DSL is a weird technology and its limits are well documented. It can only be carried over copper, which is why it's not available everywhere. Newer networks based on fiber can't use it. It's also true that you must be within a certain distance from the telco office in order for it to work. One benefit is that latency over DSL is rather low, so it's great for online gaming.

I went with cable because the speeds in my area are higher for less money than DSL. I get throughput of roughly 350 to 400kbps. I also use a Netgear router and wireless hub so other machines in the house can share the same connection. Unfortunately they started capping upload speeds a few years back so running a server is out of the question. I used to run a kickass Quake 3 server before the cap because the upload speeds were sick.