Cable often has higher peak download speeds than DSL. Most of the people I know in my area who have cable have an advertised downstream of 3.0 megabits/second. A typical/average DSL service (like my Verizon DSL @ $30/mo) might be 1.5 Mb/S downstream, with an option to double that at extra cost, or cut it in half for half-price (768K for $15 per month). But, cable speeds can vary, as all your neighbors are putting their data on the same coax as you are. I have one friend who complains his cable connection is great all day until the kids come home from school, at which time he says it seems like he's on dial-up (I'm guessing he is exaggerating a little bit, nothing could be as horrible as dial-up!). I don't notice any significant variations in speed with DSL. I'm sure it's possible for things to get bottle-necked at the telco central office, but I haven't notice it, and at least there is a straight pipe from my house to the CO. I know some people have security concerns with cable and the sharing of the line, but have never heard of any actual problems with this. For the users I know, DSL has faster upstream speeds than cable - but the four people I know who use Verizon DSL all happen to be within one mile of their central office/hut. I have 448 Kb/S upstream speed. As I recall, typical upstream speeds for cable are 300 - 400 Kb/S.
So, I'd say its a wash. For downloading VERY big files, like movies, cable internet's peak throughput advantage over DSL might outweigh its occasional sluggishness. But for internet gaming (playing Battlefield 2 online rocks!) I'd take DSL for its consistency and better upstream (for gaming upstream is just as important as downstream).
[This message has been edited by electech (edited 10-25-2005).]
