Those are issues that lots of ppl have differing opinions on. One thing i will say is that if you use netgear router, dont connect to a server on port 6667, netgear seems to not get along with it at all.
A good website that may interest you is
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/howto/ They have a lot of reviews, both equipment and various cable and dsl companies, as well as good forums. Seems to me i even saw a general cable vs dsl article there. Great place to do some research
