Dongle vs. Modem

Donglenoun

(computer hardware) Any small device that plugs into an electronic device, typically a computer, and alters its functionality. Common examples include wireless modems, digital media players, software copy protect devices, and adapters.

Donglenoun

(computer hardware) A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection.

Donglenoun

(computer science) an electronic device that must be attached to a computer in order for it to use protected software

Dongle

A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality.In computing, the term was initially synonymous with software protection dongles—a form of hardware digital rights management where a piece of software will only operate if a specified dongle—which typically contains a license key or some other cryptographic protection mechanism—is plugged into the computer while it is running. The term has since been applied to other forms of devices with a similar form factor, such as adapters that convert ports to handle different types of connectors (such as DVI to VGA for displays, USB to serial connection, and in modern computing, USB-C to other types of ports, and Mobile High-Definition Link), USB wireless adapters for standards such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (the term or is more commonly used to describe USB flash drives, as well as modern forms of dongles with slimmer form factors more akin to flash drives), and small form-factor digital media players that plug into HDMI ports.

Modemnoun

A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog/analogue telephone signals and vice versa and allows computers to communicate over a phone line.

Modemverb

To transmit by modem.

Modemnoun

An electronic device that converts electronic signals into sound waves, and sound waves into electronic signals, used to transmit information between computers by the use of ordinary telephone lines; also called modulator-demodulator; as, the latest modems can transmit data at 56,000 baud over a clear telephone line. The speed of transmission of information by a modem is usually measured in units of baud, equivalent to bits per second.

Modemnoun

(from a combination of MOdulate and DEModulate) electronic equipment consisting of a device used to connect computers by a telephone line

Modem

A modulator-demodulator, or simply a modem, is a hardware device that converts data from a digital format, intended for communication directly between devices with specialized wiring, into one suitable for a transmission medium such as telephone lines or radio. A modem modulates one or more carrier wave signals to encode digital information for transmission, and demodulates signals to decode the transmitted information.