Re: [PLUG] DSL: Questions to ask?

[mike_phillips@urscorp.com]

>I feel that cable modems are not a good way to go under any
>circumstances. They are shared bandwidth right from the point of
>access. All internet connections will eventually be forced through
>a pipe somewhere that is, under peak usage situations, probably
>smaller than the sum of all the theoretical speeds of the
>connections running through it. But with cable, this happens right
>at your wall. With other solutions (DSL, ISDN, leased line/frame
>relay, fixed wireless) it happens upstream where there's an
>"intelligent" router [1] conneting your copper (or whatever) line
>into the fiber backbone.

I've got both types of connections, cable at home, 1.5mbps adsl at work, 
700/128 dsl on site. 

With dsl you are limited to the maximum speed of the dsl line for 
downloads. With cable the speed can be a lot, lot higher, I regularly see 
500kb/sec (k-bytes, not k-bits) downloads from places like ftp.kernel.org 
and debian sites.

Although more often than not, the limiting factor is not the connection to 
the internet but somewhere else along the way. 

I've got both types of connections, cable at home, 1.5mbps adsl at work, 
700/128 dsl on site. 

Totally correct about the latency though, experience shows that is worse 
than dsl for multiple connection stuff such as browsing.

So I would suggest choosing based upon your requirements and the 
comparative price of both. 

For me the difference between static and dynamic ip's was a factor in 
choosing as well. 

Mike


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