is cable really faster than dsl?

Answer 1

The topic of "which is better and faster" has been a highly debated topic, and still there doesn't appear to be a clear winner. DSL offers users a choice of speeds ranging from 144 Kbps to 1.5Mbps. Cable modem download speeds are typically up to 2 times faster than 1.5Mbps DSL, but the reason there is no clear speed winner is because cable technology is based on shared bandwidth, with many factors influencing a users download speed. With shared bandwidth the speed fluctuates depending on the number of subscribers on the network. With DSL, the connection is yours and not shared, and you tend to have a more constant speed. This is one reason why cable Internet providers don't often publish speed information. In more rural areas with fewer subscribers, you're bound to have faster download speeds than a subscriber in a metropolitan center. Because cable modem speeds fluctuate, it is difficult to gauge an exact download speed. On the upload stream, however, cable and DSL are closely matched for speed. Both DSL and cable Internet speeds are largely dependant on the service provider and either the distance away from the switching station you are or how many subscribers are in your immediate area.

Answer 2

It is just easier getting the faster speed to a house via cable than the telephone company having to install and upgrade existing equipment to get you the same signal. But the telephone company is attempting to get the newer equipment inplace for the faster speeds. It all depends on the area you live in if you have DSL and how fast it is...Cable households in a limited geographic area -- usually a few thousand homes -- share a downstream 30-million-bits-per-second (mbps) data channel. Common sense dictates that 200 cable data subscribers sharing a 30-mbps connection would each get only 150 kbps of throughput, right? Not quite.

Unlike circuit-switched telephone networks in which a caller is allocated a dedicated connection, cable modem users don't occupy a fixed amount of bandwidth during their online sessions. Instead, they share the network with other active users, like an office LAN or the Internet, and only use the network's resources when they actually send or receive data in quick bursts.

Answer 3

Here, in the dallas area, cable is usually more than twice as fast as DSL. The major DSL provider in this area is terrible though.

Answer 4

I don't think there is a differance. I have DSL at work, and cable at home and they seem to work at the same speed.

Answer 5

yes, cable can get faster than 10mbps, i have only seen dsl at up to 6

Answer 6

Nooo. DSL is alot faster. That's one of the reasons I switched.

Answer 7

yah it is. dsl work at 3-4 mbps while cable works as 6mbps

Answer 8

It depends on where you live and what your ISP can provide you.... I got a nice fat 5 mb/s DSL line which I love....