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DSL Vs. Cable | ||||||||||||
Cable is better for less-demanding home users. It is relatively inexpensive. It uses existing technology (cable coax) and an existing utility (cable) -- albeit one that is almost universally hated more than any other. The biggest challenge for cable access is running the coaxial cable to the PC. Also, users will need to network their PCs, and some sort of firewall or network protection from the big bad Internet outside. (To read more about the trials and tribulations about installing a home network, see my Byte.com articles at the link at the end of this essay.) The issue for using cable for business users is that many cable companies aren't set up to provide such access, or are prevented by their local governments from doing so. And the more people who hook up, the worse overall throughput and latency gets, since cable is a shared medium. Cable can range from easy to impossible to install, depending on where the cables run in your home and where your computers are. In my case, I made a single phone call to Cablevision and they did the install about a week later and finished everything they needed to do in about three hours. You typically have a single choice with your cable company: if they don't currently offer Internet access in your area, you are out of luck. Cable can also be very unreliable, and I personally wouldn't run my business depending on cable Internet access (not that I have that option available, since Cablevision doesn't offer businesses any access). In my case, the line has gone down numerous times, varying from minutes to several hours, including an outage this past weekend during some thunderstorms. I have heard similar stories from other cable Internet users. DSL is better for business users, even for small office/home office users. DSL is more expensive than cable, but also more reliable -- to my knowledge, I haven't experienced any significant outages in my service. The installation experience can be dicey, mainly because service may depend on several companies working together who are currently mortal enemies. These companies include the local phone company (who needs to bring in a line to your home office), the DSL provider (who maintains the overall data network), and your ISP (who sets up the Internet access and any applications such as email and news). In some cases, you could elect to obtain all three elements from your local phone company. The ordering process for my office DSL line was a bit more complex than the home cable situation, reflecting all these different players. And DSL comes in various speeds and feeds, adding to the complexity. It was easy for me to get confused as to whom to call for what problem during the installation phase. Overall, I prefer my DSL line at work to the cable line at home. The cable companies don't really know how to run their data networks, although for my family the continuous service has really changed the way they interact with the Internet and they are mostly satisfied with the service. But what is happening with both DSL and cable is that we are dividing our attention between companies that provide access (the big pipes) from companies that provide applications (email, chat, and so forth). I think this is a good thing. When many of us got connected, we didn't care that the same entity was both our access and applications provider, such as our ISP or AOL. Now we are more discriminating. This lies at the core of the current debate between AOL and AT&T's cable operators, as more and more AOL users sign up for cable or other high-speed access but continue to want to use their AOL screen names for chat and IM. Some cable operators want to provide their own applications and content: this is at the core of the Excite/@Home merger. It will be interesting to see how this all shapes up. |
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| ComputerS | |||||||||||||
| My Favorite Links: | |||||||||||||
| Yahoo! | |||||||||||||
| Yahoo! Games | |||||||||||||
| The DSL Center | |||||||||||||
| Cable Connection Inc. | |||||||||||||
| My Information: | |||||||||||||
| Name: | Saeed Ghanim | ||||||||||||
| Email: | [email protected] |
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