DSL and Cable connections bith have pluses and minuses.
From what I have been able to discern from the various reports I get, it appears to be inconsistent. That is to say, the geographical region you are located in might show DSL as a better choice over Cable or vice-versa.
From the technical point of view, DSL would be the preferred option for real-time Internet gaming.
Cable networks suffer from 2 potential problems, as it relates to real-time Internet traffic.
1) The cable networks are laid out using regionalized gateways to the Internet. Anyone with a cable modem can test this by doing a traceroute to a common Internet site, such as
www.yahoo.com. Usually, there are 6 to 7 hops (routers), before you actually reach the Internet gateway. These gateways have marginal connections to the Internet and can cause your real-time connection to have a very wide swing in ping/response times.
2) Your neighbors cable modem connection will effect your connection. That is to say, you are sharing a single network line with up to 200 other homes in your area. The more they do, the less bandwidth you have and thus even a wider swing in performance occurs.
Now note, you will see and hear cable modem users proclaim they have incredible download rates and Web sites load instantly, but this is due to the transparent caching technology the cable networks use. This helps to offload thier gateways, but real-time traffic cannot be cached, such as Internet gaming.
On a positive note, cable modem access is cheaper than DSL service, but if your cable Internet company is lousy, you cant switch to another one.
DSL suffers from bandwidth sharing problems as well, but they are controlled by the ISP you connect to. If the ISP oversells thier DSL service, performance can be as bad as cable modem service.
But, you can change providers with DSL, if you chose to do so.
It really boils down to priorities. If your priority is real-time Internet gaming, such as AH, the DSL, would probably be a better choice.
But, if WEB browsing and such is a higher priority, then cable may be a better choice.
Just note, that if you choose DSL, do not choose the cheapest provider you can find. There is a reason they are cheap. Either they are in a hurry to build a client base so they can sell out, or they are just flat overselling thier service.
A reasonable ISP, looking to make sure thier clients have enough bandwidth for thier connections, usually charges around $25.00 (U.S)/month.
Hope this helps.
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Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
President, AppLink Corp.
http://www.applink.netskuzzy@applink.net
