DSL verses cable
Two of the fastest ways you can connect to the internet these days is with DSL or cable access, so let’s take and explore the argument of dsl verses cable internet and find out which is best. Of course, the choice may be subjective, but there is an ongoing debate of dsl verses cable and which you should choose for your high speed internet needs.
DSL – or digital subscriber line – is run through a regular copper telephone wire that runs from the telephone company into your home just like a telephone line. In fact, if you want dsl service, you can run it straight through your regular telephone line. It loads pages and allows surfing of the internet three to five times faster than a dial-up connection. To get dsl service, you will need a phone line, a dsl modem, and an Ethernet card plus you must be located within a certain distance of the telephone company’s central office.
Cable internet, on the other hand, utilizes the unused broadband portion of the coaxial cable that brings you television service. Most cable companies who have internet access want you to have their television service bundled with internet service or else you will have to pay a higher fee. Like with dsl, you’ll need a special modem – a cable modem – and an Ethernet network card, but there are no distance requirements as with dsl.
So let’s really ask ourselves, dsl verses cable – which is better? In general, most people agree that cable internet is hands-down the winner over dsl. While cable internet is definitely faster and more reliable, the cable lines are shared by area meaning that anyone within a specific area who has cable internet shares the same lines. That can cause a log jam if everyone is using their computer at the same time. So what we are saying is that if there are twenty people on a network and fifteen of them are using their computers at the same time, you may experience some lag as opposed to if only five are using them at the same time.
With cable internet, you are always logged on. With dsl, you are not always signed in and may have to physically connect when you want to go online. Cable is often cheaper than dsl as well. So when we really look at the dsl verses cable debate, it is obvious that cable is the way to go for the most reliable and fastest way to connect to the internet.
