If you have the choice, go with whichever is the cheaper and most reliable in your area. I use a cable modem because it offers faster download speeds. Since I rely on up to date service packs and patches for work, download speed is my primary concern. Both cable and (x)DSL are limited technologies that have little room for future growth. DSL only works on copper, and only within 1400ft of the provider. Most telcos are replacing copper w/fiber, so the future of DSL equipment is pretty limited. Cable systems are getting overcrowded, and there is little available bandwidth to go around. My current headend (neighborhood) bandwidth is 30MB/sec, shared. In times of low usage, between 2AM and 5AM EDT, I can download 12.5MB of data in a little over a min. During peak times. 12PM to 11PM, the download times are 15 to 20 times longer. Bottom line is, whicever offers a lower initial cost: Installation, equipment, etc., and a lower monthly charge, is the way to go.
Also, don't confuse bandwidth with speed. Cable modems offer an effective delivery of 10MB/sec bandwidth to each hybrid connector. DSL offers 1.5 MB/sec of aggregate bandwidth per connector( figure a little lower if you bleed off a portion for voice) On the surface it would appear that Cable is approx 7 times faster. Not true. Both signal at approx .61C (61% the speed of light) when you factor in latency. Cable can (in theory) offer 7 times the volume of data transfer that DSL can. Think of an 8 lane highway vs a 2 lane highway with a 60 MPH speed limit. The 8 lane can carry more cars at 60 MPH than the 2 lane.(Less chance for you to get stuck behind a slow truck). OTOH, DSL is generally faster due to the less complex intermediate circutry than Cable. DSL plugs into the main backbone (T3 lines) with fewer routers figured in. Cable generally jumps through more *hoops* to get to the backbone.
In my area, Cable runs $39.95 a month w/$39.95 hookup(one time charge) and no cost for the equipment. ADSL, runs $39.95 a month plus a $179.00 hookup charge that includes the use of their equipment. No provision is made for my own equipment.
True you can be connected 7 by 24 if you wish, but you can still shut off your PC when you don't use it. The biggest threat from outside is a misconfigured firewall or proxy, or storing sensative data on a shared resource. The higher access rate of your PC, as opposed to a modem, make it more available to an external attack. In reality though, how much is someone going to gain from accessing your PC vs say the IRS? My system, while semi secure, has little in the way of interest to anybody. It still takes time to crack into a system, and other than the "yeah I did did it" thing, nothing to gain. F-prot, a free anti virus from datafellows, can pretty much catch 99.9% of the viri out there. The other 1/10 of 1%, take time to do their work, and generally show up long before any damage is done. Keep the original installation disks for your software and operating system, and store/backup your data to off-line storage, and even if a virus trashes your system, you can get back up in a few hours. Win95/98 need reinstalled every few months or so anyhow, so it isn't really a big deal.
[This message has been edited by RAE (edited April 22, 2000).]
Thanks in advance.
