600 bits of data per second - on a good day with the wind behind its back. Again, most modern high-speed modems support this standard.

* ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network. The next generation of data communications will use special digital phone lines, not standard voice lines. ISDN offers up to two 64,000 bps data channels for a total of 128,000 bps transfer rate. To use ISDN, though, you'll have to have special phone lines installed, and you're local telephone switching office will have to support it, and ISDN service will cost you more than standard telephone service.

Leo Laporte is host of "Laporte on Computers" heard Saturdays from 10am-1pm on KSFO 560 AM in San Francisco.

This column has been excerpted from his forthcoming book "101 Computer Answers You Should Know" published by Ziff-Davis Press, copyright 1995 Ziff-Davis Press, all rights reserved.

For more information on the book, including price and availability, call 800 688-0448 x323. If you have questions you'd like Leo to answer in a future column, email to: laporte@crl.com.