How does xDSL compare to cable modems?
xDSL provides a dedicated service over a single telephone line; whereas cable modems offer a shared service over a shared media to a geographical area. While cable modems have greater downstream bandwidth capabilities (up to 30 M), that bandwidth is shared among all users on a line serving the area, and will therefore vary, perhaps dramatically, as more users in a neighborhood get online at the same time. Cable modem upstream traffic will in many cases be slower than xDSL, either because the particular cable modem is inherently slower, or because of rate reductions caused by contention for upstream bandwidth slots. The big difference between xDSL and cable modems, however, is the number of lines available to each. There are no more than 20 million homes passed today that can support two-way cable modem transmissions, and while the figure also grows steadily, it will not catch up with telephone lines for many years. Additionally, many of the older cable networks are not capable of offer
xDSL provides a dedicated service over a single telephone line; cable modems offer a dedicated service over a shared media. While cable modems have greater downstream bandwidth capabilities (up to 30 Mbps), that bandwidth is shared among all users on a line, and will therefore vary, perhaps dramatically, as more users in a neighborhood get online at the same time. Cable modem upstream traffic will in many cases be slower than xDSL, either because the particular cable modem is inherently slower, or becasue of rate reductions caused by contention for upstream bandwidth slots. The big difference between xDSL and cable modems, however, is the number of lines available to each. There are no more than 12 million homes passed today that can support two-way cable modem transmissions, and while the figure also grows steadily, it will not catch up with telephone lines for many years. Additionally, many of the older cable networks are not capable of offering a return channel; consequently, such n
xDSL provides a dedicated service over a single telephone line; cable modems offer a dedicated service over a shared media. While cable modems have greater downstream bandwidth capabilities (up to 30 Mbps), that bandwidth is shared among all users on a line, and will therefore vary, perhaps dramatically, as more users in a neighborhood get online at the same time. Cable modem upstream traffic will in many cases be slower than xDSL, either because the particular cable modem is inherently slower, or because of rate reductions caused by contention for upstream bandwidth slots. The big difference between xDSL and cable modems, however, is the number of lines available to each. There are no more than 12 million homes passed today that can support two-way cable modem transmissions, and while the figure also grows steadily, it will not catch up with telephone lines for many years. Additionally, many of the older cable networks are not capable of offering a return channel; consequently, such n
