Cable Modem
A modem stands for modulator/demodulator because it converts between analog and digital signals.
Cable modems allow you to connect to a broadband network, usually provided by a cable television company that is sending data across the network using a standard called Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS).
Cable modem networks can have speeds of 4 Mbits per second to 250 Mbits per second. Gigabit speeds are also possible.
DOCSIS networks also allow support for multiple services such as data (internet), voice (telephone), and video (cable tv).
DSL
DSL modems are a competitor to cable modem networks. Instead of using the same cable for cable television, DSL uses telephone lines. DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. Although it may also be known as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). It’s calle dassymetric because the download speed is faster than the upload speed.
There’s a distance limitation for DSL networks. At most, you can only be 10,000 feet from the provider’s central office. Your DSL speed is determined by the distance you are from the central office. Faster speeds are possible the closer you are to the central office. General DSL speeds are 52 Mbit per second downstream and 16 Mbit per second upstream.
