As a reminder, broadband refers to a new way of gaining access to the Internet, replacing your typical analog phone line modem. This new technology is 10 to 150 times faster than current modem connections. And, as it becomes standard for households to have these faster connections, new content such as audio and video will become standard on the Net and new features will continue to make the World Wide Web a growing part of our daily lives.

Cable modem speeds are rated to vary between 500kbps and 10Mbps (1000kbps = 1Mbps). This is blazing fast compared to current modem speeds. Also, cable modems maintain a constant connection to the Internet so you never have to wait for a dial-up or worry about busy signals. Furthermore, since you are using your cable line, you won't tie up your phone line while you surf.

However, your connection speed is only as fast as the slowest link. So, even if you have a great connection to your cable company, if they don't have a large enough connection to the backbone of the Internet, it won't do you any good.

One way the cable industry is solving this is by using caching technology. Caching refers to storing Web sites locally on their servers so when viewers in that community request the page, they don't have to go through the congested Internet to get it. The obvious drawback is that you can often be looking at Web sites that are a few days old.

Another concern is that cable systems are based on a shared access model. This means that as the technology becomes more and more popular in your area, you will be sharing your connection with other people in your neighborhood in the same way that offices share one connection over a local area network for all of their employees. And, when a few hundred other people, or a few people using a lot of bandwidth, connect in your area, your connection speeds will drop dramatically.

The shared model also raises the question of security. Since all the users in your community are basically on an intranet together, it becomes much easier for would-be wrong doers to gain access to your computer. Some cable companies have solved this problem by setting up blocks on the networks, but this totally disables the ability to share files with other computers in your area over the cable modem.

As far as hardware for your computer, most access fees ($40-$60 per month) include cable modem rentals. Your computer will also need to be equipped with an Ethernet card to connect to the cable modem. Some models can now connect through USB ports, but that will limit you to only one computer using the cable connection in your house.

Because of the enormous network infrastructure that will need to be built and the cost associated with such a project, it is likely to be at least a few years before cable modem technology is widely available. However, cable is definitely a leader in the broadband technology race and may be the future for high speed Internet access.