Difference Between Cable and DSL
On the surface, DSL and cable modems may seem very similar but their implementations are quite different.
Cable companies like to make a big deal of the fact that the signal is being transmitted down a "fat wire", coaxial cable. The implications being that a fat wire means you can get lots of bits piped to you, fast. What they seem to neglect to tell you is that your bits are vying for space in that fat wire along with everyone else's.
DSL is using a twisted pair, skinny wire, that is part of a much larger bundle, and that bundle is actually a lot "fatter" than the cable company coax. But the relevant part here is only your bits go over that wire. It can't carry as many bits but those bits are all yours.
Cable speeds are insensitive to distance from the cable head end, but DSL is sensitive to distance from the central office.
Cable modems can provide a high burst speed, DSL can only match this high burst speed if you are close to the central office. Cable modems though share a common transmission medium and so to prevent customers from hogging bandwidth traffic shapers are generally used. This will cause your speed to slow down if you've exceeded some predefined limits on bandwidth usage. You may also experience slowness during high traffic times when everyone is using that fat wire at the same time.
DSL performance will not be traffic dependent unless there isn't enough bandwidth from the back end. If you are very close to the central office, say less than 3000 cable feet or so, then DSL is a definite win over cable. If you are further, say 10,000 cable feet, then which is best depends upon your needs. If you just want to browse the web then cable might be preferred, if you are a heavy download user or want to remotely backup files over your connection, then DSL is a better choice. Past about 14,000 cable feet, DSL becomes somewhat "iffy".
Cable companies are primarily in the business of selling content to their customers. Consequently, they tend to see data as an additional revenue stream that they do not want to interfere with their primary revenue stream. Cable companies will often place contractual restrictions on what you are allowed to do to prevent competition to their primary stream including things like placing a limit on how much video you can download in a given amount of time. Often cable companies offer telephone service as well and so they also will disallow using VOIP services other than service they offer.
Telco's will sometimes restrict VOIP on their own DSL Internet service, but generally not if you get a DSL circuit through them but DSL internet service through another ISP.
Cable companies generally offer little choice, if you get a cable modem from them they usually also require that you also use their Internet services.
With DSL, the circuit and ISP charges are separate so you have a choice of which ISP you use even if the telco is the only DSL circuit provider available.
Pricing varies widely for both cable modem and DSL providers so it is impossible to generalize on which is more cost effective. It depends heavily on what your needs and where you are located.
Cable companies like to make a big deal of the fact that the signal is being transmitted down a "fat wire", coaxial cable. The implications being that a fat wire means you can get lots of bits piped to you, fast. What they seem to neglect to tell you is that your bits are vying for space in that fat wire along with everyone else's.
DSL is using a twisted pair, skinny wire, that is part of a much larger bundle, and that bundle is actually a lot "fatter" than the cable company coax. But the relevant part here is only your bits go over that wire. It can't carry as many bits but those bits are all yours.
Cable speeds are insensitive to distance from the cable head end, but DSL is sensitive to distance from the central office.
Cable modems can provide a high burst speed, DSL can only match this high burst speed if you are close to the central office. Cable modems though share a common transmission medium and so to prevent customers from hogging bandwidth traffic shapers are generally used. This will cause your speed to slow down if you've exceeded some predefined limits on bandwidth usage. You may also experience slowness during high traffic times when everyone is using that fat wire at the same time.
DSL performance will not be traffic dependent unless there isn't enough bandwidth from the back end. If you are very close to the central office, say less than 3000 cable feet or so, then DSL is a definite win over cable. If you are further, say 10,000 cable feet, then which is best depends upon your needs. If you just want to browse the web then cable might be preferred, if you are a heavy download user or want to remotely backup files over your connection, then DSL is a better choice. Past about 14,000 cable feet, DSL becomes somewhat "iffy".
Cable companies are primarily in the business of selling content to their customers. Consequently, they tend to see data as an additional revenue stream that they do not want to interfere with their primary revenue stream. Cable companies will often place contractual restrictions on what you are allowed to do to prevent competition to their primary stream including things like placing a limit on how much video you can download in a given amount of time. Often cable companies offer telephone service as well and so they also will disallow using VOIP services other than service they offer.
Telco's will sometimes restrict VOIP on their own DSL Internet service, but generally not if you get a DSL circuit through them but DSL internet service through another ISP.
Cable companies generally offer little choice, if you get a cable modem from them they usually also require that you also use their Internet services.
With DSL, the circuit and ISP charges are separate so you have a choice of which ISP you use even if the telco is the only DSL circuit provider available.
Pricing varies widely for both cable modem and DSL providers so it is impossible to generalize on which is more cost effective. It depends heavily on what your needs and where you are located.
posted by Nanook at 12:02 PM
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