Internet access speed is measured by how fast data can be transferred from the Internet to a computer. DSL and cable broadband are common technologies, with DSL using telephone lines and cable using coaxial cable. DSL speed is affected by distance from the DSLAM, while cable speed is affected by bandwidth allocation. DSL plans are typically cheaper but slower, while cable plans are faster but more expensive. Fiber-optic services offer the fastest speeds but are expensive. Some providers offer reduced speed plans for convenience.
Internet access speed is a measure of how fast data can be transferred from the Internet to a connected computer. Broadband plans are commonly advertised as guaranteeing speeds that fall within a certain range with faster plans at higher price points. An exact speed cannot be guaranteed, as many factors can influence it, depending on the technology.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service is provided over standard copper telephone lines. It shares lines with telephone service, allowing both technologies to use lines at the same time without interference. DSL is brought to a neighborhood by a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) which acts as a router for the surrounding area.
Physical lines feed from the DSLAM in the community with the length of these lines limited by signal degradation. The farther the signal from the DSLAM has to travel, the more likely it is that you will experience latency issues affecting your Internet access speed. A customer who lives near the DSLAM and subscribes to an entry-level plan that advertises speeds of 500-768 kilobits per second (kbps) will see speeds closer to the upper end of that range than a neighbor who lives near the upper end of that range. range of the DSLAM.
Cable broadband provides Internet access over the same coaxial cable that carries television into premises. The speed of cable Internet does not vary based on the physical location of its customers, but this technology allocates certain amounts of bandwidth to areas. If many local residents are online at the same time, supply could dry up demand, slowing access for everyone in the area. Cable plans are commonly advertised as having “speed up to” a certain threshold, allowing for slower speeds.
While entry-level DSL plans start at an affordable 768 kbps, slower cable plans are typically 1.5 megabits per second (mbps). There are about 1,000 kilobits in 1 megabit, so 1.5 Mbps is two to three times faster than the slowest DSL plan and generally costs two to three times as much. More often than not, however, cable isn’t offered in tiered plans like DSL, and a customer has to take whatever the local cable provider offers. This could be a much faster plan at 3.0 to 6.0 mbps, at a higher price point.
DSL also offers competitive plans in the 3.0 Mbps range, depending on the provider. Technology has evolved to offer even faster access, up to 6.0 Mbps or more, but very fast DSL is generally too expensive to compete in the US. Fiber-optic services offer plans with Internet access speeds of up to 50 mpbs, although these extremely fast plans are usually quite expensive. Some Internet service providers that use very fast DSL or fiber optic line technologies sometimes offer plans with reduced speeds in the 3.0 mbps range to be more convenient.
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