r certain circumstances they do offer higher access speeds designed to satisfy the increasing demands of bandwidth-hungry applications and increasingly graphics-oriented Web pages. The problem they present is that they do not really provide true 56K access, even under the best of circumstances. 56K modems provide asymmetric bandwidth, with 56 Kbps delivered downstream toward the customer (sometimes), and significantly less bandwidth (33.6 Kbps) in the upstream direction. While this may seem odd, it makes sense given the requirements of most applications today that require modem access. A Web session, for example, requires very lit- tle bandwidth in the upstream direction to request that a page be down- loaded; the page itself, however, may require significantly more, since it may be replete with text, graphics, Java applets, and even small video clips. Since the majority of modem access today is for Internet surfing, asymmetric access is adequate for most users. The limitations of 56K modems stem from a number of factors. One of them is that under current FCC regulations (specifically Part 68), line voltage supplied to a communications facility is limited such that the maximum achievable bandwidth is 53 Kbps in the downstream direc- tion. Another limitation is that these devices require that only a single analog-to-digital conversion occur between the two end points of the cir- cuit. This typically occurs on the downstream side of the circuit, and usu- ally at the interface point where the local loop leaves the central office. Consequently, downstream traffic is less susceptible to the noise created during the analog-to-digital conversion process, while the upstream channel is affected by it and is therefore limited in terms of the maxi- mum bandwidth it can provide. In effect, 56K modems, in order to achieve their maximum bandwidth, require that one end of the circuit, typically the central office end, be digital. The good news with regard to 56K modems is that even in situations in which the 56 Kbps speed is no