What's the difference between Cable and DSL? In term of speed I heard, Cable is better... and what bout other things?

Use the forum search (and you won't have to search very hard). This topic has been debated at least 100 times. Jimi_l

I like cable better because sometimes it is marginally faster. With DSL you get better service the closer you are to the central telephone office. With cable that doesn't matter since it's not using the phone line. You are also at the mercy of the phone company, but then again you're at the mercy of the cable company, but I just think it's more reliable. My own experience (I have cable one place and DSL the other because it's not available) is that there are fewer interruptions of service with cable. Others will chime in.

Cable Cable has no distance restrictions, and it runs over the wires already in your house for cable TV. You share your video bandwidth with Internet data, and you can get download speeds of 3 Mbps to 10 Mbps. Prices are $40 a month or less in most cases. The problem? Cable data bandwidth, like cable video bandwidth, is shared. This isn't a problem with television, where the same signal is intended for everyone. But for data services, every household is downloading different data -- and if everyone is online at the same time this can quickly clog the pipe. Reports of stalled connections are common. Security is another risk. It may be easy for someone to impersonate your address on the cable network and thus gain access to confidential information. DSL DSL works over the telephone network, and it's available in flavors from 600 Kbps to 26 Mbps. Your maximum speed depends on your distance from the telephone provider's central office. The farther away you are, the slower it will be. DSL service can be more expensive than cable, and upstream speeds are typically slower than with cable. However, DSL service offers better security and guaranteed bandwidth, unlike cable. And even though it's more expensive, you'll probably find yourself with faster service, especially in peak hours. As prices continue to drop, watch for DSL to become more attractive. ================================================== Originally, I tried to get Cable but it was not yet available in my area so I settled for DSL. I would never think of going to Cable now.

All of what Mike says is true, and it's a more complete answer than mine. But both my locations are in very small towns where sharing bandwidth is really not a problem. So there's another element in your decision: how many households/offices are you competing with for bandwidth.

I use DSL 6 hrs/day at work, and Comcast cable at home on D Link wireless lan with a wireless router. No comparison. DSL at work drives me crazy; first fast, then slow, then fast, slow, slow, fast, slow, fast, slow ........ you get the point. My cable just keeps pumping 11 MB/sec rain or snow.

I use DSL at work and cable at home. In my case the cable is faster. Typically that's going to be the case. However, you should also consider the support you'll get from your provider. My DSL connection is from SBC and let me tell you, they suck. There's a hundred different numbers to call, there's a huge labyrinth of phone menus to punch through, and no one knows what anyone else is doing. Many times I've spent upwards of 15 minutes punching through phone trees only to have the line go dead. I spent three hours on the phone recently to find out how long the email servers would be down and still couldn't get an answer. Typical conversation: Me: No one on my network can get email, and I can't ping the mail server. How long do you expect it to be down? They: What version of Outlook are you using? Me: Dude, I'm on a network with a static IP. I'm using Linux. No one here uses Outbreak. I can't ping the server, and my traceroute dies before it gets to it. They: I've never heard of an email program called Traceroute. I can't help you unless you cooperate and start Outlook. Me: %$&*&$#@())^#@@! Click. My cable service is from Cox, and I can get to a support person by punching two numbers down. They also have a call-back feature so that if they are really busy, you can hang up, maintain your place in "line" and get called back in a few minutes. That way you're not standing around with a phone stuck to your head listening to Madonna singing "Like a Virgin" and otherwise losing your mind. In short, you should ask DSL and Cable users in your area what kind of support they get, and go with the one that's the best. They're both fast.