The serial port is a viable option for peripheral devices that require a moderate data transfer rate. However, the older serial port is much slower than the parallel port. As you can imagine, a one-lane road is much slower than an 8-lane freeway.

The signals that are sent through the single data line of the serial cable do not produce the interference that you would find in a parallel cable. This means a serial cable can be up to 1000 feet long! However, most PC serial cables are 6-10 feet long. These can be purchased at your local computer store.