A modem is a device that connects a computer or network to the internet by converting digital data into signals that can travel over phone lines, cables, or other systems, and back again. It acts as a translator between your home network and your internet provider.
Shortened from “modulator-demodulator.” It describes the device’s job of modulating (changing) and demodulating signals so they can move across communication lines.
The ‘modem’ name hides its whole job in plain sight: it both shapes signals and then un-shapes them. Even with fiber and Wi‑Fi, that basic translate-and-retranslate dance is still what lets your memes cross the planet.
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