With my addiction to Moutshut increasing day-by-day, I wanted a reliable Internet connection from home and recently made the switch from Cable Modem to DSL. My Cable modem was being provided by Roadrunner(remember the beep.beep.) from Time Warner and the DSL is being provided by Verizon(a phone company).
I will try not to be technical and submit before you, my personal experience.
Cable Modem and DSL - fundamentals
In the Cable Modem , along with your cable for the TV, the same cable guy(remember Jim Carrey in the movie with the same name) hooks you up with a modem, which you can then use to connect to your computer.
In DSL(Digital Subscriber Line) , the same copper telephone wire is used for connecting to the central server. In general, voice communication uses the low frequency of the copper telephone wire and the high frequencies are used for data communication. The telephone company guy will make some modifications to your telephone jack – split them into two jacks - and you get a modem, which you connect to the newly created bottom jack.
Both Cable Modem and DSL do not tie up the telephone line – unlike dial up modems where your regular phone line is tied up or you need to go in for an additional line. Moreover, the connection to the internet is always ON , there is no concept of dialing and waiting for the connection etc. Also there is no concept of a connection being broken while surfing, unless there is a major breakdown.
Cable Modem v/s DSL – the main difference
In a Cable Modem connection, as more and more of your neighbors start subscribing the connection speed becomes slower and slower. Imagine a water pipeline from the main server to your neighborhood and as more taps get added, the water pressure reduces – similarly the connection speed reduces.
In the case of DSL, there is a direct connection between your home and the server. Hence, even if more users in your neighborhood are subscribing, it does not affect your connection speed.
Cost
The Cable Modem costs about$45 / month – high speed and unlimited access. The DSL starts at about$35 / month but if you use the same telephone company both for local and long distance then the price works to$19.95 / month.
Why did I shift?
The main reason I shifted from Cable Modem to DSL was due to the deterioration in the connection speeds. With DSL, I was getting similar speeds as Cable Modem, with no possibility of deterioration and also it was less expensive.
Also DSL does not come with minimum time period contracts etc unlike Cable Modem, which binds you to a certain time with heavy penalty clauses, should you wish to discontinue.
Also I believe that the support for DSL(though I have yet to use it) - is much better.
I am happy that I switched and would recommend DSL over Cable Modem any day – * similar speeds, less expensive, no possibility of speed deterioration and better support.
Surf is up - happy surfing.