Modems are more dependent on the external environment than most computer components.
They are designed to work well under a variety of conditions, but speed often suffers as conditions deteriorate. The industry standard, V.90 technology, uses the maximum available band width of telephone systems and requires exceptionally clean lines to reach maximum speed. When connecting to ICNet, the connection window reports a specific baud rate at which it is connected. This rate corresponds to the speed of the connection, where higher baud rates correspond to faster webpage loading and faster downloads. Most modems today are rated at a maximum baud rate for connection.