DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997           TAG: 9702270650

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

GO SLOW WITH FAST MODEM: THE MODEM

To cruisers of cyberspace, speed is everything. But when it comes to purchasing the latest innovation for quickening the pace of Internet travel, some local experts advise: go slow.

The innovation is U.S. Robotics Corp.'s new x2 modem. Billed at speeds of up to 56 kilobits per second, the device promises to be as much as 70 percent faster at transferring data between computers than the previous-fastest generation of conventional modems.

U.S. Robotics shipped the first wave of x2's to the nation's retailers Tuesday.

At CompUSA's Norfolk store, several of the 30 modems that arrived Tuesday have already been sold, said general manager Bob Marcus. ``There's been quite a lot of interest on the floor in them,'' he said.

U.S. Robotics is only shipping external versions of the modem for IBM-compatible computers. The company expects to ship Macintosh and internal IBM-compatible versions within the next few weeks, Marcus said.

The retail price of the modems, around $200, is a ``virtual'' steal when one considers that's what 28.8k modems sold for a few years ago and what 14.4k devices went for only a couple of years before that.

U.S. Robotics is also providing upgrades of some of its other modems for people who register at its Internet site (http://x2.usr.com) for software downloads via the Internet. Those who register by Friday and purchased 33.6K Sportster modems between Nov. 25, 1996, and Jan. 4, 1997, can upgrade for free. Those who bought 33.6k Sportsters between Aug. 15 and Nov. 24 of last year or after Jan. 4, 1997, can upgrade for $60.

For customers who can get free upgrades, there's nothing to lose. But buying an entirely new modem is a different story. In that case, Peter Cousin, marketing director for Norfolk-based iTRiBE Inc., advises subscribers of his company's Internet access service not to rush.

Until Internet services providers alter their networks to accommodate the faster modems, users of the 56k devices won't be able to cruise that fast. And Cousin and managers at other local Internet providers say they won't act until it's clear how well the new modems operate - and if they come close to achieving their advertised speeds.

Steve Haynes, president of Virginia Beach-based ExisNet, predicted it will be summer before his and most Internet providers commit to accommodating faster conventional modems. ``It's not ready for public consumption,'' Haynes said of the x2. ``They're just pushing the envelope awful hard.''

Perhaps the biggest problem with the x2 is that it is not the only 64k modem coming, said Tom Manos, president-network services for InfiNet. The Norfolk-based Internet-access provider is partly owned by The Virginian-Pilot's parent company, Landmark Communications Inc.

Rockwell International Inc. has developed a modem chip set that will be incorporated by Motorola Inc., Zoom Telephonics Inc. and several other modem makers into 56k devices to be shipped in the next few months. Manos said unless there is one standard and competing modems are made compatible through software fixes, data moving between the two types of modems will travel at a slower-than-advertised speed.

``We went through this before, at 28.8,'' Manos said. `It was a mess,'' until competing formats were melded into one standard.

Manos stressed that even after the format conflict is resolved the new modems will not always work as fast as billed. There are numerous potential slowdowns along the path of a data transfer - everywhere from the phone-company switch to the wiring in one's home.

``Even today, for you to get 33.6 on a 33.6 modem,'' he said, ``everything has to be perfect.''

Dudley Atkinson, general manager of Great Bridge Internet, said he doesn't expect the format conflict to last long. ``I expect somebody to show up with the money and buy out the other standard,'' Atkinson said. ``And I suspect U.S. Robotics will end up as the survivor.''

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