The most common electronic mail I now receive asks about x2 and K56flex 56 kbps modem technologies and which is the best or most supported. While I usually avoid technical topics like this for this column, I feel there has been too much hype and too little objective information on the subject. People are commonly buying new modems based on ignorance and widespread misinformation.

All modems, the devices that connect your computer to an online service or an Internet service provider, including the new 56 kbps standard, use normal telephone lines and do not require and cannot use the more expensive "digital" telephone lines.

Until just last year, the most common "speed" of a modem was 14.4 kilobits per second (correctly abbreviated "kbps"). Now 28.8 kbps and 33.6 kbps modems dominate the marketplace.

With the new 56 kbps modems claiming to transfer Web pages nearly four times the speed of the 14.4 kbps modems it is easy to understand why many people are trying to upgrade their current modems.

The 56 kbps modem reality is that 53 kbps is currently all that the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) will allow and average speed is usually about 40 to 42 kbps.

There are two competing 56 kbps standards on the market and computer electronics manufacturers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are allying themselves with one of these two.

In the left-hand corner we have U.S. Robotics' x2 technology, a proprietary standard that must be licensed through USR. The manufacturer claims to have over 300 ISPs nationwide currently offering x2 access. While that may initially sound high, there were only three providers in the entire city of Houston, Texas listed and none of the eight providers in my local calling area offer it.

In the right-hand corner we have Rockwell & Lucent Technologies' K56flex modems. Rockwell claims that "Rockwell technology is used in 70% of all Internet connections and drives 75% of all the world's modems." The K56flex standard is an "open" standard.

In the world of the Internet, open standards are much more widely adopted because there is no licensing, but also evolve more slowly since more companies get input into developing the standard.

Examples of open standards include all the modem standards up until x2, HTML, Java, CGI scripting and just about anything else related to the Internet.

So, why hasn't every ISP jumped on x2 the bandwagon? Because most have network systems in place that won't support x2 but are due to support K56flex when it hits the market.

Additionally, no standards have been adopted by International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In the past, technologies such as the HST 9600 bps modems, once thought to be a new standard, were never adopted and, subsequently abandoned. This resulted in tens of thousands of modems being thrown away and many companies justifiably leery of any new technologies not yet adopted as standards.

On a different note, if you a "techie" wanting to know how 56 kbps can work with Shannon's Limit or any other detailed technical specifications, be sure and visit Rockwell's K56flex Technology home page.

In my opinion, wait for the standards. If you need a new modem anyway, go ahead and get one that supports x2, but understand that there is a good likelihood that you will only connected at the slower 28.8 kbps or 33.6 kbps that most ISPs currently support.