Archive through October 11, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: Cable or DSL...Which is BEST???: Archive through October 11, 2002

Kstme

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 04:36 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I have cable and was offered DSL by our telephone company. Same price...so...am wondering if anyone out there has tried both and which is better. I LOVE the cable over the OLD dial-up!

Elsol

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 04:49 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
We have cable and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have never had DSL personally, but know a couple of people that have it and it appears to be more problems than it's worth. Their speed never matched ours, and their service was always being interupted. They also have had their accounts deleted from the database and had to have new accounts created which took a week. I have had cable for 4 years and can count on one hand how many times I've lost service, and none has been longer than a few hours....usually a few minutes. That's the extent of my experience with cable vs. DSL.......Cable is where I'll stay.

Zachsmom

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 04:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
CABLE!!!!!

Never had DSL but I have heard horror stories about them..

I have had cable almost 4 years and would never go back to dial up!!

Draheid

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 05:23 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You should do some research at BroadBand Reports.com where you'll find the good & bad reports of a variety of broadband services. IMHO, and based on reports from there, in my zip code service area, DSL typically runs about 400kbps while cable runs around 1900+kbps and the price is actually cheaper. Plus the limitations of DSL service can be a problem if you live in a rural area. FWIW, check out that link, I think you'll find it enlightening.

Yankee_In_Ca

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 05:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Cable. Period.

Kstme

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 05:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
THANK YOU! Super link Dra! DH says "CABLE"...LOL Guess we're sticking with it!

Draheid

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 05:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kstme: Here is a Direct Link to that sites archives. Go there and put in your local zip code so you can see how the different services in your area are doing compared to each other. Alternatively, if you click on 'Our Tools' then Speed Tests to check your own connections performance. Keep in mind 'peak' times when testing. You might try it a few times for comparison of morning/evening performances.

Yuhuru

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 06:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I have DSL, and I have never had any problems at all. I'm sure it depends on the service provider. My hubby says that DSL is best for downloading music. I don't know.

Oregonfire

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 06:07 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I recently got an offer in the mail from AT&T to get their cable modem service with a year of free basic cable. I found out when I called that the deal is only for NEW cable subscribers. Anyway, that's the deal I was looking for; somebody might as well benefit from it.

Max

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 06:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I upgraded from DSL to cable and never looked back! The DSL folks tried to convince me to purchase a faster connection (sure more money!),but I got more than twice the throughput on cable modem for the same price as the slowest DSL.

In practicality, here's how it worked: With DSL, I had to watch BB3 feeds at 80Kbps or the picture would break up and the sound would be more like a helicopter than dialog. With cable modem, I consistently got speeds of 200Kbps with crystal clear picture and sound.

Example 2: There's a site called Intertainer which is designed for users with high-speed connections. For a small fee, you can watch old TV shows, current movies, and more right over your internet connection. With my DSL service, I couldn't use Intertainer (they check your bandwidth before they let you sign up). With cable, no problem whatsoever. :)

Katlady53

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 06:29 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Cable here!

Zachsmom

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 06:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I can watch a movie on my computer??!!!!

I'll be stricken with numb butt syndrome all year long instead of the BB months!!!

Kstme

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 07:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Max...WOW! How cool...going to take a LONG visit there tomorrow! Zachsmom...this site may not be a good thing!LOL

Dra...Thanks again! DH and TheKid say "CABLE" LOL

Thanks so much EVERYONE for all your input!

Ryn

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 08:17 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
ok - cable/dsl - here is my opinion and a bit of an explination of how they are different.

In reality, the better one (faster) should be the one with the least number of subscribers (less people sharing the bandwith). Of course that might not be true either...... if the provider of one of the option stinks.

heres the basic differences between the two:

think of the providers office (where you get your service from) as a water tower.

Cable providers run one big pipe by every house and you tap into it. So you are sharing the same pipe with a lot of people.

DSL providers run an individual pipe from the water tower to EACH house. So you have your own supply right from them.

If you think of it that way you can see the possible advantages, disadvantages of both.

Assuming the provider has a BIG water tower, DSL folks might have an advantage, because they are plugged right in and do not have to share the water in the pipe with others. But its not always the case and there are other issues that can make Cable the better option.

Lastly, providers used to let users have almost unlimited access/bandwith. But now they are restricting that more and more as the Techno hey days have wound down.

Meaning? Back to the water example, they USED to allow you to put any size faucette on your pipe that you liked, now they restrict the size.

hope that makes sense.

just an FYI for those that love cable, its great unless everyone in your area is on it, then the throughput will decrease dramatically.

me? I have no option - 56k for me :( (better than the 28k my dad gets since he lives farther from a switching station - but thats another story).


My thoughts are, it just depends :)

good luck :)

Zachsmom

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 08:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I went to the link that Draheid posted that tests you connection. It's about 8:45 in california..peak time for internet usage..I think this is pretty good..I use cable modem.

Your download speed : 2095927 bps, or 2095 kbps.
A 255.8 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 280544 bps, or 280 kbps.

Ryn

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 08:45 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
hmm - yes thats not bad Zmom .. but for the place Max goes...

Intertainer requires a broadband connection of at least 580Kbps to properly deliver a high-quality video presentation.

Need to double your speed ;)

and for me - this was the rest of my message from that site:

Your current bandwidth was measured at 58Kbps. This may be due to a temporary network condition, so please try again later.

lol - yeah right - maybe if i ever get broadband out here :)

Twinkie

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 09:16 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I have DSL and LOVE it! Where i live so many ppl have cable that the connection is very slow. My connection speed is always very high.

Zachsmom

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 09:17 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL..yeah..the network condition IS the problem!!!LOL..

They don't have cable yet in Indiana? are you small town Indiana or big town?

(I used to live there..small town..LOVED it..well..except the snow!!)

Draheid

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 09:31 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Ok, having worked for the cable company for 13+ years, I have a little more technical inside to share.

Ryn, your analogy of the water tower is good, however, the cable systems run 'fat pipes' (individual fiber link) to clusters (neighborhoods). Most clusters are limited to a maximum load of 500 homes, depending on the design of the cable system. Therefore, the most you have to contend with for bandwidth is 500 of your neighbors.

Also, you miscalculated Zmom's need to double her speed. Her DOWNload speed is 2095kbps or almost 4 times the needed speed for the intertainer site. Her upload speed is throttled to 280kbps because all cable uploads DO go UP the same fiber to the 'water tower' Remember, it's DOWNload speed that counts when we're talking about internet speed.

Now, DSL has a limitation in that, while each home has it's own pipe (copper pair), that pipe can not be more than 18,000 feet point-to-point. In other words, if your house is more than about 5 miles (cable wise, not physically) from the central office, you won't be able to get DSL. And, the further you are from the C.O., the slower your connection can be. Most DSL providers provision their bandwidth and sell it in increments of speed. More speed, more $$$'s.

When I look at the speed test results from my zip code, the speeds tested for DSL locally run about 400kbps DOWNload whereas Cable runs about 1900kbps DOWNload speed.

Bottom line, there are a lot of factors that weigh into this decision and no one choice is absolutely right for everyone. Do the research, talk to neighbors, etc. and make an informed decision. And make sure you can 'change your mind' if you decide you're not happy. ie. Don't sign any long-term contracts or get a satisfaction guarantee!!

</ramble off>

Ryn

Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 10:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Dra, great points :)

I knew about the cluster part but was trying to keep it as simple as possible, but your explination kept it simple enough for most folks here I bet so good job :)

I scanned zmoms post too fast and only caught the upload limit which is 280 kbp ;)

Also, I figgured if they have the option of DSL then they are close enough to get it - lol.

but I think we both agree - its not a simple decision, and it really depends on your local situation.

I would say that if someone gave me a choice with no information other than cable or DSL I would choose cable. But I am sure there are places where the Cable sux and the DSL rules.

Frankly I would take either but it ain't happening any time soon for me - cable company told me 3 year ago we would have cable net access 6 months later but of course thats right as all the computer stocks went in the dumper and now I don't even bother asking.

Grooch

Friday, October 11, 2002 - 08:25 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Here is something else to think about.

When I first got DSL, I was having problems getting connected to it. You have to put a filter on every single phone line in your house (You have to do it, not them.) I still couldn't get connected (My husband accidently put 2 filters on 1 line.)

Anyway, while I was on the phone getting tech help, the guy said that it could be a problem with the phone line from my house out to their box. If that was the problem, I would have to pay to have a new line put in. And he said that most older houses would need a new line to get th ebest performance. Thank goodness I didn't have to do it.

Though I probably should. Whenever it rains really hard, I can't get connected to the internet.

So if you live in an old house, you might have to do this.

Karuuna

Friday, October 11, 2002 - 09:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Like Ryn, I live in an area (at home) where I can't get DSL or Cable. (a pox on ATTBroadband!)

I can now get DirectTV Satellite Internet. Anyone know anything about that service and how well it works?

Whowhere

Friday, October 11, 2002 - 09:30 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Exactly why we opted for cable Grooch. When it rains hard, service is out period. I've heard people say, "What does DSL stand for? - Damn Slow Line."

I live in a small town in Indiana and have the option of DSL or cable. Everyone I know, including us, who used to have DSL now have cable.

I vote cable. :)

Costacat

Friday, October 11, 2002 - 09:36 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I had DSL and currently have cable. I much prefer cable. Even though I have to "share" bandwidth with other cable modem subscribers, it's very rare that my download speeds ever slow down to the guaranteed bandwidth that I had with DSL. To compare apples to apples, cost wise, you want to compare the d/load and u/load speeds of the standard DSL service to the standard cable modem service. Yes, if you live in an area where you can upgrade your DSL line speed, you will get faster loading times. But you will pay more for that. Also, uploading speeds with cable modems are significantly faster. If you have to move large files around, this is something to consider (I have a home office and transferring files is important to me). When I run tests at DSL Reports, I end up with over 2K download speeds most of the time. The only time I slog down is around 5-6pm, and even then my download speeds are at least twice the speed of DSL.

I think that the problems the DSL providers had in the past have been resolved. When my original DSL service provider went bankrupt, I called my local phone service. It would take one week to get DSL (and that is even after I already HAD DSL coming in to my house, albeit with a different provider, but it was already wired and set up). It took one day for me to get my cable modem set up.

Grooch, the filter issue differs depending on where you live. I live very close to my local CO and never had to do anything to ensure quality lines into my house. In fact, I received speeds in the high end of the "guaranteed" download.

Finally, one thing to consider with DSL service is that you are dealing (possibly) with several vendors. Your local phone company will be providing the DSL line to your house, and that same company may or may not be providing the line INTO your home. For example, Pacific Bell provides the line to and into your home. If you do not have a single vendor for both provisionings, there are additional headaches with support issues (generally, trying to pin down if a problem is from the CO to the phone box, or from the phone box to the DSL cable in your house).

Karuuna, the one person I know who has satellite broadband loves it. Of course, that may be because he can't get DSL or cable modems! <grin>

Grooch

Friday, October 11, 2002 - 10:43 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Karunna, Fruitbat has direct tv satellite internet.