Well I don't know the techinical specifics of it...But I've had experience with ADSL and cable.DSL stands for Digital subscriber line. It basically works at a higher frequency over normal phone lines. Since the frequency is higher, you can pump more information than a normal modem, plus you can still use your normal phone.
Cable just uses your TV cable line to pump data.
Both types of modems hook up to your computer through a network card, or into your network hub if you wish.
In practise, both are pretty much equivalent. (Here at least) There are small differences, ADSL gets you better pings, cable has a much higher upload speed than ADSL, security for cable is lower, etc.
But on the whole, both are a lot superior than normal phone modems. And if you're worried about the cost, giving up cable TV will roughly cover the cost of ADSL 
Sidewinder: Yes, since cable TV was originally designed just to pump out a few hundred channels out, but not to receive anything back "in". The new architecture for cable modems does slow down drastically as one "hub" is shared.
The "equivalent" problem for ADSL is that the lines only work within a 2km or so radius of the "hub", so many people get left out.
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1957: The space age begins when the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, is placed in orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4. Our German rocket scientists get very
annoyed with their German rocket scientists. � Outpost
[This message has been edited by Mucus (edited July 21, 2000).]
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