Difference between Broadband & DSL
 

Not sure which forum this would fit under. What is the difference between broadband and dsl?

I know broadband is through the cable, but I have a choice and want to make the right one.

Actually to my knowledge broadband is the term for any high capacity internet connection, be it cable modem, DSL, or a T1 ran to a company. Last time I read much about it cable modem is about 2x as fast DSL. Both are very nice though.

I would have thought the dsl was better. They want to charge me $25 more a month that cable!

If you can try to pin them down to the transfer rates that the diffrent plans offer. One thing about Cable modems is that they ususally assume that you are an exisiting cable customer. If you already are that's cool. If not that can add to the overall cost. But I'm sure both will kick the snot out of your dial-up.

Broadband includes, Cable, all flavors of DSL, ISDN, T1 and up, isdn, fixed wireless and satellite.

between cable and DSL it depends alot on your provider, cable has more total banwidth, but you will be on a shared circuit with all your neighbors (if everyone is online at once, it slows way down.
DSL is a dedicated line between your house and the phone companies switch, you pay for the rate package you choose. some where between 350KBPS and 8MBps download 128k/1.5Mbps up in most cases

one good resource to check up on your local ISPs' popularity is www.broadbandreports.com

right now, im about to switch to cable from 2 years use of ADSL
my local ADSL provider is the local phone company, service isnt horroble but it could be better...

speed isnt up to what my friends' cable that can get in this area too

and Shaw High Speed cable has just spent millions of dollars on splitting the nodes and adding routers to their servers
not much network congestions and really up to 2x the speed of ADSL
good service too from what i heard

same price after 6 months of discount

that is why im moving
and im trading my PCI internal ADSL modem with their cable modem to keep so i dont have to pay the monthly modem rental fee

Yup, the local provider and their investment/ willingness to upgrade is what really matters.
for techincal reasons, a good cable link will beat a good DSL link, usually higher speed and lower ping times.
Propig the broadband reports link above should have some comments by users in your area, also ask all your neighbors local people using the same providers. That should help you decide. even more than more than raw speed, good, accessable 24/7 tech support is a must. Hopefully you'll never need it.

/me pats t-shirt

exactly what i wanted to say :)

Well, I give all you guys(especially eviltechie) a REALLY BIG HUG for your help. You have been very patient with my ignorance. I will probably go with the broadband if for no other reason that is is $25 less a month!

:blush: *HIUK* :blush:

i think going with the price first is the right decision
money dictates how the world goes around
most of the time atleast

i moved back to cable because prices is about the same as ADSL here locally
only a few cents of difference
very competitive

same services if not better
and higher speeds

propig, you should start using the words "cable" and "ADSL" or "DSL" instead of just broadband. as they said above, broadband has the definition of containing both ADSL and cable and more

it will make things confusing

so by saying cable or DSL clears things up better ;)

You mean I am confusing YOU????? Wow!

I would think you would know by now, that I don't know the front sidee of a penny from its rear.

I only call it broadband because that is what they call it here.

But since the decision has been made it is a mute point. I will not be asking any more questions for at least a month.

Not knowing were here is I'm guessing
your cable provider is AT&T or one of their partners. soon to be called ComCast
I too get a bill from AT&T "Broadband" for cable tv but I can't get internet service from them.

Apparently their description incules anything from basic cable to full cable, internet, and voice service.
A little deceptive, but actually fairly decent service in most places.
I'm also guessing you will have plenty of questions as you get hooked up.
So ask away.

Cable is usually faster in rendered services, and is theoretically faster than DSL with a supposed 27Mbps roof, but it has never been successfully tested past around 11-12Mbps. DSL has been tested at a little over 13Mbps, but companies that sell DSL services rarely are not too cheap to buy the good equipment, so cable companies are almost always a faster option. When upstream is considered, DSL is faster in most situations.

On the security side, DSL whomps on Cable. Cable is distributed to entire neighborhoods, and so both your upstream and downstream content can be monitored by someone in your neighborhood with enough skills. DSL is capable of a lot of other options too, including the ability of using dynamic IP's, which means your IP rolls or changes every time you get on (preventing the vast majority of hackers from following you). Weigh all your options before deciding between cable and DSL.

glad you posted that info. Considering I thought I was hacked last night, but looks like it was nothing... (not that I have anything to hack on this pc...)