What advantage is there in connecting the cable modem via USB vs pci card? Cable Modems and Wiring Issues

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Any recommendation on brands of cable modems?
READ FIRST: Troubleshooting Cable Modems
What kind of signal levels do I want on my cable modem?
What kind of bandwidth will I see with a cable modem?
What advantage is there in connecting the cable modem via USB vs pci card?
Can I take my cable modem to my friend's house and use it?
Why am I not getting the advertised speeds?
Will the cable modem interfere with the television signal?
How to re-register a new MAC address with cable modem?
I cannot SNMP my cable modem using Docsdiag, what can I do?

What advantage is there in connecting the cable modem via USB vs pci card?

The USB port is controlled mostly by the processor, which means that if there is any activity on the USB port, the CPU has to take time to process it.

A NIC card has it's own processor, so it will do all the processing and just hand the data to the CPU or show it into memory without the CPU needing to do any work. Basically, PCI is more efficient, but in most mid to high end computers, you won't notice much of a difference.

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by Raydr
last modified: 2002-10-06 09:39:55

All FAQs » Cable Modems and Wiring Issues » 5. Cable Modems

What advantage is there in connecting the cable modem via USB vs pci card?