A typical residential cable modem connection ranges anywhere from 3 to 15 Mbps (
Megabits per second)
downstream, and 1-3
Mbps upstream.
Cable modem speed is not guaranteed and often fluctuates, since the available
bandwidth is shared between many users on the same
node. Cable modems are also typically capped at a particular speed, depending on your
ISP. Some ISPs provide different tiers of service at a different price.
Also, note that the available
bandwidth, or "speed" between users and the Internet provider is often much faster than the capacity of your
ISP's backbones. In order for providers to offer competitive rates, they oversubscribe, and the fact that you have 15
Mbps to your
ISP does not mean you can reach that speed across the Internet to a distant external server on a different network. This is true for all residential
broadband connections.
