Streamyx Streamyx Speedtest

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.

# posted by providers7570 : 9:19 PM  0 comments

There has been a lot written about the speed of broadband connections, but for most users it takes a back seat to just getting the work done. With the debate on whether there is a justified need for money to be spent on high-speed fibre networks still raging, is it really all about connection speed?

According to a recent survey, some 21 million Brits (or around 63% of those online) visited sites related to multimedia - including TV, movie and video sites - and services such as YouTube and BBC iPlayer have seen increases in visitors as internet habits change constantly.

Gone are the days when hopping online used to be just to check e-mails and do a bit of surfing - with most of the traffic online now pointing towards video-dominated applications and social networking sites. Virtual worlds such as Second Life are also evolving, and a faster connection would allow for HD 2-way video conferencing - paving the way for events such as concerts and other performances to take place in a virtual setting.

But whilst faster broadband would seem to benefit online gamers, the demand for more bandwidth from the general population is still low, and there are still issues to be solved with regards to the existing broadband infrastructure. The fluctuating 'supply and demand' factor of broadband means companies such as BT face a 'chicken and egg' dilemma about whether to invest billions in developing newer and faster networks.

In countries like South Korea - which is often regarded as being the most technically advanced nation when it comes to broadband - with customers in the cities enjoying average speeds of between 50 to 100Mbps (Megabits per second) - consider that a typical 5 minute music file takes roughly one and a half minutes to download on a 512K connection, where as in direct comparison - on an 8Mbps connection the download would be instantaneous.

Online gaming in Korea is very popular, and with cheap broadband services offering high bandwidth and fast download speeds, which in turn leads to faster upload speeds - a must for professional gamers.

Whilst online gaming is likely to take a percentage of the next-generation broadband capacity, few think it could be the application that makes a big impression in the mass market.

Television is also changing, broadband providers now offering a range of services to stream signals down our phone lines and provide us with internet, phone and television down the same line. The popularity of sites such as YouTube has led to a change in our viewing habits - with a percentage of us now choosing to view shows streamed over our broadband connection.

With High-Definition (HD) technology now becoming more widespread, the demand for a faster connection to ensure a clearer and more reliable service is sure to become a factor as more consumers choose to receive their television signal down the same line as their broadband service.

Compare a range of broadband providers to find a cheap broadband deal that suits you.

# posted by providers7570 : 4:02 AM  0 comments