Originally Posted by xyzzy
ScottC is correct. Unless either your cable/telco system is unreliable (goes out frequently) there is going to be no noticable difference. Let other parts of the service offerings make your decision for you. These include price and features.
One thing to be aware of that providers like Verizon do in parts of the US is force you to use their mail servers with email addresses at their domain. I don't think many providers do this in the US...
Is the norm now, yes there is an authentication process which wasn't there before, but I haven't heard of a providor who won't let you send mail even with the proper authentication. It can be tricky to setup, but once done, works fine. I must send from a half dozen accounts, all differant, through differant providors, DSL, Cable, T1, dialup, wifi, all work fine across all connections - granted, with proper SMTP authentication setup.