Very interesting article HERE about cable speeds!!!
The really interesting thing is the following quote:
According to Tom Baker, a systems engineer and RoadRunner customer in Richmond who also serves as a forum moderator for SpeedGuide.net, a site for people obsessed with getting the highest possible Internet access out of their computers, cable-modem users can't just point the finger at their providers when they see their surfing speeds choke. "The real problem is discriminating between local congestion on your system and all around congestion on the Internet."