Getting an internet subscription through your cable service is a simple and cost-effective way to get a high-speed internet connection. Cable internet uses the existing lines for your cable TV to provide fast, reliable service, meaning you can browse the web and watch your favorite TV shows at the same time, all over a single cable and through a single provider. Let’s break down how this internet service works and whether it’s right for you.
Cable internet draws its name from the coaxial cable that makes all this data transfer possible. A coax cable is a traditional analog wire used to transmit cable television, similar to a landline phone. These copper wires lead from your property to a neighborhood node, and eventually to your service provider, which may be several miles away. Your cable modem sends and receives an electrical signal over the wires, using a few megahertz (MHz) of signal space at a time.