Bob,
BJ>> If you're lucky enough to have a modern cable company that offers
BJ>> this, it's definitely the way to go.  However, if you happen to
BJ>> live in a neighborhood that fills up with cable modem surfers,
BJ>> your performance will decrease as more come online, as all are
BJ>> sharing the same finite bandwidth over the common cable.
DR>> The "common cable" is fiber optic.  I don't see the cable as
DR>> being "limiting". :)  The only thing that I see as a limiting
DR>> factor, is the T1.
BJ> Even the cable is limited in its capacity.
Everything has a limit.  However, fiber optic is "virtually unlimited".
BJ> What if your cable company
BJ> suddenly decides to put another 300 channels online to compete with
BJ> the satellite dish companies?  That would reduce the bandwidth
BJ> available to cable modem users sharing the same cable.
But would one see the effect, is the question.  That would be like saying
that cable modem users would cause your television picture to flicker. :)
However, I use a different company for cable TV.
BJ> You're certainly correct that the Internet bandwidth your cable
BJ> company attaches to the cable is the main limiting factor, but be it
BJ> T1 or T3, when 1000 cable modem users are online and ftp'ing at one
BJ> time, there will be 1/100 the bandwidth available to each compared to
BJ> when there were 10 online doing the same.  That's what I mean about
BJ> the finite bandwith being shared among users.
Right, but what does this have to do with cable modems?  Two points
to consider here...
1) The InterNet provider certainly isn't going to use just one T1
   for all users.  GTE, for example, has assured me that they have
   set this up for easy expansion, when it becomes necessary.
2) Look at the limited bandwith in the phone lines.  How can it get
   any worse? :)
BJ>> xDSL is a nailed-down dedicated line with bandwidth that's fixed
BJ>> and 100% exclusively yours 24 hours a day.  That's why it's more
BJ>> expensive.  :-)
DR>> Please explain this further.  Doesn't it see the same thing at
DR>> the other end?
BJ> An ADSL connection is capable of up to 7Mbps speed (bandwidth) - and
BJ> *all* of it is yours to use *all* the time.  You're not sharing it
BJ> with anyone.  Therefore you have to pay an ISP for the 24 hour
BJ> dedicated bandwidth you use, whether you're at the keyboard or not.
BJ> If that's T1 speed (1.554 Mbps), you'd pay the going rate for that.
BJ> ADSL, like cable modems, is not switched technology (you don't "dial"
BJ> anyone, you're connected 24 hours).
Interesting.  Thanks for the info.
           /  Dave Raymond    -      Moderator:
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