Cable or DSL?

[Steve M]

I've reached the point of wanting faster internet access and my favorite local ISP is now offering cable. I can get cable installed for $42 a month or DSL for as little as $7. 45 a month to $100 a month. Comparable speeds to cable are $39 a month. Both are free installation with cable requiring a tech to invade my home and DSL they simply send me a modem. All access from this ISP is without a program like AOL or MSN etc. It's strictly access only and you use your own browser and e-mail. I use IE and outlook express. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Any experience with either or both. Which is better or are they about the same? I'm getting anxious to speed up the works here!

Now let me count while this loads on at 14kbps.

 

[klenger]

I've had both, and they both work well. Given a choice for about the same price, I would go DSL as you are not sharing the bandwidth with anyone else. Also, because you do not share a circuit on DSL, it's much more secure from hacking. We reciently moved into an apartment, and can't get any kind of high speed internet. Now I'm on dial-up.

 

[joel]

I'd say get cable....

If you're in a small town, you won't be sharing bandwidth with many people and will likely get better speeds than DSL. If you're in a big area you might be better off with DSL. Ask the tech how many people they have per segment/node/whatever they call it.

 

[PRout]

With cable, youre in the same collision domain as your neighbors.



Any neighbor w/ a sniffer can basically grab your email password & read your emails, & see alot of what youre doing on the internet. Maybe this isnt a problem for most of us, but its good to know. Also, someone w/ a bad modem can saturate the cable w/ re-broadcasts that slow everyone way down.



DSL is a little more private from your neighbors, because you have your own connection to the switch, w/ generally a faster connection.



Either way, you need a Linksys router/firewall to HELP keep the nuts out. A major problem happening right now is in the early afternoons the kids get out of school, and get home & start "hacking". Theyre running programs that scan for an open computer sitting there like a dead duck waiting for them to try to get in. . just for fun & attention. Spend he 80-120 bucks for a hard firewall. If you get a 4 port unit you can run your own little home network.

 

[tgbol]

I wish I had DSL, I have cable and it gets awful slow sometimes. Also in the last week it has been down a total 28 hours. Last Sunday Night, Thursday Night, and again this morning.

 

[LSMITH]

If you can get the DSL with the same speeds for evena few bucks more a month DO IT! I have had cable for about 3 months and still have email trouble (messages disappear ETC) and need restarts of the modem to get it to function. My troubles are pretty common for my area and ISP (roadrubber). DSL seems to be slower for the up speed on average but the hassles seem to be less all around.

 

[Steve M]

We just ran out and bought a Compaq wireless router and a couple of wireless PC cards for the laptops. The router is good for up to 256 computers so it sould cover our two laptops and one desktop. It also has printer capability so we can all use up the printer paper and ink. It's top knotch and I like having the same manufacturer with our network to be. We'll just have to eat red beans and rice 'til we get our system paid for. It has a firewall along with our Norton Enternet Security program. The Compaq unit was $200 and the PC cards were $70 each at Best Buy.

Man what a tough decision. We live in the Tampa Bay area. Cable systems are likely to be maxed out. Our ISP uses Time Warner cable that's aready in our house so connection should only involve a splitter in the cable and hook it up. Same with the DSL except with a phone line.

When you say slow, are you talking dial up slow or are you still over 100kbps? I'm connected at 12kbps now. That's the pits. I can take my laptop out to one of the new bldgs I service and connect at 52kbps every time. I have really crappy phone lines and I'd hate to go with DSL only to find out it doesn't work up to speed because of the poor quality home phone lines. All the lines (three) from the poll to the computers are new from me trying to improve the quality.

 

[Todd G]

DSL speed depends on line quality and distance from the nearest phone company office. Investigate thoroughly before you go that route. Ask others in your neighborhood what they're getting for speed.

Don't believe that DSL will not slow down during peak usage. It still uses only 1 pipe the the internet.



With either system, a firewall( either hardware or software ) is essential for security. I personally prefer cable as my average speeds are greater than anyone I know that has DSL. ( 2500kbs )

 

[BigMike]

I have cable and it's absolutely fantastic. If you do go cable, you'll definitely want to install a firewall to keep people from sniffing into your computer. I've got Norton Personal Firewall and it seems to work fine.

 

[Cooker]

As already mentioned, you may want to check how far away from the DSL "hub" you are. If one is not within a reasonable distance, cable may be the only way to go.



In my area, I have yet to speak to one person who was happy with their DSL connection. A few of my friends have switched from DSL to cable and couldn't be happier.



Good luck with the wireless router. I just set up one for a friend of mine and we had a heck of a time getting it to function as well as he would have liked (not a stong enough signal to get the distance we were hoping for). Overall I was, and still am, very disappointed with the performance of the wireless networking equipment. I was using Linksys components, perhaps the Compaq is a bit better? The technology is the same, and compatible between brands, so I don't think the brand matters. Hopefully you will have better luck than we did.



JMHO,

Ryan

 

[BarryG]

I was on DSL and it was great but I was also very close to the CO. Brother in law has cable had a lot of problems initially but has gotten much better. Definitely right about the ease of sniffing on the cable. I would be happy to be able to get either one now that I have had to go back to dial up it just plain sucks. Live in the greater metro denver area and can't get anything but dial up since I moved unless I want to go satelite but too pricey for me.

 

[Steve M]

Got cable installed for $41. 95 with Internet Junction in central Florida. Man is it fast. We went with Compaq iPaq wireless router and wireless pci cards for out laptops. The Compaq wireless system had me really worried about complications but it went together flawlessly. Thanks for all the input! Now I have to go download some more mpegs of the races just to watch how fast the load!

 

[dan_gilson]

I think you are asking the wrong question. What you really want to know is who provides the best service.



Cable in my area sucks. It is so bad that they do not offer cable modem service.



There are at least half a dozen DSL providers. It comes down to which provides the best service, options that you need. You can get some of this information from www.dslreports.com.



If cable service does it for you, great. You can get some good data rates from it.



The problem with both is that you do not get those data rates all the time. The companies oversubscribe the lines so that at full load you are getting less than the published data rate.



I have a business class of DSL at home. The data rates are pretty much the published rates not matter what time of day and they are not asymetrical. Which means that I can upload at the same speed that I can download. This is something a lot of people do not care about but I do. I have a local website and the relatives like to get the kids pictures at a resonable rate.



Food for thought...

 

[WOWZY]

Been with RoadRunner Cable for about 16 months now and have had zero problems compared to my buddies that use DSL .



My bandwidth speed tests run 2. 5Mbs to 4. 2Mbs compared to their DSL 800kbs to 1. 2Mbs using the same speed test sites.

 

[DGFoster]

I have Comcast Cable and it is great at midnight to 5am,but anything in between when John Q Public is watching ABC nightly news and then watches a few shows til 11PM news comes on and then after his nightly midnight snack he goes off to bed and shuts off the TV,well after that the cable is strong. But if you can get DSL with @ leased 1. 5 download speed you will be happy,and even better if you can get @ leased 256 upload or more,but most only give you 128 up. . I would go DSL if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of people on cable,but if you live in the outskirts of town cable may be better,I know some with cable that live out of town and there cable is strong,but both are good,it just depends on were you are at and what you are going to do with it. If you just surf the internet either would be good. .

Good luck