bandwidth - cable vs dsl

[kasia]

sorry if this is a lame question but please help, you tech savvy people.

how can you tell if you have narrow or wide bandwidth? in this office, we have cable connection.

[TB4000]

If you're talking about actual bandwidth measurements, it's measured in hertz, from the smallest amount to the largest...which could be infinite. Cable is supposedly faster and smoother than DSL, but personally I see no huge difference other than the price.

[kasia]

but how can we find out what our bandwidth is? our client wants to know before he sends us something.

[lethal]

Cable is wideband, so is DSL. Dial-up is narrow band.

You can test your actual connection speed at http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

[bluemonq]

that's odd though, having a cable business connection, unless you're working out of your house...

[Emperor_Mike]

If the concern has to do with large file transfers, your firm's connection should have no difficulties with it. Cable is broadband. :smile:

And incidentally, if the data to be transmitted is sensitive it ought to be encrypted. Use something simple like PGP. (http://www.pgp.com/) It offers OK protection, but the advice I used to give to corporations dealing with high-sensitivity information transfers is "If it's exceedingly important, either encrypt it with a quality cipher or send it via post or in person."

[>:^|]

but how can we find out what our bandwidth is? our client wants to know before he sends us something.

What the heck does he want to send? A decent office setup with cable should handle most transfer needs. But I agree with Emperor Mike--I'd worry about confidentiality.

[ism]

that's odd though, having a cable business connection, unless you're working out of your house...

There is business-class cable where a competent ISP would not cram hundreds of users on a single node, to guarantee a certain level of bandwidth. And they generally wouldn't cap upstream. Prices are very competitive although you lose out on the bursting a fractional tiered line would be able to offer. For 30 users emailing and web surfing, behind a proxying filtering cache, assuming at peak 10 users concurrent at 20 req/s, it could be sufficient.

And incidentally, if the data to be transmitted is sensitive it ought to be encrypted. Use something simple like PGP. It offers OK protection, but the advice I used to give to corporations dealing with high-sensitivity information transfers is "If it's exceedingly important, either encrypt it with a quality cipher or send it via post or in person."

Is there a HIPAA equivelant for the law profession? Cable is extremely prone to sniffing. Would definitely PGP it or connect through VPN if possible.

As for the original question, if you have cable, you can most likely handle it. Downstream is usually fast enough for most applications, unless he's going to stream some high-quality video to you or do two-way video conferencing at some really high quality. Some more speed tests here: http://www.broadbandreports.com/stest

[Emperor_Mike]

There is no HIPAA equivalent for lawyers at this point. The only other law that comes to mind is the GLB Act for financial institutions. Perhaps it's high time that something similar be passed for the legal profession.