differences of cable and dsl for linux

[brent harding]

			Which kind of network card is the best for use in linux? What's the
difference between setting up cable or dsl? Do all providers offer modems
that hook to ethernet cards, or is usb the only thing now? 	Is it better to
use a pci or isa card, I hear isa is easier to set up. Do nonplug and play
cards exist, or abilities to disable plug and play? Are they speech
friendly? I may be getting dedicated access with a small provider in my
area soon, if they offer it, and want to know how easy things will be. Is
it possible to get around the blocked ports, if I need to use smtp, pop3,
streaming audio, ftp, or http? Is it easy to setup alternate ports if they
block me to connect to a pop server on the proper port? I hate webmail with
java. If alternate ports are needed, how would I get incoming mail to use
them so my mail would work, ftp, http, etc? I really don't like the idea of
$300 a month colocation when I need access to the computers I have,
especially for ease of editing system files. I'm somewhat new with running
my own linux system, and don't know much about routing mail to different
ports and the like. What if the provider gives ips like 10.0.0.x, how do I
run stuff I want seen from the internet?
Thanks.