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Cable Internet Service

The major competition for DSL providers, cable Internet offers a high speed service with unique broadband content and lightning-fast access to the Internet. Cable currently has some of the fastest download speeds available for home use.

Broadband cable connects you to the Internet through the same cable system that you use for watching cable television. If you live within an area that is covered by one of the major cable companies, then this type of Internet access is probably available to you.

 

One Of The Fastest Forms Of Internet Access

With present cable technology, a residential cable Internet connection provides you with download speeds between 4 to 6 Mbps. By comparison, cable Internet is roughly 70 times faster than a 56K dialup connection in most cases. Major cable providers, such as Comcast and Time Warner, also offer premium packages with download speeds between 8 to 16 Mbps, but they will cost you a little bit more and aren't available everywhere.

In 2008, Comcast came out with PowerBoost™, a fiber optic enhancement to their current cable Internet connections. This pushes max downloads speeds up to 20 Mbps in certain areas. Speeds will vary, but a PowerBoost™ account is much faster than DSL at present.

Since your residential digital cable TV provider will be the same company that can supply you with broadband cable Internet service, consumers have the opportunity to bundle Internet access with their digital cable television and digital phone service. You can often get a discount when you bundle all three of these broadband cable services together, so always check with your provider to see if they have any such current deals.

It's important to remember that you just don't have a lot of choice when choosing a broadband cable provider. It has to go through your existing cable provider's system. The main choice for high speed Internet will always be either your current phone company for DSL or your cable TV provider for cable Internet. Despite the lack of options in choosing a provider, broadband cable Internet remains one of the fastest, most reliable systems for delivering an "always on" high speed Internet connection to your home.

 

How Does Cable Internet Access Work?

High speed cable Internet access utilizes and shares the existing coaxial and fiber cable lines that currently bring television signals into your home. High speed cable Internet access is designed to transmit Internet information (packets) to your computer at phenomenally high rates of speed. In fact, customers receive speeds of up to 70 times faster than typical 56 Kbps dialup modems!

For cable Internet service, an ethernet card is equipped to receive the bursts of high speed information from the cable line and translate the data in a way that your computer system understands it. With some cable access providers, the cable modem is provided with the service, while others require you to have your own equipment.

Additionally, it's important to realize that the television signals and the Internet information travel through the cable at different frequencies, enabling you to watch cable television while accessing the Internet at the same time with no impact on digital television reception.

 
Major Cable Internet Providers Other Cable Internet Services
Comcast Cable Internet Cox High Speed Internet
Time Warner Cable Internet Charter High Speed Internet
 

If you'd like to check other services in your area, then just return to our home page and look for some alternatives to high speed Cable Internet service.