Cable Internet access
In telecommunications, cable Internet access, shortened to cable Internet, is a form of broadband internet access which uses the same infrastructure as cable television. Like digital subscriber line and fiber to the premises services, cable Internet access provides network edge connectivity (last mile access) from the Internet service provider to an end user. It is integrated into the cable television infrastructure analogously to DSL which uses the existing telephone network. Cable TV networks and telecommunications networks are the two predominant forms of residential Internet access. Recently, both have seen increased competition from fiber deployments, wireless, mobile networks and satellite internet access. Hardware and bit rates Broadband cable Internet access requires a cable modem at the customer's premises and a cable modem termination system (CMTS) at a cable operator facility, typically a cable television headend. The two are connected via coaxial cable to a hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) network. While access networks are referred to as last-mile technologies, cable Internet systems can typically operate where the distance between the modem and the termination system is up to . If the HFC network is large, the cable modem termination system can be grouped into hubs for efficient management. Several standards have been used