Sam writes, "I live in the sticks. Cable doesn't come out this far, but I qualify for DSL service, and we have a wireless provider out here. Since I can't get cable, which service is better for gaming: wireless or DSL?"

If you're out in the middle of nowhere, chances are that no matter what Internet connection you use - wireless or DSL - your online gaming experience may not be very acceptable. Of course, moving to the city just so you can play Team Fortress 2 may not be the best financial decision ever made.

Internet connections are bound by how far away you are from a central office or signal repeater. With DSL, you're bound by how far away the central office is, and even with a wireless connection you're bound by how far away the central tower (or repeating tower) is. As you increase your distance away from these objects the chance of errors in your data skyrockets - once you get too far away your data might be unreadable by the time it's actually sent out to the Internet.

If you're in the sticks and you qualify for DSL service, chances are that you qualify for IDSL, which is actually short for ISDN over DSL. At a rate of 144kb/s (theoretical maximum), you're basically getting double the speed of a dialup connection. Of course, you may qualify for ADSL, but if you're too far away from a central office then it's going to be the slow 2mb/s connection.

No matter what DSL service you're being offered, the technology is generally very good for gaming. If you can get a service that is "always on" instead of using PPPoE (which requires you to "log in" every time you want to use the Internet, and has an annoying habit of disconnecting you), then you're golden. Even if the company offers limited IDSL or PPPoE ADSL service, you might want to seriously consider DSL for your gaming needs.

Wireless connections could also be good for gaming, but they have some natural limitations that make them less than ideal. For the most part, these services operate in the unlicensed 2.6GHz spectrum, which can end up being a real pain in the butt. Almost every piece of consumer equipment operates at 2.6GHz these days, including microwaves, household phones, wireless routers, and so on, If you've got a lot of wireless equipment, you may run into the problem of RF interference - other pieces of equipment will knock you offline or degrade your wireless signal to an unacceptable level.

Of course, that's a city scenario. Out in the sticks you just don't have nearly as much RF floating around as you do in a big city. In fact, your wireless provider is probably a directional signal provider - they'll actually install a parabolic antenna (almost like a satellite dish) in order to receive a signal from their services. In this case, RF interference is almost eliminated because the directional signal is for stronger than the omni-direction signal of other devices. Of course, the problem then becomes one of physical alignment - anything that knocks one of the dishes out of place - either yours or theirs - will cause an immediate signal interruption and require a service call.

In end end, if I had to pick one of the two, I might choose DSL - assuming I can get ADSL 2mb/s service or greater. If I'm limited to IDSL, I'd jump on the wireless bandwagon - it may not be as reliable as a solid DSL connection, but it's much faster than IDSL could ever be.

Do you have a question you need answered? E-mail me! lordkat@gmail.com

Click here to check out How to Build a Gaming Computer for Under $1000.

Be safe,

Jason