A high speed means of accessing the internet as opposed to old-fashioned Internet access via dial-up. DSL (Digital Subscriber Service) is a service provided by local phone companies to connect a home or office to a telephone switching agent and move the data on copper wires. This is run as a separate line and does not tie up the voice line. This connection is always on.
Cable Internet connections move the data on the coaxial cable used by cable service providers with has much greater bandwidth than telephone lines – think of it as a bigger pipe. Cable Internet normally provides significantly faster download speeds – up to 2 times faster-  than DSL, although Cable Internet speeds vary based upon the number of people using the system. Upload speeds between cable and DSL are similar.