Residential High-Speed Internet

No home is complete without an Internet connection.  Residential high-speed Internet is now the new standard in online access in your home, and there are a number of terms and variations that most people simply don't understand.  Many people will have two main choices, those being high-speed cable broadband and DSL, each providing your home with super fast connections, lower wait times for downloads, and no more dropped connection to use the telephone.  Before we delve into the pros and cons of these two major forms of Internet connection, there are a few basic terms you should really understand before you go hunting for the best provider for you.

• Upstream, Upload - This is the speed you will have when you upload files to other locations.  If you upload a file to a server, to an email, to a website, this is the top speed you can expect.  It is normally represented in either Kbps or Mbps, which will be explained soon.
• Downstream, Download - This is how fast you can pull files to your computer from another location.  This includes simply viewing a website, downloading a form, or downloading a song, video, or TV show.  This speed is often much faster than the upstream, upload speed, and is almost always displayed in Mbps.
• Mbps - Megabit per second.  1,000,000 bits transferred per second, or 125,000 bytes transferred in a second.  
• Kbps - Kilobit per second.  This means that 1,000 bits or 125 bytes are transferred every second. 
• Modem - This is the access point for your home to the Internet.  When an Internet access is established in your house, it will enter the residence and go directly into the modem, then to your computer.  The modem helps to regulate the information coming and going from the home, keeping it organized.
• Broadband - More residential high-speed Internet connections will be broadband.  All this phrase means is that the data being transmitted in going over a medium with a higher bandwidth, typically resulting in the service always being on or connected.

Now, time to examine which residential high-speed Internet connection would be best for your home.

DSL

This form of Internet connection comes over a phone line, providing your with a constant connection to the Internet.  Since it goes over a broadband connection, you will not need to stay off the phone while online.  Both signals can exist at the same time, without being crossed or linked.  This service is normally offered by most major phone companies, both cellular and landline, and can often be combined with other services they provide, resulting in a lower bill.

A DSL connection offers fast and reliable service, and while it is more reliable than a cable connection, it is slightly slower.  At these speeds, however, you shouldn't notice a difference unless you handle large file uploads or downloads on a regular basis.

Cable

Combined with your standard cable line, this high-speed connection requires some extra equipment, but it provides the same blazing speed as DSL, and a little extra.  The connection itself can provide better speed, but you will be sharing this faster speed with the entire surrounding community.  With the infrastructure, users share the bandwidth provided to them through the cable lines, meaning if all your neighbors use the same service provider, you will get much slower speeds.  Still, this option does give you the ability to combine several of your more expensive luxuries, like cable television, into one package, letting you save on both.