Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
napsgear
genezapharmateuticals
domestic-supply
puritysourcelabs
UGL OZ
UGFREAK
napsgeargenezapharmateuticals domestic-supplypuritysourcelabsUGL OZUGFREAK

DSL vs. Cable?

I have bellsouth DSL and love it. I'm gonna be moving in couple of month and am concerned my new place won't have DSL avalable. Those who have cable how do you like it? And those who've had both which do you like better?
 
... I just had cable-modem installed ... it's pretty good, I must say.
 
I like my DSL better because it so much more reliable than the cable service I used to have. When they work, they both work very well. Don't be dissapointed if you can only get cable, it's still equally fast, if not faster.
 
I've had both, and I'll say that the cable is better, because it was actually faster, and cost a hell of alot less. The DSL was a bit more reliable - I never had a single problem with it. I've had a problem with my cable network once.
 
I only have problems with my cable when the cable goes out...the speed is great..and it is cheaper and faster than DSL...
 
Whole Show: You do NOT want to deal with AT&T broadband if you can avoid it. It is absolutely the worst service I have ever encountered. There are regular public hearings being conducted now in Atlanta because of the company's notoriously bad service.

My cable modem took a month to get installed, then took another month to get working properly. It goes down several times a week. The ONLY reason I don't get rid of it and switch to DSL is that I don't want to deal with the agony of trying to get AT&T to disconnect it.

Go DSL. The other thing is that if you're in a high-intensity area, your cable speed will be affected.
 
i have DSL ...

the problem with cable is that the speed always fluctuates depending on how many ppl are online ... so one day when there's a lot of bandwidth being used ur download speed might be 20kb/sec and another day 200kb/sec

dsl is always constant ...
 
Thanks for the imput everyone and I'm glad to hear more. My DSL seems pretty quicky too me. Maybe I'm near the tower or whatever it's called. I connect @ 1.4mps. Not sure on the exact DL and UL rates. I know the closers you are the better it's supposed to be.

musclebrains: AT&T Broadband is my biggest fear. They are the most prominent cable company here and everyone one I know who has them, hates them. Maybe I can luck out and get Charter when I move. That's my current cable company.
 
Last edited:
Show - I have AT&T. Formerly, they were mediaone out here, but they were bought out. Luckily they have kept some of their policies, one of which is the introduction of new nodes when the subscriber density gets high. That's a good thing- keeps the speed high. They are, however, a tremendous pain in the ass to deal with, in typical AT&T fashion.
 
I have cable since four years or so and I like it,
some family members does have DSL and cable is faster.

But Cable here has more restricitions compared to DSL
 
I've used both. I prefer cable because it's better where I live, but results vary.

A negative aspect of cable modem is that (as someone said earlier) the bandwidth is shared. If everyone is on at the same time there is a degredation of speed.

A negative aspect of DSL is that there can be a bandwidth bottle neck because of poor wiring inside your home of apartment, especially if you live in an older dwelling.
 
I pay $45 for bellsouth DSL. Although a certain board member here (who I won't name) made an adjustment to my bill so I won't be paying that for the next 2 months. What are you of you cable folks paying?
 
$ 40 a month. but i had to purchase my own cable modem ($100) . you can rent one from the cable company if you want but that costs $10 a month.
 
i pay around $39.00 for my cable connection, but you must have cable to get it. i didnt try DSL, so i cant say which i like better, but i really like cable, but when cable's out, it sucks!!!!!
 
if you get a cable modem you have to

purchase the modem ($120 on ebay, $200 new), or rent it ($20 a month)

pay a monthly charge ($40)

have the cable installed ($30-90, depending on whether you do it yourself or professionally)

ethernet card ($10 on ebay)


and it all depends on the server anyway. this cable can go up to 28 Mbps if everything is right (no one else using bandwidth, T3 server, etc. the fastest i've had it is 1.4Mbps) but alot of the time it just downloads at 9kbps.
overall, if you have a good job & use the net alot it isn't a bad idea.
 
May1010 said:
... I just had cable-modem installed ... it's pretty good, I must say.
Yeah, I bet you had some "installed".




I tried Telocity DSL when they first came out...WORST FUCKIN' COMPANY I'VE EVER SEEN! The only thing consistent about them was their inconsistency in connectivity & service. They're S-H-I-T.

Then switched to cable, made some tweaks and it kicks ass.
 
I guess I lucked out with the DSL experience. I think the Bell Companies are the only one doing good DSL service now. But I may finding how the cable is a couple of month. I know one thing. I can't go back to 56K.
 
I have cable show...it's pretty good. Some days I get 81 to 105 Kb DL rates some days its 20 - 15 Kb, it all depends on the traffic. But the overall performance is very solid.
 
I never hit a 101ks dl but have hit 60-70ks quite a few times on DSL. It's hard to tell the max speed since a lot has to do with you are downloading from.
 
We can network our DSL connection between the four computers in my apartment for no extra charge by using the Internet Connection Sharing feature in Windows.

AT&T says that if I were to switch to cable, I'd have to pay an additional $5 or so per month for EACH of the other computers to be able to have each PC hooked to the Internet.
 
QuickGrow said:
We can network our DSL connection between the four computers in my apartment for no extra charge by using the Internet Connection Sharing feature in Windows.

AT&T says that if I were to switch to cable, I'd have to pay an additional $5 or so per month for EACH of the other computers to be able to have each PC hooked to the Internet.


i thought home networking with a cable modem was free (minus $20 for NIC). you'd just have to share bandwidth.

i didn't set the one i used to have up though. so i have no idea what hardware was necessary (i assume a NIC, cable (probably cat5 stp or coaxil), and maybe a hub is all that is necessary for peer 2 peer networking). probably all available on ebay for $60 total.
 
Last edited:
You can certainly network computers on a cable connection -- you're sharing the same connection with other people anyway -- but the cable companies typically consider it illegal, or used to.

If you do switch to cable, be certain you install a firewall program, F/N, but then you'll have the regular experience of having to reboot and reset your modem parameters every time AT&T goes down, which is frequently. Nobody will tell you this, by the way, until you have spent hours trying to figure out what is wrong.
 
What all is involved in installing cable yourself? I know you need a card with some cable going to the modem then do you just run that and the tv into a splitter and then into the coax jack for the tv?
 
musclebrains said:
Whole Show: You do NOT want to deal with AT&T broadband if you can avoid it. It is absolutely the worst service I have ever encountered. There are regular public hearings being conducted now in Atlanta because of the company's notoriously bad service.

My cable modem took a month to get installed, then took another month to get working properly. It goes down several times a week. The ONLY reason I don't get rid of it and switch to DSL is that I don't want to deal with the agony of trying to get AT&T to disconnect it.

Go DSL. The other thing is that if you're in a high-intensity area, your cable speed will be affected.

I'm in Atlanta and AT&T Broadband is the worst company I have ever had to deal with. When I moved into my new place in February, our cable went out 7 times in 3 months. They've really got you fucked though, beacause when it goes out, YOU have to call and wait on hold for an hour to get the service team out, and then YOU have to be there when they come. YOU essentially do all the work even though they are the ones providing a service.
 
Bigguns I'm in Atlanta too and if I have to get AT&T broadband I may say the hell with it and get Dish and pray DSL is available in the area. I might even go with satellite DSL since AT&T sucks so bad. But I might luck out. Charter is in a lot of apartment complexes down here.
 
Hey The Whole F/N Show, you should go to www.speedguide.net . That place is great to find out how dsl or cable compares in a particular area. They also have great links to tweaks, speed test, etc.
 
I used to have cable and believe me it sucks. First you have a static IP. Can be a problem for you if you care about hackers around. Then, yes its true ! During high traffic hours like 6-8 PM the service can be slow as hell and reach 56K ! Also Its like a big pipe you're sharing so security sucks too.

Now I have DSL. No such problems. Same speed no matter what hour of the day....
 
The Whole F/N Show said:
Thanks for the imput everyone and I'm glad to hear more. My DSL seems pretty quicky too me. Maybe I'm near the tower or whatever it's called. I connect @ 1.4mps. Not sure on the exact DL and UL rates. I know the closers you are the better it's supposed to be.

musclebrains: AT&T Broadband is my biggest fear. They are the most prominent cable company here and everyone one I know who has them, hates them. Maybe I can luck out and get Charter when I move. That's my current cable company.

DSL has a limit on distance. DSL will terminate between 15,000 and 18,000 ft. of line distance from the Central Office. The closer you are to a CO the faster your DSL can work. Some cities have many CO's , but you have to take into consideration line feet. Line feet is not a staright line. You have a lot of ups and downs in that copper line from the CO to your house. So, it ALL just depends....CO's are classified info. The FCC does not want IDIOTS/Terrorists to know where these buildings reside. Destroying one would reek havoc on thousands voice and data needs....Many companies are trying to develop a repeater/amplifier so DSL can reach more people. It is taking them a long time?????!!!!!

Anyway, if you have 1.4Mbps second you are very close to a CO.
 
Top Bottom