Cable or DSL? | FerrariChat

Cable or DSL?

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by Dave328, Mar 16, 2004.

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  1. Dave328

    Dave328 Formula 3

    Nov 24, 2002
    2,133
    Katy
    Full Name:
    Dave
    I just got a letter from my ISP saying they were jacking rates $3 / month. That brings me up to $53/month for DSL. I can get cable for $40/month down here. I'm currently at 1.472 Million bps with DSL. Anybody had both and have an unbiased opinion?

    Thanks,
    Dave
     
  2. MikeZ_NJ

    MikeZ_NJ Formula 3

    Dec 10, 2002
    1,533
    Southern NJ
    Full Name:
    Mike Z.
    What speed is the cable service?

    My cable service is 3Mbps as opposed to the 1.5Mbps offered by DSL. I've never had any significant problems with my cable service.

    Give it a shot.
     
  3. dfratini

    dfratini Karting
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    Dec 31, 2003
    154
    Spokane, WA
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    Daniel Fratini
    Dave,

    I have had both and as with everything there are pros and cons. Pro of cable is stability and speed, it is faster. Downside is that if you travel most cable companies do not have a dial in server number. Therefore on the road you need to either log onto your servers homepage or get a secondary ISP, such as T-Mobile or MSN to connect for email. Since DSL is supplied by your local phone company they always have a dial in server number for when you are traveling.

    Dan
     
  4. djoex

    djoex Karting

    Dec 7, 2003
    138
    Miami, Fl
    Full Name:
    Joe Yeung
    I would have to agree with what has been said so far. I personally have cable and i like it better, its more expensive than dsl though (in my area) but is faster on the downloads than dsl. The only thing is that dsl has faster uploads than cable. Regarding speed, this depends on how many people use the cable company in your area, if there are way to much people the speed will be slower than advertised. Dsl in the other hand is not affected by the amount of people in your area but by the distance from your home to the "switch" (i think is called that way), so try to find out if you live far from one if you do, then your dsl will be as fast as dial up.

    but i would say cable all the way.
     
  5. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    I have been using cable since late 2001.

    Telstra Bigpond Broadband, uncapped speed (actual average peak about 4MBit/s), 10GB download limit / month (if exceed 10GB, speed throttled down to 1MBit/s).

    Cost: AUD $70 / month.
     
  6. Dave

    Dave F1 Rookie

    Apr 15, 2001
    2,722
    Little Rock
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    David Jones
    You might check with your local providers,
    We just bundled everything togother with swbell, phones, DSL, wireless,
    and my rate for enhanced DSL with static IPs went from $79 a month
    to $26 a month... Package deals!
     
  7. DGS

    DGS Six Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 27, 2003
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    If you want to run your own servers, you can get a static IP address from DSL -- not from cable. (Cable doesn't really have the two-way speed for servers, anyway.) (My DSL line doesn't have the speed for web service, but it can redirect a domain to a harder-to-find page on Verizon's servers.)

    Some cable systems will charge extra if you have multiple computers hooked up. When you have multiple computers going through a common firewall (single address) cable companies vary -- some still say you owe for extra computers.

    Which brings us to the down side of cable modems: If you have problems, you have cable system customer service. :(

    I'll stick with my DSL small business account. The extra few dollars are worth it for (a) static IP, (b) customer service that means something.

    Heck, I don't even use the local cable company for cable. (By the time they finally started to carry Speed Channel, I had the dish for over a year -- more channels, less fee.)
     
  8. Tyler

    Tyler F1 Rookie

    Dec 19, 2001
    4,274
    dusty old farm town
    Full Name:
    Tyler
    Like Dave, I did a bundled deal, but with cable. Digital cable, digital phone, cable internet.

    I've had both DSL and cable. You couldn't drag me back to DSL.
     
  9. KKSBA

    KKSBA F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2003
    14,921
    SBarbara-La Jolla CA
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    KKSBA
    I have used both DSL and Cable and Cable wins for speed, reliability, and price.

    My cable is a business service with static IP's and symmetrical speed of 1MBIT/SEC. They also have a residential service but it runs at a different frequency and is asymetric in speed and doesn't allow for statis IP's.
     
  10. Uberpower

    Uberpower Formula 3
    Rossa Subscribed

    Feb 6, 2004
    1,043

    There is nothing worse than working at home, relying on your cable modem and having an outage. You call the cable company and they reply "Sir there are no outages in your area.", to which I respond "You are right, I enjoy taking time out of my day to make crank calls to the cable company."

    Dealing with the cable company is no fun, second only to the misery of dealing with the phone company.

    Go cable, it's the lesser of two evils. Still evil though.
     
  11. tjacoby

    tjacoby F1 Rookie

    Nov 1, 2003
    2,857
    Vancouver Canada
    Full Name:
    tj
    We've helped ISP's build both systems, and both could be run well. Pick the lesser of two evils for customer service. I run cable for the home office.
     
  12. Hubert888

    Hubert888 F1 Veteran
    BANNED

    May 14, 2003
    5,441
    Manhattan & LA
    Full Name:
    Hubert

    Damn..u are getting ripped off at $53/mo for DSL!!! You should be getting charged only $30/mo for DSL and $40/mo for cable modem service at the most!
     
  13. LAfun2

    LAfun2 Three Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
    39,248
    California
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    Ryan
    I have a T3 connection here in my apt. VERY fast and never down, I love it.

    However in Los Angeles I have SBC DSL, and it is horribly slow. (ventura county) Is the SBC DSL combined with my tv cable?

    WOnder what is the best priced cable in Los Angeles, because I am SICK of the slow modem like speed of my dsl :(
     
  14. robiferretti

    robiferretti F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    3,299
    NYC area
    Full Name:
    rob ferretti
    my cable was $39.99 for the first year, didn't know they bump it up to $50+ per month after that I HATE PEOPLE!
     
  15. Dave328

    Dave328 Formula 3

    Nov 24, 2002
    2,133
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    Dave
    Yeah! Tell me about it! In my area it is definitely the "Lesser of two evils" approach. My intense hatred of the Phone Co. is only exceeded by my loathing of the Cable Co.!! We have bundles down here too, but It wouldn't save me money after the dust settled because my dad worked for the Phone Co. and my pricing hasn't changed (next to nothing for phone plus free call id etc)since he retired so I don't want to rock the boat. My concern was with the cable slowing down when the network was busy. This could also be phone co. propaganda! ;) It just hacks me off when they toss in little bumps every year or so likr they did to Rob. I think I'll go ahead and give cable a try. What the hell, faster and it's cheaper, I'd be an idiot not too.

    Thanks for the input!
    Dave
     
  16. WJHMH

    WJHMH Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Sep 5, 2001
    25,364
    Panther City, Texas
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    WJHMH
    My DSL is $29.99 a month with SBC. Add 25.00 per month for a phone I don't use in order to receive the service. Keep in mind I'm also one a one year contract in order to receive that price. Man, I got hosed.
     
  17. Kds

    Kds F1 World Champ

    I have ADSL at home and cable at the office.

    I hate cable.

    When the school kids get out at lunch time and at 3:30 pm the internet access slows down dramatically due to the sharing effect of the network cable.....whereas ADSL is a direct line to your computer and I have had zero difficulty with my residential provider for the last 4 years.
     
  18. Jay

    Jay Karting

    Nov 13, 2003
    152
    Charlotte
    Full Name:
    Jay
    You didn't mention who your local cable provider is but if it's tw/road runner they do provide dial-up service. They also have web mail. So if you are connected via some other means say in another country, you can still access your email.
     
  19. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    I have a cable modem internet connection at home, and routinely get 280 KBytes per second of throughput (like every night). The speed advantage over phone lines is unbelievable. Downloading 32 MByte files takes less than 2 minutes.
     
  20. LAfun2

    LAfun2 Three Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
    39,248
    California
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    Ryan

    With T3 you can download the ENTIRE Family Man movie in about 18 minutes ;)
     
  21. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    Most us us don't have access to T1/T3 capability, and won't for a few more years.
     
  22. SefacHotRodder

    SefacHotRodder F1 World Champ

    Dec 20, 2003
    11,148
    NJ
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    Chris
    i hate where i live, i get 600 on my dsl on a really good day
     
  23. LAfun2

    LAfun2 Three Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
    39,248
    California
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    Ryan

    I know. I was just being a dork and rubbing it in. Sorry.

    I have been using it for 3 years, and when I go to Los Angeles for long periods of time, my DSL feels like 14.4K modem. I can't believe people can live with that stuff. :eek:
     
  24. Ekasilicon

    Ekasilicon Formula Junior

    Jan 21, 2003
    507
    I have cable internet and I go at least 3 megabits/sec. I got a promotion and it is only $20 a month for the first three months. After that it is $52.00 a month. One my trial period is up I will switch it to my wife's name and get another 3 months at $20.


    MJG
     

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