By Stephen Bucaro

Although Windows Device Manager, Microsoft System Information, and Norton's System Information program can provide you with information about your computer system, they don't provide same complete details that are provided by 3b Software's Sandra (System Analyzer Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant).

The free version of Sandra includes 50 modules that provide diagnostic, benchmarking, and performance tune-ups for different hardware devices and subsystems, including CPUs, modems, BIOS, drives, graphic cards, and DOS and Windows memory. It will tell you your system's video memory size, motherboard chipset, PCI slot usage, and SIMM or DIMM memory module identification. The latest version includes additional modules CPU multimedia benchmarking, and network and memory bandwidth benchmarking.

By Stephen Buaro

In 1998, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) approved V.90 standard. This raised fasted speed of data transfer with a modem from 33.6Kbps(kilobits per second) to 56Kbps. With this specification, modem technology has reached technological limit for transferring data over plain old telephone lines.

In 2000, ITU approved V.92 standard. This specification does not raise transfer speed, but only adds a few minor features. The "Modem On Hold" feature applies call waiting to your Internet connection. If a telephone call comes in while you are using your browser, this feature lets you put your Internet connection on hold while you answer call. It works with Caller ID, so you can identify caller and decide whether to answer call.

Each time your modem connects, it has to negotiate a protocol and speed with other modem. The beeps and tones you hear when your modem dials is that negotiation. The "Quick Connect" feature makes modem remember connection setting from last time it connected to that number, and it uses that setting to quickly reconnect.

V.90 modems, referred to as "56k modems" cannot actually communicate at 56Kbps. Because of antiquated design of telephone system, signals with a frequency that high would interfere with signals on adjacent circuits. This phenomenon is called "cross talk". In order to prevent cross talk, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set a limit on power you can send over telephone line. A V.90 modem can usually transfer data at only 44Kbs to 48Kbps.