[NTLUG:Discuss] DSL vs. Cable modem

[Lance]

Matt Midboe wrote:
> 
> Joey_Berry at compusa.com wrote:
> >  <SNIP>
> or place specific limits on send and
> receive. This is a function of the policies that your ISP has in place. 

This is not true, The phone co. builds your connection in their ATM
equipment using pre-defined profiles for certain up and download speeds,
the ISP then can limit or not limit as the ISP see's fit.
but the ISP can not give you more bandwidth than your profile at the
phone co. allows.

Some
> ISPs charge for the static IP service, some actually give you a static IP but
> don't tell you, and some have completely dynamic IP addresses. Also the transmit
> and send speeds of the various technologies varies depending on how the ISP has
> deployed it. Some ISPs have nice beefy 1.544 symmetric pipes, some have 128k
> upload and 5Mb+ download, but it isn't tied directly to the technology they use.
> 
> I will conceed that the two technologies work differently and do place some
> different limitations on the ISP though. The return signal from your house to
> the ISP on a cable network is typically lower bandwidth because you have a lot
> more ingress in the signal when it is going through the combiners on the way
> back to the headend. So the signal has to have a lot more error correction
> overhead in it. However, the cable is shielded and it travels longer distances
> than the stuff xDSL uses. With ADSL you've got to be close to your phone
> companies central office to insure the best signal, and even if you are an
> optimal distance it's easy to wire the splitter wrong or to have other devices
> invade the frequencies ADSL is trying to use. However being close to the central
> office if you have a good ADSL connection it will have great connectivity.
> 
> Having used both cable modems and ADSL to get to the Internet I can say that if
> you have a competent ISP both will be so much better than dial-up you won't
> care. You should just try to get the best priced and most reliable service you
> can get whether it's xDSL or cable modem.
> 
> Matt
> matt at snsnet.net
> 
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