Both DSL and cable have pros and cons.
Cable service is faster than the sort of DSL service usually offered to homeowners.
It typically is easier to get cable service, because cable companies have done a better job marketing high-speed Internet access.
DSL 's big advantage is that it uses your phone line.
DSL allows you to use the phone line to work on the Internet even when someone else in the house is making a phone call and a third person is faxing. Thus, you need to have only one line for the house.
Another DSL advantage: The phone rarely goes dead. Cable is subject to service interruptions.
Also, DSL is more secure. With DSL , it is just you and your phone line.
Cable Internet service, in contrast, is fed into your neighborhood through one cable and from there to each home through an individual cable.
This configuration makes it possible for a savvy neighbor to look into your computer. (You can prevent that, though, by disabling file and printer sharing.)
Because you share the conduit, cable - modem service may also slow down at those times when everyone in the neighborhood is online.
Both cable and DSL have one big shared disadvantage: potentially horrendous tech support. Whichever service you choose, your patience is likely to be sorely tested.
And remember: Both cable and DSL require that you set up a firewall, a software program that keeps out intruders and the programs they can use to subvert your computer.