<p>I have a general question about DSL vs. Cable.</p>
<p>I currently have Dial-Up and want to upgrade to either DSL or Cable.</p>
<p>I have experienced my school's cable, which is a lot faster than my dial-up, but I don't think I can compare DSL and Cable without experiencing it myself.</p>
<p>** What is the difference between DSL and Cable? Which one is faster or better? Which one offers a better deal (price-wise) and where can I find these offers?**</p>
<p>Go to <a href="http://www.broadbandreports.com%5B/url%5D">www.broadbandreports.com</a> and enter your zip code also search for the services that your area offers as well...
I say cable over DSL... in my area (central NJ) cable is a lot faster (but that could also be because my service provider is one of the fastest in the country)...
Also DSL you have to be located near the phone company and the further you go away the slower the service
Cable you are sort of on a 'LAN' with your neighborhood.... Usually the company allocates a lot of bandwidth to your neighborhood because you all share the bandwidth. However there is a maximum amount of bandwidth you can use.</p>
<p>Just to let you know...
I am extremely satisfied with my lightening fast Optimum Online cable modem. The speeds are surreal.</p>
<p>Agreed :) Agreed</p>
<p>cable is faster but only in non-peak hours
dsl is a bit slower but always the same speed guaranteed</p>
<p>cable is really fast for me. i had dsl and it was really slow so we changed to cable. however, our house is really far away from the DSL switching station. i tried the DSL at my uncle's house, who's really close to the station, and it was incredibly fast. I think before you make ur decision, find out how far u are away from ur local DSL switching station.</p>
<p>even during peak hours you won't notice the slowdown on cable if you're just browsing or checking your e-mail. </p>
<p>if you're on bittorrent pulling down a movie you might notice then. I'm fortunate that in my area everyone switched to DSL before cable came in, so when cable finally arrived I'm like the only one on my block with it. sweeeeeet.</p>
<p>Even if there are a lot of people on the network with you, most likely the company has allotted a lot of bandwidth so that it won't matter... it only matters if everyone is downloading Lord of the Rings at the same time using Download Accelerator Plus with the subscription key with their TCP settings all tweaked...</p>
<p>I've had both cable and dsl (both at one point) and I don't think there's enough of a difference to justify the cost difference. Granted, I don't download a bunch of stuff but I am very impatient when it comes to web surfing and I have been satisfied with dsl. Around here the difference is like $20/month and I just couldn't tell that much of a difference.</p>