Compare Cable vs. DSL

Okay, so you are finally tired of those slow dial-up internet connections, and you want to go broadband. Good deal. But first, you may be wondering which type of broadband connection is best- DSL or Cable? Or, at least, which of the two gives you more speed for the price? Here we take a look at these two popular broadband connections and try to determine which one is better: DSL vs. Cable.

Cable Speed vs. DSL

The most common question that comes up is which type of connection is faster, DSL or Cable? To answer this, it is important to compare both upload and download speeds. Now, so you have something to compare these speeds to, your average dial-up connection is about 28 - 56 Kbps. Most often, however, you won't be able to get 56k through dial up, as most services can not handle this speed.

The average speed of a DSL download is 1.0 - 1.5Mbps. That's megabytes per second - about 20 times as fast as the fastest dial-up connection. This is fast, but consider Cable, which can give you up to 2 - 3Mbps. Thus, at least for downloading, cable can give you almost twice the speed of DSL - that's impressive. On the upload side, however, cable and DSL are pretty evenly matched. They both provide about 100Kbps - 400Kbps. It seems that cable has won this battle.

What about Price and Quality of Service?

There is more to discuss here besides the speed of the connections. Take price for one. Cable and DSL connections are both going to be more expensive than dial-up. But, DSL seems to be the cheaper of the two at the moment. You can get a good DSL internet connection for about $35 - $45 per month. Cable modem will cost you about $45 or $50 (this price may be included in a cable TV package). These prices, however, are really close and they change almost from month to month.

DSL is nice because you can talk on the phone and be online at the same time. In addition, business-level DSL service provides guaranteed data rates, so your connection speed is never a surprise. On the other hand, DSL speed tends to decrease the further you are away from the data center, and it is typically not as widely available as Cable. Cable speeds are not dependent on distance from the data center, and is occasionally cheaper than DSL when included in a cable TV rate. A cable modem, however, may require costly professional installation, and there may exists some limitations on downloads and uploads. All of these factors should be taken into consideration when choosing either broadband service.

Bradley James is a senior editor at SciNet.cc, a website containing many helpful consumer electronics review articles. For more information on DSL and Cable technology, please visit our DSL vs Cable webpage.

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Weather Balloons Boost Broadband

Weather balloons floating in the Earth's atmosphere at the moment could possibly be used to provide mobile phone and broadband services to Rural Britain.

An American company, Space Data, has had success with an innovative idea, whereby it attaches small phone masts to weather balloons. This then provides isolated areas with wireless internet access.

The Arizona based group has provided military and commercial clients for four years and are now prepared to link their idea with telecoms and broadband companies in order to bring their idea to the masses.

The working behind the novel wireless provider is that a very small transceiver is attached to the weather balloon that then rises to a total altitude of 100,000ft. According to the company, one balloon can produce a signal that is as strong as 80 mobile phone towers and could therefore enable a lot more people to have broadband internet connections. The company also believe that for the entire United States, 70 balloons would be all that was needed to provide everyone with wireless internet.

The balloons are released by local farmers and other land workers who are paid to deploy them. The balloons are released in areas that have not had wireless internet connections due to the companies who provide them considering it uneconomic, as there are few people in the area.

Around 20% of the United States is out of range for any wireless connection, and it has long been an issue in Britain that many rural areas are unable to receive a wireless signal or are expected to pay over the odds in order to get one, therefore, meaning that they have no option for cheap broadband. Consequently, if this idea was to take off, there would be a large number of people who would benefit.

Space Data are very productive at the moment and release around 10 balloons a day from places in South America that do not receive a wireless signal and is interested in providing its service for the UK. This service is one of many that have seen the potential and the financial benefits that the rural wireless connection market could offer.

Space Data have said that companies that are not offering rural areas a wireless connection are missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The group have said that they have tapped into a business that is potentially worth $10 billion market.

It would appear that there is a solution to the wireless connection problem, however, not a very long-term one, as the balloons last 24 hours before they burst. The expensive equipment then has to be retrieved; this is done using GPS devices. Environmental groups have said that they fear that the burst balloons could prove a threat to any animals that may eat the latex.

The limited time that the balloons last could prove expensive and difficult, however, if the company could arrive at an idea that would enable the balloons to last longer, then the skies the limit.

Space Data has decided to link their weather balloon idea with telecoms and broadband companies.

The weather balloons could mean that more people are able to receive wireless broadband connections.

Some rural areas in Britain are unable to get a cheap broadband connection as they have to pay over the odds just to receive a basic connection.

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