Salon heeft een artikeltje in elkaar gedraaid waarin ze de performance van kabelmodems vergelijken met DSL, dat in de VS inmiddels redelijk ingeburgerd is. Hier zal het met onze *kuch* vrienden van *braak* KPN wel weer een eeuwigheid gaan duren voordat we daadwerkelijk gebruik kunnen maken van ADSL. Maar goed, de schrijver blijkt na ervaring met zowel kabel als DSL modems de voorkeur te geven aan kabel, dus de uitverkoren personen die nu al over een kabelmodem kunnen beschikken hoeven zich nergens druk om te maken (tenzij je bij een ramp provider zoals Kaazéma ofzo zit 
):
The argument that cable modem connections are inferior to DSL connections because the bandwidth on a cable link is "shared" is disingenuous as best. The entire Internet is based upon shared bandwidth. The bandwidth on an individual subscriber's DSL connection may not be shared; the DSL connection ultimately terminates at an Internet router, at which point the multiple streams are merged together into one or more shared upstream connections. Likewise, cross-country Internet links are shared between thousands of ISPs and millions of users. Even DSL circuits can be shared: Bell Atlantic's DSL deployment shares a single pair of copper wires that both voice and data can use simultaneously.
The issue isn't whether or not a link is shared. The issue is whether or not there is enough bandwidth on the shared link to satisfy all of the users at a particular time.
In bandwidth, cable is king: With the exception of fiber optics, there is no faster way to send a data stream from one location to another. In my tests, I've seen instantaneous speeds of 7 megabits per second over my cable modem -- that's the underlying speed of the data channel between my house and the next router on the network. Of course, I don't actually see 7 mbps in my daily use. When I transfer more than a few packets of data, the cable modem is programmed to slow down the rate of transfer to roughly 600 kbps. This prevents me from taking more than my fair share of the available bandwidth.
