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HELP
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| Q: |
How does DSL compare to cable modems? |
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| A: |
DSL provides a dedicated service over a single telephone line; cable modems offer a dedicated service over a shared media. While cable modems have greater downstream bandwidth capabilities (up to 30 Mbps), that bandwidth is shared among all users on a line, and will therefore vary, perhaps dramatically, as more users in a neighborhood get online at the same time. Cable modem upstream traffic will in most cases be slower than DSL, either because the particular cable modem is inherently slower, or because of rate reductions caused by contention for upstream bandwidth slots. The big difference between DSL and cable modems is the number of lines available to each. There are no more than 12 million homes today that can support two-way cable modem transmissions, and while the figure also grows steadily, it will not catch up with telephone lines for many years. Additionally, many of the older cable networks are not capable of offering a return channel; consequently, such networks will need significant upgrading before they can offer high bandwidth services. |
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Other Related Topics of category DSL - Technology Comparison
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