Cable is capable of 10mbps both ways, but not all modems are. The Motorolla modem that @home gave me (a black cybersurfer) is capable of T1 (1.5 Mbps or a little under 200 KB a sec), but @home has limited it to 128kbps or 16 KB a second. It dependant on the provider more than the modem. Most limit it to 16KB, a few give 32KB.