DSL vs Cable. Opinions?

[Bingo]

So it seems I'm gonna have to change isp's during my move. Arrrrghhh!

I hate that. I've had the same isp and email address for almost 7 years now, never had any problems or anything. Hell, I don't even get spam!!

However, they say they cannot provide DSL service at my new place (although oddly, the new phone company said they could).

So I'm having to switch. I've thought about trying out cable and checking the supposedly higher speeds (I've seen some crazy throughput testing results posted here).

Anyone have any current thoughts on cable vs dsl? Pros, cons, speeds, reliability, etc?

Bingo

[SALvation]

I've only had cable and I love it. There's no software you have to deal with, its always on, and its faster and cheaper than DSL in my area. People used to say that cable would be slow once everyone in the neighborhood gets it, but personally I haven't seen it in being a cable customer for 5 years. Hell, Comcast just doubled our download speeds last month.

[Death-Dude]

I wish I could offer you an end-user comparison, but I've only had cable. The cable service has been pretty darn reliable. I've had a couple of times that connectivity stopped, although the cable modem indicated business as usual, and a couple of weeks ago, it was dropping off and resetting, but I owed that up to upgrades/maintenance they may have been doing. For me, cable was cheaper than the local dial-up I had, as it allowed me to ditch the extra phone line I had in the house. I suppose some of it lies with the companies you'll do business with as well. Can you search for user testimonies from the companies you're looking at?
Maybe you can find more info at Broad Band Reports (http://www.broadbandreports.com), search for your zip code.

[Death-Dude]

I just ran a test there, the one at Megapath, and had 3018 kbps DL, 253 kbps up. The up is on the anemic side, but other than gaming, I don't 'up' much, I guess. My DL speeds have been better since using a router and hooking my wife's machine up, it used to max out around 2500.

[Dan2]

I've had cable for 4 yrs. Only had 1 outage for about an hour. That's a good ratio.
I also heard about overloaded nodes will slow you down but haven't experienced that at all. Get the cable if its available in your area. You'll probrably get some kind of discount for the first 6 months or so also. I've never had DSL and don't plan on it in the future. :thumbs:

[OUTLAWS Tip]

I don't have cable tv so it would be a bigger bill. I have dsl through Earthink for $50 a month. The main reason I took them was they give dsl and 20 hours of dialup with the plan. I let my parents use the dialup account. Also if it ever goes down I can go through the modem. Or, if I am away I can connect to my account from anywhere. I could get it throught the phone company for $35 with no dialup account.
:hmmm:

[OUTLAWS high ping camper]

I've had dial up.....it sucked....(no doubt).

I've had IDSL, it was much better than dial up, but very expensive ($100 a month).

I finally got cable.....it rocks....$45 a month....I've got no complaints what so ever.


Cable really is the way to go.

[Pure_Evil]

At work I have DSL, at home cable. Thank God for work! DSL is $10 a month cheaper. But the upload is half the speed of cable, download is rated at 2% slower. My DSL at work is down more often than cable. I recieve e-mail slower ( ask my Europen friends) When SBC and yahoo merged for the DSL, it was a total nightmare! Took forever to reconfigure our e-mail. SBC says the way we have it set up shouldn't work, but it's the only way it does work :blink:
If it wasn't for work, I'd probably would've gotten DSL at home to save a few bucks, and I would've been sorry. The only people I know with cable ISP problems is Goober and LaSH, there ping is bad during prime time television, but DSL isn't offered in Goobers area.

[Bingo]

Originally posted by OUTLAWS Tip@Jan 21 2004, 05:54 AM
I don't have cable tv so it would be a bigger bill. I have dsl through Earthink for $50 a month. The main reason I took them was they give dsl and 20 hours of dialup with the plan. I let my parents use the dialup account. Also if it ever goes down I can go through the modem. Or, if I am away I can connect to my account from anywhere. I could get it throught the phone company for $35 with no dialup account.
:hmmm:
Funny you say that. Earthlink is who I'm with now for my DSL line. Started with them when they were a small isp in Atlanta - Mindspring. I still don't understand why Verizon says they can give me DSL service at the new place, but Earthlink says they can't. :bandhead:

B

[Bingo]

Thanks for all the input folks, I really appreciate it.

It's interesting to see how folks have all sorts of problems, while someone else with the same thing doesn't.

I've heard some people saying thier cable was terrible, and never seemed to be up, yet all of you seem to have had great service with yours.

My DSL has never really been down, yet many of you say you've had terrible luck with it. Odd.

Well, it looks like I'll be checking out a company called 'Knology' for a cable line. I checked around a little, and they seem to have decent feedback, at least at the one or two sites I could find that had reviews of them.

Thanks again for all the input!

Bingo

[FUS1ON]

Back before cable was available in my area I had plenty of friends that had DSL through Bellsouth @ $40 a month. It seemed that they were always having troubles. That might have had something to do with the service being new technology to the service peeps around here, At least that's my impression from talking to them. Totally clueless.

When Time Warner/Roadrunner ($45 a month) became available here they all switched and have never looked back. I'm sooooo glad because whenever something happened to their connection, My gaming time usually got interupted. :bandhead:

[Fragetti]

I used DSL for about 4 yrs it was nice way better than dial-up but I have cable now and love it. Both are around 40 bucks a month. With cable I have a bundle
that includes cable TV/phone and data whitch did save me money. DSL used PPPOP
type of connection which uses software with a max packet of 14200. I never really
had problems with it but cable is faster. In the begining when i got cable I had a few prob and I made them give me a dail-up acct to hold me over and I still can use today when am away from home :oooo: no extra cost :devil:

[EXEcution]

lol u guys pay alot.
My DSL is 35$ a month ALWAYS from Verizon, its good speed 181Kbs, i think alot of people use cable near my area, and since it affects the overall coonection im stckin with DSL.
I don't really need ALOT of speed, just minimum lag in sam, and i only download small game demo files.
Oh and cable TV which i have now, sux!
Nothing good ever on!
All the same realitly crap.
Cure i get G4 TV, but its all repeats! :bandhead:

[Rivers]

Cable here and wouldn't consider DSL unless I was forced to. (lived in an area where I couldn't get cable) :wootrock:

[<<Hybrid>>]

yep Cable is much faster than DSL, with same price (here) and less errors

[OUTLAWS DirtGod]

If you have cable in your house already i would go with cable.....i have had DSL for 4 yrs. because thats all i can get......and cable has made some major impovements over the years go with cable if you can :thumbs:

[Slice]

If you get DSL go with your phone company for the provider. Your service will be much better as they own the lines. ;) The other providers simply sub lease them and get the lowest priority. I&#39;ve had dsl for about 6 months now and I have no complaints. One thing to keep in mind is the only thing you are going to gain with cable is your download speed/bandwidth is going to be faster. Web surfing will not appear any faster with cable than dsl due to the fact browsers load 8 objects at a time. Your gaming experience will not be any better either, although you may be able to make a server for some games with more players with cable. Pretty soon we will all be be on optic or wireless anyways.

[EXEcution]

Originally posted by Slice@Jan 21 2004, 08:37 PM
If you get DSL go with your phone company for the provider. Your service will be much better as they own the lines. ;) The other providers simply sub lease them and get the lowest priority. I&#39;ve had dsl for about 6 months now and I have no complaints. One thing to keep in mind is the only thing you are going to gain with cable is your download speed/bandwidth is going to be faster. Web surfing will not appear any faster with cable than dsl due to the fact browsers load 8 objects at a time. Your gaming experience will not be any better either, although you may be able to make a server for some games with more players with cable. Pretty soon we will all be be on optic or wireless anyways.
How do u mean optic? :hmmm:

[JIMINATOR]

fibre, ethernet to the curb.... available in some parts of atlanta, 2MB download.... potentially more in the future.

[Dark Desperado]

someone told me that once you get cable at a house, its permanent, so if you move you have to pay again to get it hooked up at the new house. is that true? :WTF:

[SALvation]

Originally posted by Dark Desperado@Jan 22 2004, 08:26 PM
someone told me that once you get cable at a house, its permanent, so if you move you have to pay again to get it hooked up at the new house. is that true? :WTF:
Yes, but most cable companies offer free installation if you move.

[Dark Desperado]

i have dsl and we were considering cable but feared having to pay another huge installation fee once we move :wacko:
we have to wait till after we move too to see if they even have dsl and cable

moving from Illinois to Oregon in june :jammin:

[S.W.A.T.]

In west sac, near where I live (but not where i live :blink: )
There is 10mbps fibre for &#036;50 a month to the home, 2 of our friends have it but it won&#39;t be in my area for a while :online2long:
Thats just my input but cable is much better then dsl anyways, i have dsl and my friends cable speeds double my dsl (I can&#39;t get fibre or cable in my area yet :unsure: )

[He Is Legend]

In conclusion

DSL is the sux0r

Cable is the r0x0r

[EXEcution]

Originally posted by Chaotic@Jan 27 2004, 04:03 PM
In conclusion

DSL is the sux0r

Cable is the r0x0r
In conclusion ur :ghey:
And me and my DSL is :cool:

[Nitro]

ok, u say that DA..my 11mb/s cable internet will totally own your copper wire :D

[Speedsweeper]

Cable....the only way :thumbs:

[EXEcution]

Originally posted by nitrostatic@Jan 27 2004, 05:45 PM
ok, u say that DA..my 11mb/s cable internet will totally own your copper wire :D
I think not, my copper wire wil wrap around your scrawny neck and literally saw your head off, while your rubery cable will be stepped on............. :blink:

[MANSON]

I have also had DSL and Cable and Cable out preforms DSL bigtime as far as I am concerned&#33;&#33; Shougun and K-Pax told me how much better it was and I was hard headed because I had no problems with DSL but man am I glad I switched&#33;&#33;

[Asian Invasian]

im getting DSL <maybe> cuz its cheaper than cable here though but ill tell you what whos complaining switchin my 56k

[Nitro]

playing any online games for me was impossible before i got cable and am damn proud i got it :happy:

[Bingo]

Well, I got setup with a cable modem. It&#39;s been a heck of a headache so far. I can&#39;t say I really recommend Knology. That might change, but for now, the customer service side of things has been a total nightmare.

I&#39;ve been checking the speed through DSL reports for the past couple days.

I seem to be hovering right around 800 mb. Not bad, but not all that good for what cable is supposed to be able to do. Blech.

Bingo

[Nitro]

Originally posted by Bingo@Jan 28 2004, 08:37 AM
Well, I got setup with a cable modem. It&#39;s been a heck of a headache so far. I can&#39;t say I really recommend Knology. That might change, but for now, the customer service side of things has been a total nightmare.

I&#39;ve been checking the speed through DSL reports for the past couple days.

I seem to be hovering right around 800 mb. Not bad, but not all that good for what cable is supposed to be able to do. Blech.

Bingo
you mean 8 not 800 right? :hmmm:

[Yellow[GummiBear]]

I moved from comcast cable to jazzd dsl .... although my dsl service seems to be pretty good I REALLY miss the DL/UL speeds and lower pings I had with cable

[Bingo]

Originally posted by nitrostatic@Jan 28 2004, 05:01 PM
you mean 8 not 800 right? :hmmm:
Heh, yeah. Meant 8mb.

This is really more what it seems to be in the evenings.

[Fragetti]

Originally posted by Bingo+Jan 28 2004, 09:55 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Bingo @ Jan 28 2004, 09:55 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-nitrostatic@Jan 28 2004, 05:01 PM
you mean 8 not 800 right?&nbsp; :hmmm:
Heh, yeah. Meant 8mb.

This is really more what it seems to be in the evenings. [/b][/quote]
Bingo
are the using a network cable or USB from the modem to the PC?
you should be getting any where from 1.5 megabits to 5 megabits.
Stay on there case they will fix it. :thumbs:

[Bingo]

Originally posted by OUTLAWS Fragetti@Jan 29 2004, 03:10 AM
Bingo
are the using a network cable or USB from the modem to the PC?
you should be getting any where from 1.5 megabits to 5 megabits.
Stay on there case they will fix it. :thumbs:
I&#39;m using the network cable.

If it doesn&#39;t speed up much, I think I will call them. Not looking forward to it though, as so far, I&#39;ve had to call them like 4 times in the past week and I&#39;ve yet to get out with a call lasting LESS than 30 minutes. Arrrrrgh. :bandhead:

[Bingo]

Just ran it again, 609. sigh

[OUTLAWS WHOCARES]

It looks like them same Problem I have.
Call them and complain. Explain to them that you are not getting anywhere near the Advertised Speeds.

Tell them you want someone to come out and do a Laptop Test.
Also save as many screen shots as possible from the speed tests.

[Caged Anger]

Man, I tried gettin DSL and they said no. Cable is 70 **^&^&#036;&#036;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; a month. But at this point, I&#39;m desparate for anything but dial-up. Unfortunately because I live on a farm out in the boonies of nowhere, no DSL is provided. Lucky me. Funny thing is, my buddy that lives about 2 miles down the road, can get it whenever he feels like :wacko: WHAT&#39;S THE DEAL&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;????

[Bingo]

Funny thing is, my buddy that lives about 2 miles down the road, can get it whenever he feels like

As I understand it, DSL is mostly dependent upon how far you are from a certain point - some sort hub for the phone lines I assume.

I do know I&#39;ve seen that you must be less than 18.000 feet from that point. Since your buddy is 2 miles down the road, that right there is already close to 11,000 feet, leaving that hub needing to be only a mile or so down the road.
Remember to, that we aren&#39;t really talking arrow-straight runs.

I bet that&#39;s why&#33;

Bingo

[Nitro]

Originally posted by Caged Anger@Jan 29 2004, 08:20 PM
Man, I tried gettin DSL and they said no. Cable is 70 **^&^&#036;&#036;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; a month. But at this point, I&#39;m desparate for anything but dial-up. Unfortunately because I live on a farm out in the boonies of nowhere, no DSL is provided. Lucky me. Funny thing is, my buddy that lives about 2 miles down the road, can get it whenever he feels like :wacko: WHAT&#39;S THE DEAL&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;????
Many cable companies give special offers, like 3 months of service for &#036;20 a month and then &#036;50 afterwards. Just go on http://www.broadbandreports.com/
and you will find all the info u ever wanted on broadband :thumbs: