On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 09:55:40 -0000, Dylan Smith wrote:

I think it mainly depends on the provider as to which is superior. ADSL
(at least the flavour we have here) is IIRC, if you're within a suitable
distance limit of the phone exchange,

this is always the case.

is capable of up to 8Mbit/sec down
and at least 1Mbit/sec up. Of course, the telco only provides us with a
fraction of that!

this has some logic. because you can reach more customers with lesser
bandwidth.

Cable is also asymmetric, and I think the bandwidth you get depends
again on the provider.

cable by itself or xDSL by itself is not asymetric. it is what you make out
of it. when using *A*DSL you go assymetric. when you use SDSL or G.HDSL you
have a symetric line. for cable it is only the rate that it is set.
besides: you (technically) can have ADSL with 512 up and down.

However, once you get to the DSLAM or cable head-end, you've got
contention to worry about - a certain number of users will share a
certain amount of bandwidth. For here, if you pay extra for a business
account, you get backhaul shared with fewer users.

same applies if your line goes direct into the POP of your ISP. at some
point you are on a shared network. it is all about the overbooking factor
and how your customers notice a delay.

#m

--
A far-reaching proposal from the FBI (...) would require all broadband
Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire
their networks to support easy wiretapping by police.
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