Advantages of using HFC Network:

• The use of fiber optic cable for the backbone paths allows more data to be carried than the use of coaxial cable alone
• There is a higher bandwidth
• Can support reverse paths for interactive data flowing back from the user
• Infrastructure with fiber optic cable is more reliable than coaxial cable
• Low noise and interference susceptibility
• Users can make connections into the network without replacing existing coaxial cable

Disadvantages of using HFC Network: see HFC architecture

 

Advantages of IEEE MAC Protocol 802.14:

• Robust and efficient protocol
• Able to isolate higher priorities from lower ones
• provide quick access to high priority requests
• effective collision resolution for the upstream channels in the HFC network
• piggyback bandwidth requests to reduce collisions

Disadvantages of IEEE MAC Protocol 802.14:

• Headend priority scheduling does not support multiple priority levels.
• During contention, all stations are treated equally regardless of priority. The lower priority slots can easily be blocked for extended periods of time, which result in large delays for higher priority requests.
• Does not provide mechanism to give higher priority stations immediate access to the channel
• Does not separate or resolve collisions in a priority order