How the f*ck does a modem work? - eviltoast

Google searches have only yielded 5th grade level examples (“the modem talks between your ISP and your home network!”) or articles I would need a degree to understand. Can anyone provide an explanation that’s somewhere in between the two? I understand the fundamentals of how the Internet works, and how LAN works regarding a router and individual devices, but I’m curious to know more about the link between those.

  • jimpowers100@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Wow, so many lousy answers in here. …

    The first question should be; Which kind of modem are you inquiring about as many different technologies exist.

    There are many different types of Modems and each is unique, some examples include …

    1. Radio frequency modulator demodulator (Modem)

    2.Telephone Modems.Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF)

    1. Satellite Modems.

    2. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)

    3. Cellular Modems.

    4. Cable Television Modems.

    ASSUMING you are referring to the one from a Cable TV ISP which hands off an RJ-45 Ethernet connection it’s known as a …

    “Hybrid fiber-coaxial” (HFC) Network.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_fiber-coaxial

    The protocol which runs on such networks is known as the

    “Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS)”

    Patented by: Robert Cruickshank III who built and led the CableLabs team that developed, tested, and certified the DOCSIS standard cable modem.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS

    As for the actual electrical/ electronic mechanism enabling the protocols algorithm, it’s known as …

    “Phase-shift keying”

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-shift_keying

    ☆ The bottom line though,

    Is that it’s really not even technically a modem, rather it’s actually a protocol converter which translates one digital standard into another.

    How’s that for an answer 🤔

    Happy Turkey!