On the new computer that I am building I am going to install a DSL/Cable modem (2 in 1). I was wondering which do you all think is better. I know that they're both high speed connections but which do you all prefer? ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
Cable. ------------------ "Break off the block like Maurice Green" --- Steve Francis President of the Moochie Norris fan club.
Oh yes and why do you think one is better than the other. ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
I have cable and LOVE it! ALthough they say the more people on your block/street that have it also take away from your speed. Fortunately there is only car lots, old folk and some lowriders on my street, not very likely to have cable. I check my speed frequently and am running at anywhere from 1500Kbps to over 3000Kbps, thats over a T1 connection and I'm only paying Roadrunner 39.99 a month! Good luck. ------------------ "Me entiendes Mendes? O te explico Federico?"
In my area, ADSL is better. There are tons of sites explaining the merits/pitfalls of each service. ------------------ My dream job is to be a Houston Rockets towel boy.
Yeah there are sites but they don't compare to actual descriptions from users of the products. ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
It depends. Cable is less expensive, and DSL is guaranteed bandwidth. If you only want to pay about $40 a month, get cable, to get comparitive speed from DSL it would be about $100 a month. However, DSL is guaranteed to be a set rate. DaDakota ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.
http://www.dslreports.com does compare and have user ratings. It is more then just DSL too. ------------------ ~John~ Help keep the obsessed thread alive post the reasons why you are an obsessed Rockets fan by clicking here
The problem with users commenting is half of them don't know if it's their setup or the provider's fault. They'll blame everything on DSL or everything on Cable. Also, people's views are for their provider. So unless you can find somebody that will be sharing a very similar connection in your neck of the woods, it's pointless to say "Joe in NYC said...". Understand the potential causes for problems and pro's and con's of each before you ask others what their experiences are. Chances are, they're no less ignorant than anybody else -- it could turn out to be a case of the blind leading the blind. That being said, I'm about to move to an area where I'll have either cable or DSL available... I've used DSL so far and it'll be interesting to compare which is actually better at least where I live. I've used DSL for a few years now and have no complaints whatsoever with it. Rarely any downtime, rarely any slowdowns not caused by 'Net problems itself. Do a search for "DSL" in this forum. This has been discussed at least 2 times in the past year or so. You'll get more information. ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
If you don't mind changing your connection in the next year or so, Cable is the best bet. Locally, there have been a bunch of people signing up for Cable, but it should still run well and quickly for the next year or so. But when too many people sign up, it will get much slower. DoD, DSL in our area only costs $50. $100 sounds kind of steep. ------------------ Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion
I never said it costs that much; DaDakota did. But for speed anywhere near a good cable connection, you'd probably have to pay that much or more assuming you want static IP's. If you want dynamic IP's, yes, you can get cable speeds or thereabouts for about $50. I'm paying Verizon + my ISP about $70 or so for my 768k/128k DSL service. ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills... [This message has been edited by Dr of Dunk (edited April 29, 2001).]
There are various speeds of DSL... find out what the speed is before comparing prices. What speed is AOL service? ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
It says that AOL DSL is up to 5,000% faster than dial up. Yes that's five thousand. I really don't believe it is that much faster though but I may be wrong. ------------------ Arkansas' Biggest Rocket Fan!
Cable My roommate and I share the modem and rarely experience any problems concerning speed. We'll be adding a third computer to the hub soon. I don't know if that'll cause any adverse effects. I wouldn't think so. I may try DSL in the future so as to have something to compare cable to. ------------------ "...just because a clever person can complicate the discussion about the truth doesn't necessarily mean he or she is making any progress in finding it."
I currently have cable, and it works okay. It cuts out for a few minutes at a time at least once a day, but the problem is mostly related to the ancient cable wiring in the building (this also causes me to not be able to get the speeds that people in newer facilities get, though my speed is still pretty good). Even my cable TV reception isn't all that great (though they did come and replace some wiring, making it a little better). I had DSL at my last apartment (cable wasn't even available. They told me for over two years that my neighborhood would be wired for cable modem service in six months), and it worked better for me than my cable currently does. But I know other people in the area who have had problems with DSL. (Mostly customer service related. When I got DSL in 1998, they didn't have many customers, so customer service was better in that crucial early period). One thing I like about cable vs. DSL in my personal experience is that cable was far easier to get. For DSL, I had to wait a month before they'd even hook it up (I had a guy come by and install it. That's the way they did it then. My friend was doing a self-install, but they still had a month wait), and I had to agree to a one-year contract. So, if I had it and didn't like it (or if I had to move for some reason), there were additional fees involved in ending my contract early. With my current cable provider, there is no length requirment and the service was hooked up the day I asked for it. But my experience may not be universal. ------------------ Houston Sports Board Film Dallas.com
I think you're misunderstanding. There are levels of service for DSL. For example, when I worked for Verizon we had the following service levels (they may still be in effect, I don't know) with the stated speeds: Gold - 768k up/768k down Bronze Plus - 768k up/128k down Silver - 384k up/384k down etc. Southwestern Bell has 2 speed offerings the last time I checked : one for 1.5 Mbit down and another for 6 Mbit down. These all had different prices and they rated at different speeds. Find out which of the above speeds you're paying $40/month for. Chances are you may be able to beat that price. I know when DSL was first introduced AOL talked about 256k up/64k down speeds for their DSL service, but I'm not sure that's what they ended up implementing. BTW, AOL more than likeliy buys network bandwidth from GTE, SWBell, or someone else just like any other ISP. So you'll still be on GTE's or SWBell's phone lines, but just getting AOL service on it. ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
If you have no speed problems and the speed is "what cable speed should be" to begin with, and you download large files, residential cable modem speeds will smoke residential DSL speeds for equivalent prices. Cable's biggest knock has always been consistency-in-speed and reliability. ------------------ Yugo grills, Yugo mills, Check out the oil my Yugo spills...
DOD, That is exactly why I went with Cable. Cheaper and faster....depending on how many people are on your hub, cable can get up to 10mg down and 2mg up. I have never seen those speeds, it just says that in the brochere. At work, I got 1/2 a T1 and 8 phone lines for $500 a month...that is 768k up and down. I could not get cable or DSL, so this will suffice. DaDakota ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.