Cable modem

A device that connects a computer or local network to internet service over a cable television network, converting data between digital form and signals carried on coaxial cable.

DOCSIS: A set of standards for transmitting internet data over cable television infrastructure. It specifies how cable modems communicate with providers’ equipment.
Hybrid fiber-coaxial: A broadband network architecture that combines optical fiber trunks with coaxial cable connections to premises. Most cable internet systems use this architecture between provider facilities and homes.
Residential broadband: High-speed internet access supplied to homes through technologies such as cable, fiber, or DSL. Home internet is the most common setting for cable modems.
DSL: A family of internet access technologies that transmits digital data over telephone lines. DSL also uses existing wired infrastructure, but carries data over telephone copper rather than cable television networks.
Cable modem termination system: Provider-side equipment that communicates with cable modems and connects them to an internet network. It coordinates modem traffic at the cable provider’s end.
Cable television: A system for distributing television programming to subscribers through cable networks. Cable modems reuse infrastructure originally built to deliver television signals.
Voice over IP: The delivery of voice calls using internet protocol networks. Some cable modems include telephony interfaces for provider-managed phone service.
Fiber to the premises: Broadband access that carries optical signals over fiber directly to a home or business. Fiber replaces the coaxial last mile and can offer different capacity and performance characteristics.
Quadrature amplitude modulation: A modulation method that encodes data by varying a carrier signal’s amplitude and phase. Cable systems use it to carry digital data within radio-frequency channels.
Local area network: A network connecting devices within a limited area, such as a home or office. The modem’s Ethernet or wireless connection links the provider network to this local network.

Linked from 7 pages