Originally published January 18 2005
DSL has theoretical speed advantages over cable; actual performance another story
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
In theory, DSL connections are significantly superior to cable modems in terms of speed and latency. However, in practice the two technologies perform at rough parity. Both technologies have performance that varies minute by minute depending on network connections, and in the case of cable modems, on how many other people are sharing the line. New DSL technologies may move the performance bar � but for now it seems a fairly even race.
DSL has speed advantages over cable modem The speed advantage of DSL over cable is much higher, although both have performance issues that vary from one minute to the next depending on the pattern of use and traffic congestion on the Internet.
Gamers need a fast connection for multiplayer video games, but which connection is the best?
Well, in our studies they both offer advantages.
Both Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable modem services offer high-speed Internet access.
Some of the differences between DSL and cable modem arise from the history of the technologies they are built upon.
Others originate with differences in the approach of service providers.
In fact, the speed, cost, availability, and many other elements of DSL or cable modem service can vary significantly depending on the provider.
With cable, performance at any given time depends on how many cable subscribers in the neighborhood are currently actively using the network as well as load on the Internet generally.
This "double whammy" suggests that cable modem will perform relatively slower during peak usage periods.
DSL services typically range in performance from 128 kbps to 1.544 Mbps.
Cable service providers usually don't quote absolute performance numbers like the DSL vendors because of the differences in dedicated versus shared bandwidth.
They do claim that it's "50 times faster than traditional dial-up".
Today, cable modem retains a slight performance advantage over DSL but this advantage seems to be a short-term one.
Most cable networks have not yet reached high enough subscriber levels to make the shared bandwidth issue critical.
With technologies like dedicated-bandwidth VDSL, however, DSL threatens to erase cable's speed advantage even before cable services become overcrowded.
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