Possible to have cable internet access without a cable modem? ++UPDATE++ No, not in Atlanta

[purplehayes]

My boss is getting cable internet access tomorrow and he called Dell to see if he needed a cable modem to get cable internet access and they told him no, that the line just plugs right in to the network card.

Can this be done?

And why do they call it a Cable/DSL modem anyway? I thought that MODEM = MOdulate (turn digital signals to analog) DEModulate (turn analog signals back into digital signals). Don't cable and DSL keep the signal digital all the way?

Thanks,
PH


++++++++++++UPDATE++++++++++++
Boss just came in from having his cable modem installed and his was wrong about not having to have a cable modem for cable access. So, yes, you have to have a cable modem in Atlanta for cable internet access.

And for the inquisitive folks out there, yes, cable modems do MOdulate and DEModulate the signal when it comes in. Click on the link provided by Thanatopsis for more info.
++++++++++++UPDATE++++++++++++

 

[Gdawg2000]

I dont think you really need A cable modem. My brother goes to MSU and they have just have a direct cable feed from the wall that plugs into their network card in the back of their PC. I dont think you need a cable modem at all actually. Maybe they have just one huge router in the building....hmmmmm, well anyways, i just know that he doesnt use a cable modem

 

[Oyeve]

They still call it a modem because thats what people associate with going on the net with. Most people dont know the real meaning of Modem. I assume the cable company has a switch/modem at the cable termination point. In my condo, the modem is actually on the roof where all the cables terminate.

 

[Daniel]

They probably told him he doesn't need a cable modem cause the cable company will give him one and he has a built nic. As for your friend at school, I don't think that is cable access, that's just a big ethernet network that he is jacking into.

 

[MetalCat]

Depends on the service that?s being offered, where the point is, what the supplier does, I know how it works for ADSL in the UK but cable might be different

If there is any signal change between digital and analogue there will be a modem else its just a network connection and a over zealous marking group.

 

[AMB]

I am sure that you need a Cable Modem, you do not need a NIC if you have a rounter though

 

[pm]

When I ordered a cable modem, AT&T@Home gave me the 'modem' and installed 100Mb/s Ethernet card too. But most cable internet providers will supply a cable modem that takes ethernet connections on the user's side, so Dell is right. You just need a NIC - and in my case, I didn't even need that.

 

[Gunbuster]

Cable data comes over the cable Coax, you cant just plug a coax into a network card

 

[pm]

AMB, that doesn't make much sense. You need a NIC (Network Interfact Card) to connect your computer to the router. Plus, I've never heard of a cable internet provider who would even touch a router - they consider them to be the user's problem.

 

[AMB]

Sorry about that post,

I was trying to say, that if you were on a LAN, you didn?t need a second NIC, if you had a router, thinking about it now, i didnt realise i diverged that far from the original post,

amb

 

[Maverick]

The answer is simply really...
the reason that DSL modems and Cable modems exist is so you can switch wiring formats.
both use existing wiring infrastructures (phone lines and cable TV lines). The devices just
translate these signals into ethernet signals that can be used with a NIC.

 

[MereMortal]

Daniel -
As for your friend at school, I don't think that is cable access, that's just a big ethernet network that he is jacking into.

For the most part, you are correct. At MSU most dorms are now wired into the campus ethernet. However, one dorm is using cable modems until they get wired for ethernet next summer.

 

[Lord Evermore]

If they're using cable in the dorms and he's just plugging into a wall jack, then that wall jack is Ethernet connected to a cable modem somewhere else in the building (or to a router that's allowing several rooms to share a single cable modem, and the router connects to the modem via Ethernet). There's a cable modem SOMEWHERE with all cable Internet services.

It's also very slightly possible that the 'NIC' in the Dell computer isn't really a NIC but is in fact a cable modem/NIC combo. Although it'd be odd for Dell to have installed one of those.

More likely they're going on the "plug in the very end of the wire that comes from whatever your provider installs" principle, instead of trying to figure out whether there's a cable modem or not.

Incidentally, cable/DSL modems are actually bridges.

 

[purplehayes]

Thanks for the replies!

But now I'm really wondering, why do they call it a modem if it isn't a modem?

PH

 

[Howard]

<< They still call it a modem because that's what people associate with going on the Internet with. >>



- Oyeve

 

[Elledan]

Well, you could just as well ask why people still call an ISDN-interface card an ISDN modem...

It's because they associate internet with a modem, I guess

 

[JackMDS]

This Thread should be send to Riply believe it or Not

 

[BoberFett]

OK, I'll admit I haven't read the technical specs regarding cable modems, but let's think about this logically for a moment.

1. The cable modem must be doing something. If it wasn't, all you'd need is a coupler to change a coax line into a CAT5. So it doensn't just &quot;exist ... so you can switch wiring formats.&quot;

2. The CAT5 running to your cable modem has 4 pairs of wire. That coax coming in from outside has 1 pair of wires.

3. There's a lot of analog data coming in across that cable line. There's got to be something that DEMODULATES the analog data and turn it into a digital signal, and MODULATES your outgoing data into a signal that can be sent back to the upstream router.


As I said, I don't know the details, but it has got to be a modem, and it is definitely not an extraneous piece of electronics. That Dell rep has his head firmly planted between his buttcheeks.

 

[Viperoni]

Boberfett hit the nail square on the nose.

 

[pm]

Every cable internet access provider that I've ever heard of provides the cable modem for you. Some will waive this if you (the customer) insist and if they are using DOCSIS equipement. Cable modems are difficult to find elsewhere and by providing the modem to you they can insure that it works with their equipment. The cable service provider may or may not charge you an initial fee to pay for the modem and some others charge a $5/month rental fee. But if you bought a computer from, say Dell, then you don't need to buy a cable modem from Dell to work with your new cable internet access service; the cable provider will provide it for you. So the Dell rep was correct. You only need an ethernet jack to get cable internet service.

If you are curious about how cable modems work, this is an excellent introductory tutorial.

 

[Thanatopsis]

Your boss might have mixed it up in telling you, and actually be getting an internal cable modem. For all he might know, it would be a network card.

Cable modems don't have to be external. See this page.

edit: link for example

 

[Haribo]

LOL

 

[troubledshooter]

95% of all cable and DSL modems are in fact routers as well....not that it has a lot to do with whether or not they are &quot;modems,&quot; but definately lowers the chances of supplying &quot;cable&quot; access without a cable modem...

$.02

 

[JackMDS]

Did not yet see it with cable. There is new item call ?DSL PCI? which is a combo of DSL modem and nic on one internal pci card, naturally you plug a DSL enable telephone line directly to it on the back of the computer. Compaq, and Dell suppose to start to offer it, so it is possible that what the rep. was referring to, mixing it up with cable.

 

[Bignate603]

I don't know if i would want a cable modem inside my case if i could even get one. My external one gets pretty warm and i don't think my case could take another heat producing part.