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To: Donaldm who wrote (17734)	3/17/2001 2:17:30 PM
From: Patricia Meaney	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110648

Donald, From what I have heard and read, DSL is theoretically supposed to be better, but that is not always the case. DSL has been accused of having many problems such as nightmares with the local telephone company, your distance from the central telephone office, etc. I have DSL and love it. Most friends of mine use cable and have no complaints. One thing I have heard mentioned is that if too many people use a cable line at the same time it slows down. Since I don't have cable I wouldn't know if this is true. Here is a description between the two: >>>DSL vs CABLE (back) Cable modems are typically faster for downloads than most if not all DSL lines, when the cable infrastructure is new or well maintained. However, cable has a few disadvantages to DSL. The first disadvantage is that cable is an RF network -- this means that it is vulnerable to transient problems "within the network" from RF interference. Since cable is a shared media, there is a possibility that performance may degrade over time as additional households plug in, connect additional devices (videos, game machines) to the TV lines. A cable company may react slowly to decreases in performance, as they never sell access by speed, or promise consistent speed or latency. One of the largest disadvantages of cable over DSL is the upstream (return path). Cable companies are using a very narrow band for return signalling, below all the space allocated for TV channels. This band is prone to RF interference and is very limited in capacity. Upstream transmissions may therefore compete with others in the area, get delayed (suffer high latency) due to noise fighting techniques, and cable Terms Of Service typically prohibit any kind of constant upstream use. Internet use is shifting away from central servers broadcasting to many individuals and some interesting peer to peer applications are appearing (games, voice and video applications, communual libraries). These applications need a strong upstream channel. In summary, cable modems are currently good value and strong competition for residential casual use, often available more cheaply and far faster than their ADSL competition. However, DSL is probably the more future-proof system, offering digital direct from the internet infrastructure.. If your DSL ISP is on the ball, your performance in either direction will not be different from peak hour to early morning, and DSL lines are available for a wide variety of purposes, both business and residential.<<< You may want to visit this site for more information on DSL:http://www.dslreports.com/faq/faq/1.+DSL+101#129

To: Donaldm who wrote (17734)	3/17/2001 4:14:51 PM
From: thecow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110648

Donaldm You may be one of the lucky ones but DSL has a history of severe installation problems. Make sure you are well within the dsl distance specs from the central hub or you could be asking for a load of trouble. I have experienced these and now have cable. Be careful what DSL speed you are signing up for to insure you get what you want. There are several different levels of upload and download speeds and you get what you pay for. Cable is generally faster but can slow down when a bunch of users in your neighborhood are online at the same time. Summing it up, I guess I'm trying to say cable is faster, dsl is more consistent. All JMO. tc :-)