[Mr. Bird]

Can you give me an idea of the speed difference between DSL and cable? We're in a new development, and we're not equipped for either yet, but I want to know if I should hold out for cable in any case. My home internet use is entirely recreational.

[rintense]

If you're merely a surfer, the difference between DSL and high speed cable is minor. Which one to choose coome down to price and service. But, if you do a lot of FTP or downloading of files, DSL is generally faster due to a single, dedicated line.

[newgeezer]

The tel. co. here has multi-tiered DSL service; the more you pay, the higher your speed.

Conceivably, DSL speed is independent of the number of subscribers in your area. Cable modem service is 'shared' so that if you have more neighbors online, your speed will degrade.

All I can say is that I've been on the service for over 2 years. Almost all my neighbors have it and, just a month ago, the whole system was upgraded so that the average bandwidth increased by ~2X.

Due to the telco's method of installation 15 years ago, DSL is not available in my 'hood. So, I'm glad cable service is as good as it is (it was bad before @Home went belly-up and Mediacom took over).