Are 56K modems still being used today?

[Linus Hyper]

And if so, where and why?

[Spawn of Totoro]

Yes, they are still used. Broadband internet does not have a 100% penetration in any country. There will always be those who are out of the area.

Even in high population areas, I still hear the noise of a dial up connecting at gas station when a credit card is ran.

[ostar]

https://www.google.com/#q=dial+up+provider

[Spawn of Totoro]

Цитата допису ~Ren~:

That does surprise me, I thought maybe the USA would have fiber optic everywhere.

Nope. The cost to run it to existing areas is what is holding it back. New areas are getting it, if there is enough demand (as in people buying unbuild houses ask for it).

They tried running it above ground, but some rear end decided to cut a section out of the cable, thinking he could sell the copper inside...guess he didn't read the word "Fiberoptic" on the side.

Цитата допису ~Ren~:

The UK is still lagging behind with Broadband/fiber optic, supposedly the government wants everyone in the country to have access to online facilities by 2020.

A nice dream, but unlikely to happen. Think of all the farms and the cost with running the cables.

I can see wireless as a possiblity though, just not hardwired.

[Gus Tarball]

Цитата допису ~Ren~:

Then you have places like Wales/Scotland where it's just miles and miles of fields and open areas but people do live in these areas so getting any kind of internet access to them would cost a fortune.

You just described the majority of the land mass of the U.S. That is why our average internet bandwidth speed is rated as low as it is. Outside of areas near large bodies of water the U.S. is mostly very sparsely populated.

If you want more than modem speed bandwith and your driveway is 1/4 mile long between house and street then you have to pay for that 1/4 mile cable run. You may even have to pay to get a cable run down that public street. With those distances DSL service is out of the question since the maximum standardized cable run is only about 18,000 feet or 5.5 kilometers between the phone company's Central Office and your point of presence..