[oak perl] DSL or Cable, etc.?

[George Woolley]

Oh learned sysadmin gurus and other wise ones,
I have only a simple modem connection.
Woe is me. :(

But I have the possibility of a contract
working from home (doing Perl --yes!),
for which contract I will need
a high speed connection for downloads. :)
Perhaps I should get such a connection anyway.

So I seek council from those wiser than I.
Is it better to go cable or DSL?
Who do I get whichever from?
What else should I be concerned about?

I know not what information is helpful
in giving me council.
But perhaps the following is relevant:
* I live in Oakland (near the Grand Lake Theater)
* I have two PCs on which I run Linux
plus an ancient MAC Performa.
The one who may contract me
says he will supply me with a PC
which will run some version of that other OS.
      
Thanks for any suggestions.
      -- George