DSL vs. Cable internet access

[Laurie]

For the computer savvy out there, what is the difference aside from having to have a phone line for DSL? Is the quality different or comparable?

Any opinions?

 

[jesse]

First off. Don't listen to anyone in here.

It's *COMPLETELY* dependent on the PROVIDERS themselves and not so much the technology. Perhaps you should post the offering of both providers.

 

[SkyHog]

Jesse, although oversimplifying, is right. HOWEVER, I've yet to see a market where DSL is even close to comparable in speed with either Cable or FIOS.

 

[mikea]

You aren't going to have to have a phone line for DSL service, soon....but "naked DSL" will cost nearly as much as if you did.

With cable the local bandwidth is shared with immediate neighbors. With DSL the sharing doesn't happen until the other side of the central router...and that's a lot bigger pipe.

I just talked to my buddy and his wife who have cable internet. They thought my measly new 1.5mb DSL was responding faster. She said she can tell when everybody gets home at 6 PM and goes on line.

 

[KennyFlys]

Between BellGoneSouth and Charter HallowLine cable in the south, cable is dang sure a lot faster. Beyond that, it's a matter of who has the best customer service and constant uptime or lack of interruptions.

I moved before between networks. They didn't tell me I needed a different box for the TV. I just moved again to a new house in the same town. All the equipment is the same and on the same network. But, they changed the account number and blew my emails and web page apart.

Frankly, customer service sucks with both but when they don't have competition within their sector you don't have any leverage to force back on them to improve. I'm sure that's true with most internet service providers.

So, fire all the CSRs! That is, if they don't quit first.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

What Jesse said- I used DSL in NJ and cable in Nebraska. The cable might be a tad faster. A lot depends on the web site you are looking at. If they are slow, it doesn't matter how fast the rest of the system is.

 

[JRitt]

Which ever one you get you will find out that the other one is more reliable and faster.

 

[Laurie]

Which ever one you get you will find out that the other one is more reliable and faster.

Now isn't that the truth?!

Thanks for your opinions - I realize there is no generic answer. I use cable now, but am moving so the question came up.

The cable is with Comcast and after 3 hours and calling 8 different phone numbers (after being on hold with each one of course - oh you need to call THIS number, bwaaahhh) this afternoon, I wasn't too impressed with the service you could say. If it's that difficult to order service, I can't imagine what it will be like if I have an issue. On top of that, they can't find my house.

Arghh.

However, I don't really want to pay for a landline - don't need it. I already have the bare minimum minutes plan on my cell phone and don't even come close to using them.

Thanks again for the input - I guess I just need to find the lesser of the two evils.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Now isn't that the truth?!

<SNIP>

The cable is with Comcast and after 3 hours and calling 8 different phone numbers (after being on hold with each one of course - oh you need to call THIS number, bwaaahhh) this afternoon, I wasn't too impressed with the service you could say. If it's that difficult to order service, I can't imagine what it will be like if I have an issue. On top of that, they can't find my house.

Arghh.

However, I don't really want to pay for a landline - don't need it. I already have the bare minimum minutes plan on my cell phone and don't even come close to using them.

Thanks again for the input - I guess I just need to find the lesser of the two evils.

Time Warner isn't much better- they were a no-show on a confirmed appointment when I first moved out here. They got it right for the "final move" to the house. The reason I used them- they were partnered with Earthlink (which works reasonably well)

Right now, I don't need a land line either.

 

[wsuffa]

Jesse is absolutely correct.

But.... if there is a competitive provider (CLEC) that leases lines from Ma Bell, you're at the mercy of two companies. I'd avoid that situation. You should prefer providers that own their own lines (that's your local telephone company and cable provider. Some areas have more than one of each.

FWIW, I have heard from multiple friends & folks in the DC area that Verizon is very non-responsive to customers. The cable companies are much better.

 

[mikea]

Now isn't that the truth?!

Thanks for your opinions - I realize there is no generic answer. I use cable now, but am moving so the question came up.

The cable is with Comcast and after 3 hours and calling 8 different phone numbers (after being on hold with each one of course - oh you need to call THIS number, bwaaahhh) this afternoon, I wasn't too impressed with the service you could say. If it's that difficult to order service, I can't imagine what it will be like if I have an issue. On top of that, they can't find my house.

Arghh.

However, I don't really want to pay for a landline - don't need it. I already have the bare minimum minutes plan on my cell phone and don't even come close to using them.

Thanks again for the input - I guess I just need to find the lesser of the two evils.

I can promise you that AT&T DSL will not be anywhere near that bad. They have been great to me. They've really improved.

I couldn't decide whether to hold my nose and go with Comcast for cable TV at the new place or just stick with DirecTV until Rupert makes the Tivos stop working.

After I had called 6 times over 4 days trying to convince the gas company the place really existed....

The Comcast web site wouldn't show me the costs online because I had to talk to a rep. I sighed. I called. The guy asked me three times for the address and how to spell the name of the city. I said "Forget it" and hung up.

I just ordered a new DirecTV dish install The DirecTV installer rep had actual brain cells. Even when I tried to avoid the confusion with my address he told me he got it. (I live on a "court" as in "Dolly Court." I am convinced every maroon rep on the planet enters it on the PC as "Dollycourt" no matter how I try to explain it and then argues with me that it doesn't exist. In this case I said, "Just enter "Dolly!" Please! He had already done it. ) It was totally no hassle.

AND just I won an HD DirecTivo on eBay.
I'll have a hot enough setup to hold me for a few years. When Rupert pulls the plug I'll have to go with Comcast or maybe I can get AT&T Uverse by then.

 

[KennyFlys]

I can promise you that AT&T DSL will not be anywhere near that bad. They have been great to me. They've really improved.

You touch on something there. With the recent merger between AT&T and BellGoneSouth, I'm hoping this CEO will take this company somewhere quite positive including becoming a major player in TV coverage and offering competitive speed to cable.

 

[bbchien]

It IS the package. For the third time this year suddenly my DSL bill at the office went up to $80 (from $50). This time when I called, the agent said, "Oh, your package has changed".
My response "Don't you ever tell me?"
So I paid the bill, and cancelled service eff. April 9 (SBC, Mike A) and the cablemodem will be up in a few days.

sigh.

 

[SkyHog]

I wish I could get FIOS. That sounds dreamy right now.

 

[Keith Lane]

We've had Comcast Cable here for about 4 years and 90% of the time it's been great. A couple of times, it has gotten slow or dropped out completely and they send a bonehead or two out to look and see. Now I know the right guy, and he has seen that we had a street wide problem and he fixed it. Right now, it's over 7Mb/sec. See attached.....

 

[KennyFlys]

We've had Comcast Cable here for about 4 years and 90% of the time it's been great. A couple of times, it has gotten slow or dropped out completely and they send a bonehead or two out to look and see. Now I know the right guy, and he has seen that we had a street wide problem and he fixed it. Right now, it's over 7Mb/sec. See attached.....

Yeah, yeah yeah...

I'm paying for only 5mb service but I'm just about getting it. And, I'm in the sticks! Oh, and Keith notice the upload compared to yours.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

However, I don't really want to pay for a landline - don't need it. I already have the bare minimum minutes plan on my cell phone and don't even come close to using them.

That's only because you haven't called ME lately!

 

[ScottM]

The difference between the two services is, from a theoretical level nill. They are both data services and will transmit data back and forth. Make sure you compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. It really comes down to price. Generally cable offers higher speeds at less price. But that being said I have DSL. When Comcast was stringing the highspeed lines in my front yard they destroyed some of my property. I called and eventually they made it right. But they were not going to offer digital service to my neighborhood, they just had run the lines to get somewhere else. I got tired of waiting and went with DSL and then satellite for TV. I have had reasonably good service for what I do from home and at only 14.95/mo I can't beat the price. If I were to switch back to cable and dump satellite my total bill would be almost $200/mo instead of the $110/mo total I pay now.

 

[gkainz]

cable here - generally happy with the speed, and it's still the only choice I have for high speed ... too far from a CO for DSL.

 

[Greebo]

I'm on Comcast cable in Baltimore, and while I have no particular love for Comcast and their relatively bad customer service, I have a deep, venemous hate for Verizon. (IE they hold the "we screwed you most recently" award.) I use Vonage and Comcast and have no recent complaints about Comcast and no real complaints about Vonage at all.

 

[ScottM]

too far from a CO for DSL.

I thought you were in a CO aka Colorado??

 

[gkainz]

I thought you were in a CO aka Colorado??

hmmm, in CO but too far from a CO to get DSL in CO? ... a CO-worker just walked by with hot COCO but I prefer diet COke...

 

[Keith Lane]

Yeah, yeah yeah...

I'm paying for only 5mb service but I'm just about getting it. And, I'm in the sticks! Oh, and Keith notice the upload compared to yours.

Very Nice!!! We very rarely, if ever upload stuff..... But looking at my hard disk I must download a LOT of stuff!

 

[KennyFlys]

cable here - generally happy with the speed, and it's still the only choice I have for high speed ... too far from a CO for DSL.

You must live in the part of Arvada that glows more than the moon.

Do you swear under penalty of free plane rides and buying all other board members a $100 hamburger that is a true and correct representation of your download speed? That's fast!!!

In 1998, I had AT&T cable in Aurora for a short time. I think it was around 500k.

 

[wbarnhill]

Echoing everyone else, it depends on what you want. Personally I hate the local cable company with a passion (Northland Cable Television), but I'm surely not dishing out 40$/mo for a residential landline that I'll never use and then pay for DSL on top of that, particularly when all together it will cost more than my current plan for less speed.

Just to help anyone feel better about their service... Here's what I pay each month.

"Digital 100" (i.e. 5 digital channels and the analog package.) - 53$/mo
"Express Pro Plus" (3Mbps down, 384kbps up) - 59$/mo

Oh, and that Express Pro Plus is the highest speed tier I can get as a residential customer. Feh.

So just my cable bill each month is about 112$, plus add in my TiVo subscription for 15$ and I'm close to 130$/mo just for TV and internet.

Plus, Northland claims a 24 hr tech support, but it's actually a third party company who can do simple things like reset your modem or look at signal levels (all things you can do by yourself) and submit an almighty trouble ticket, which means they'll roll a truck to your house in about 3 business days. The only times I've managed to get them to actually come out and do something the same night was when some construction dolts snapped the cable line for the dorms (twice... snapped the overhead line once by not paying attention when driving the backhoe, and sliced the underground line once when creating the new sidewalk).

Trust me, I yearn for a company like Charter.

 

[jesse]

Fast is still slow if the latency sucks.

 

[wbarnhill]

Fast is still slow if the latency sucks.

Amen to that.

 

[EdFred]

Reading all this, I am loving my charter set up.

Digital package, plus HBO, Cinemax, Starz (somewhere areoun 20 movie channels) and 3MB Cable Internet (which normally runs faster than that because I dont think anyone else on my street has internet) for $89/month.

 

[wbarnhill]

Reading all this, I am loving my charter set up.

Digital package, plus HBO, Cinemax, Starz (somewhere areoun 20 movie channels) and 3MB Cable Internet (which normally runs faster than that because I dont think anyone else on my street has internet) for $89/month.

Yeah, it's pretty bad here. But my apartment lease is up in a month or so, might have to move to Greenville.

 

[KennyFlys]

Reading all this, I am loving my charter set up.

Digital package, plus HBO, Cinemax, Starz (somewhere areoun 20 movie channels) and 3MB Cable Internet (which normally runs faster than that because I dont think anyone else on my street has internet) for $89/month.

All my regular charges on Charter are high but for two years, I've managed to weazel out some discounts on something or another. I've found there is power in threatening to leave. But, their custmer service still sucks when I've moved.

Here's a cut-out from the last bill.

 

[mikea]

All my regular charges on Charter are high but for two years, I've managed to weazel out some discounts on something or another. I've found there is power in threatening to leave. But, their custmer service still sucks when I've moved.

Here's a cut-out from the last bill.

Just so you know, that last $2.93 is just additional profit by other names. ...because the $90 you're paying otherwise doesn't include enough profit.

All utilities and telecoms do the same.

 

[KennyFlys]

Just so you know, that last $2.93 is just additional profit by other names. ...because the $90 you're paying otherwise doesn't include enough profit.

All utilities and telecoms do the same.

Yep, all the nonsense they call "Recovery Fees", etc... taxes accessed on the company that are passed on. The phone companies have the "Gore Tax" included as well to pay for subsidizing other's service.

This is why I state, "All wealth is held by individuals and all taxes are paid by individuals." I'm not trying to be political here. It's just a sad reality when purchasing a utility service.

 

[gkainz]

You must live in the part of Arvada that glows more than the moon.

almost ... just south of the "glowing moon crystals" (let's see if anyone gets THAT reference) ... actually four houses east of the line between Golden and Arvada, in unincorporated Jefferson county.

Do you swear under penalty of free plane rides and buying all other board members a $100 hamburger that is a true and correct representation of your download speed? That's fast!!!

"I solemnly swear that the tests I posted are exact, accurate and faithful reproductions of said tests conducted on the referenced dates. However, I have no knowledge of any mitigating factors which may render such tests to be misleading or inaccurate in any way." In other words, "hey! I just pushed the button and posted the results"

 

[Ghery]

In 1998, I had AT&T cable in Aurora for a short time. I think it was around 500k.

When I first had cable it was around 1 Mbps download. It has steadily improved and I'm now getting as much as 8 or more. DSL can compete on upload speeds, but cable wins hands down for download speed. And we all download a LOT more than we upload.