Hey Chilli,
Your speed is only as good as your 'weakest' link. Having said that, typically consumer DSL speeds run around 1Mb/sec, up to 5Mb for business grade. Cable typically performs faster, running 3 - 5 Mb/sec.
Each have their own pros and cons. DSL will provide consistent bandwidth, but your speed depends on how far away you are from the nearest service provider's central office. With cable, you can lose bandwidth at peak periods, as the service is often shared with others, so you all compete for the same service.
Having said that, I live downtown, and had 1Mb/sec with DSL, but have switched to Shaw, and now have 4.5Mb/sec for the same price. Hope this helped.