As the author of the WWW FAQ, I regularly answer questions about the workings of the Web. If a question is frequently asked, I simply add an article to the FAQ. But sometimes a question is more detailed, more in-depth— not really a FAQ, but still of interest to others. You'll find those questions, with my answers, here in Innards along with commentary on other web-technology-related topics.

Q. Does the length of telephone wire strung from modem to computer cut down on efficiency?

A. No. The DSL signal (this reader also mentioned that their modem is a DSL modem) runs from the wall to your modem via a telephone cord. After that, you're all done with phone wire. You don't use telephone wire between the modem and the computer - if you're not using wireless, then you use a Cat-5 Ethernet cable (eight pins, not four).

Ethernet has a 300-foot limit. Anything short of 300 feet should be fine.