Cable Internet or DSL

4AU4LIFE · 21 February 2004

I just got high speed internet from my local cable provider. I had been using DSL for a couple of years.
I was expecting cable to be lots faster than it actually is. I must say that I'm a little disappointed in the speed of it.
Anybody have any inputs?

LeftLane · 21 February 2004

I've found our cable modem to be faster and more reliable.....but we were a decent distance away from the DSL "hub" which I guess slows down the connection speed (?). We've been really happy with cable speed so far.

steveny · 21 February 2004

If you go back to dail up for a month or so then switch to cable, cable will seem much faster for you.

demigod · 21 February 2004

I had DSL with a 1.3 mb connection..now I have Cable with a 3mb connection!

The Cable is way faster.

SilverOne · 21 February 2004

Speed is mostly determined by the distance of your house to the nearest hub of your service provider.

At a high level, DSL provides dedicated connection, thus your speed will not be affected by others. Whereas cable is a shared service, so as your neighbors start to get on the internet at the same time as you, you may notice some slow down in connection.

If you want more details:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/129

AndyH · 21 February 2004

I have Road Runner cable modem for past 4 years and very happy with them.

NetViper · 21 February 2004

Cable is the way to go. DSL is not near as fast.

DocL · 21 February 2004

It all depends on the ISP. I had Mediaone cable (Roadrunner) a few years ago and it was great. When I moved and signed up for Adelphia's cable modem the service sucked. I switched to Bellsouth DSL and have not had one problem. I think Adelphia is going through bankruptcy and I know that they don't have the required equipment to service their users in S. Florida.

demigod · 21 February 2004

DocL said:
It all depends on the ISP. I had Mediaone cable (Roadrunner) a few years ago and it was great. When I moved and signed up for Adelphia's cable modem the service sucked. I switched to Bellsouth DSL and have not had one problem. I think Adelphia is going through bankruptcy and I know that they don't have the required equipment to service their users in S. Florida.

I'm not in Florida but my Adelphia is fast. Heres the result of a speed test I just took.

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest...7cb1504f1d3;2.0;www.dslreports.com/1077403795

jlindy · 21 February 2004

SilverOne said:
At a high level, DSL provides dedicated connection, thus your speed will not be affected by others. Whereas cable is a shared service, so as your neighbors start to get on the internet at the same time as you, you may notice some slow down in connection.

If you want more details:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/129

That's not true at all about DSL. For a residental setting, 99% of DSL users buy an ADSL. (asymmetric digital subscriber line which means you can download faster than you can upload) This is absolutley a shared service as mentioned in your provided link as well. (DSLAM) They over perscribe their lines by as much as 100 to 1 banking on the fact that people in their residences are not going to be on at the same time. Even the business class DSL (SDSL) is over perscribed, but to a lesser extent.

DSL is as sensitive as they get when it comes to distance from the central office and interference with the lines such as load coils or repeaters. I'm not saying that cable is not any of these things either though because it is also shared.

The only thing that is truly dedicated is a Tier One Digital T1 connection.

Tantheman · 21 February 2004

SilverOne said:
Speed is mostly determined by the distance of your house to the nearest hub of your service provider.

At a high level, DSL provides dedicated connection, thus your speed will not be affected by others. Whereas cable is a shared service, so as your neighbors start to get on the internet at the same time as you, you may notice some slow down in connection.

If you want more details:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/129

Don't believe the hype. DSL is a shared service like Cable. I inconsistently get a 4 Meg Download speed on my connection. However, on average a 2 meg connection all the time. Upload is averaging 786K to 1 Meg.

Tan

NeoNSX · 22 February 2004

Cable all the way.

DSL is like dial-up with turbo.
Cable is an NSX with a supercharger!

4AU4LIFE · 22 February 2004

NeoNSX said:
Cable all the way.

DSL is like dial-up with turbo.
Cable is an NSX with a supercharger!

In that case I better go back with dial up

akira3d · 22 February 2004

In my experience, cable has been consistently faster than DSL...and this month my cable service provider (Comcast) upgraded from 1.5Mbps to 3! No complaints here!

coolnsx · 22 February 2004

Based on my remote location DSL was not available. Cable only became available in 2000. I am very happy with cable but can't compare.

4AU4LIFE · 22 February 2004

I am very happy with cable

I'm happy with product but just had higher expectations.
Got it for $10 a mos for the first 3 mos. Not bad with 0 activation charges. Now I have to cancel my DSL @ $50 mos.

nkb · 23 February 2004

I am thinking about switching to cable (from DSL), which, by all accounts is almost always faster.

But, is the difference in price worth it? I am currently paying about $35 a month for 768/128 DSL (used to be ~$52 not too long ago), and would have to fork over closer to $60 for cable (in Dallas, they also just upped cable to 3Mbps).

Does anyone have any info on reliability of cable? How often does it go down? If it's anything like cable TV that I had many years ago, that would suck.
My DSL has been very solid. I think it's gone down once in the 2+ years I've had it.

4AU4LIFE · 23 February 2004

Cable should never go out provided there isn't an interruption in service in your area.
We were occasionally knocked off when phone rang though.
If I had to do it again, I would probably stay with DSL.
JMO

Cable Internet or DSL

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