can neighbors with cable internet access see each other's traffic?

Question

I hear that cable Internet access uses a single shared link to connect a whole neighbourhood. If I connect my computer directly to my cable modem and use a packet sniffer to inspect the traffic, would I see the all the packets being sent to my neighbours?

Thanks

Answer 1

Sort of. DOCSIS uses encryption to protect communication between your modem and the other end. The 128-bit AES encryption used in BPI+ should be sufficiently safe for a good many years yet.