
150 Networking Explained, Second Edition
electrical power levels and sound intensities.) SNR is the ratio of signal strength to back-
ground noise on a cable. More specifically, SNR is the ratio between the desired signal and
the unwanted noise in a communications medium. In plain, twenty-first century English,
it’s how badly a line sucks.
35. All right. I’m ready for an example.
A good example of an application of Shannon’s limit is modem speeds. During the mid-
to-late 1990s, modem speeds increased from 14,400 bps to 28,800 bps, but then topped out
at 33,600 bps. Conventional analog modems achieved a peak rate of 33,600 bps (or in some
cases, 38,400 ...