Arunachalam’s Weblog

Both offer advantages to the home and small business customer

This tutorial will help you understand the practical differences between DSL and cable modem networking. While similar in many respects, DSL and cable Internet services differ in several fundamental ways.

DSL and Cable – Comparison and Contrast

When evaluating cable and DSL services, you should consider the following:

• Speed (advantage – Cable): Cable boasts faster speed than DSL Internet in theory. However, cable does not always deliver on the promise in everyday practical use.

  Read more – DSL vs Cable – Speed Comparison

• Popularity (advantage – Both): In the U.S., cable Internet enjoys significantly greater popularity than DSL, although DSL has been closing the gap recently.

  Outside the U.S., DSL continues to hold the edge. Both dominate the rest of the competition with millions of subscribers to each.

Read more – DSL and Cable Modem Subscribers – U.S.

  Customer Satisfaction (advantage – DSL): Even if a technology is popular, customers may be unhappy with it whether due to cost, reliability or other factors. Indeed, in the U.S. cable services generally rate lower than DSL in customer surveys.

Read more – DSL vs Cable Customer Satisfaction – U.S.

  Security (advantage – Both): Cable and DSL implement different network security models. Historically, more concerns have existed with cable security, although cable providers have definitely taken steps to improve security over the past few years. It’s likely both DSL and cable are “secure enough” for most people’s needs.

Here’s How:

1. Verify the current local IP address of your router. Home broadband routers are manufactured to use a default address such as 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, or 192.168.2.1. If you are unsure of your router’s default IP address, or if you have changed the default previously, follow these instructions:

2. Verify your computer is connected to the router either via an Ethernet cable or wirelessly association with the router. In either case, ensure your computer possesses a valid IP address.

3. Open a Web browser window and request a connection to the router using its local IP address. For example, type http://192.168.1.1/ in the browser’s address bar to request a connection to a router using the IP address 192.168.1.1.

4. If the browser request is successful, you will be connected to the router and prompted for the administrative login (username and password) information. Enter the administrative login information to authenticate yourself to use the router’s admin screens. Broadband routers contain default usernames and passwords when first installed. Consult your router’s documentation if you need to know the default login information.

5. If the browser request returns an error message, your computer is likely not connected to the router. You may need to perform additional troubleshooting to establish a connection. Try the following procedures and repeat step 3 above as needed to resolve any connection problems:

a. Reboot (power off and on) your router
b. Temporarily disable your network firewall

c. Reset your router to factory defaults (consult the manufacturer’s documentation)

Tips:

1. If this is the first time you are connecting to a wireless router for admin work, consider using a wired Ethernet link rather than a Wi-Fi link. Your Ethernet connection will keep working even if you haven’t finished configuring or accidentally break the Wi-Fi settings.

What You Need:

• Wireless router
• Computer with Web browser