How fast are cable modem connections?

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Many cable companies and Internet providers tout cable modems as 100 times faster than a dial-up Internet connection, or the equivalent of more than 5 mbps. That, however, is a slight exaggeration.

Theoretically, it can be done. But realistically, it rarely happens with no. of technological reasons. A more accurate figure would be 1 mbps -- about 20 times faster than a 56-kbps dial-up connection.
Cable modems are typically asymmetric, meaning that download speeds are faster than upload speeds. When calculating Internet-access speeds, it's important to recognize the difference between bits and bytes.

Web browsers, such as Netscape Navigator, often report download speeds in kilobytes per second (KB/s). Modems report speeds in kilobits per second (kbps). There are eight bits in each byte. So, if your browser is downloading a file at 100 KB/s over a cable modem connection, that's equal to 800 Kbps.