? about DSL vs Cable Modem

[dcg0317]

Can anyone give me any advice as which is better, I can now get cable modem and also DSL. Tired of the old dial up and was wondering if anyone has had any experice with either one or both and which they think is the better of the two. Thanks for any help.

 

[Christine]

I'll be anxiously reading your responses too!! I can also get both and have been having problems lately with AOL's 9.0 version. I've never had AOL problems before as some people seem to have, but I'm getting ticked off these days---for $24.00 a month, it doesn't seem worth it anymore.

 

[Lars624]

Originally posted by Christine
I'll be anxiously reading your responses too!! I can also get both and have been having problems lately with AOL's 9.0 version. I've never had AOL problems before as some people seem to have, but I'm getting ticked off these days---for $24.00 a month, it doesn't seem worth it anymore.

Exactly what I'm thinking these days!

 

[Aprille]

Okay, I PM'd Christine about this but since there has been another post about AOL 9.0 I thought I'd post this here. Sorry, I don't mean to high-jack the thread.

For those of you having problems with AOL 9.0 and dial-up you might want to try going back to AOL 8.0 Plus. That's what I did and I have been amazed at the difference. I haven't had any problems at all since switching back.

AOL downloads

 

[skuttle]

We've had both DSL and cable. Started with cable because that's all that was offered, switched to DSL when I got mad at the stupid cable company, switched back to cable when we got a great rate. I honestly can't tell the difference between the two at all.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I will be interested in this too. We have had high speed cable modem for a couple years and love it. When we move in a couple of months, we will not have cable available, so will have to go with DSL. DS has had both, and likes DSL better. I do think it can differ from one community to the next, and one cable company to the next.

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://compnetworking.about.com/library/weekly/aa111200a.htm

Very dependent specific on ISP's.

 

[ErikdaRed]

From a technology standpoint cable shares the available BW among everyone hooked to the same circuit, where DSL is a dedicated pipe between you and the central office (distance greatly effects the BW though). But of course currently this means very little since most ISPs cap the bandwidth anyways to save costs/complaints.

 

[JoNo]

I have DSL and wouldn't trade it for the world! Not too fond of sharing my bandwidth, seeing as how i'm almost always downloading 100-200 megabyte programs and running intense online gaming!

 

[mainewmn]

DSL and I LOVE IT!

 

[dcg0317]

Thanks everyone for all your input, and Dan thanks for the link it was full of info. I think I'm going to go with the DSL, they have a 30 days money back guarente right now and first month free and the cable company wants 100 dollars to set up the cable modem. Thanks again everyone

 

[ohanafamily]

I love these threads, Dan Murphy Thanks for the link, but I am afraid it is too technical for some of our readers. (Did you ever see my Thingy and blocker explanation of how to hook up a 802.11g card to a cable-modem network, I started out with a hint of sarcasm, and they actually understood it better with th "Fun" words in it.) OK, I will admit I Loved the explanation, but if you will permit my "Techie Answer"

dcg0317, I went round and round with Alex on this in another thread. (OK, it was the same question a few months ago) We finally decided that it depends on the company, and your area.

For example, if you have a separate cable line run to your house that is not being used by any of your neighbors, Cable is really fast. If you live in apartment building with 500 families (all with Cable Modems) the service might not be so hot. Also, with Cable Modems you are dealing with your cable company, DSL with your local phone company. Service as an issue, I generally get better service from my phone company, but in other areas the answer is different.

The other side of the coin is that DSL "Guarantees Bandwidth". If you lived next door to JoNo (I don't mean to flame you, but by your own admission you are constantly downloading huge files and this makes you a great example) and you were both on Cable, you might have much slower speeds, while with DSL he has his bandwidth and you have yours.

I hope I have helped... the real answer is to ask your neighbors what they have and how happy they are with it. It is more of a Who are you dealing with than a technology problem.

-> I also recommend a Hardware firewall. Black Ice slows your computer down a good bit, and people look for the SW firewalls.

Let me know if I can clarify anything I have said...

 

[JoNo]

No flaming taken! When it comes to technology I LOVE to be made an example of, and I usually do!

some examples:

I've fried 6 processors overclocking

gone through 11 Motherboards due to internal sound / video /whatever had gone haywire & nothing could be done to fix it

crashed about 8 Harddrives permanently...

and look at me now, running an overclocked AMD XP1900+ with 1 gig of DDR memory & a 200 gig HDD... Complete with neon lighting in the computer case...

ahhh, the joys of technology!

 

[BethR]

Well, I went 'round and 'round about this myself for the past year or so too.

*I* talked to Alex too, and he told me (all together now ) to "ask my neighbors."

Well, money won out (you know I AM a Budget Board Mod .)

When I figured out that I could get DSL for only $3 more than what I am paying with Dial Up and $4.35 for Call Wave my decision was made. FINALLY.

That was on February 2 when I called to order DSL from Verizon.

Now here on March 24, after 4 delays, I am still waiting for service.

It's been crazy. Very few answers from Verizon. But the most recent one was the best. They told me that a DSL server can only "take" so many connections, that the server at my Central Office was "full", and that they were waiting for a connection to open up.

"So I am waiting for someone to cancel their service so that I can get mine? " I asked.

"Well, you could say that," I was told.

DH is furious. If cable didn't cost about $25 more, then we would be cancelling this order and getting cable. (But remember what Board I help moderate. )

Hope that you have a better experience that I am, dcg0317!

 

[heathrow42]

Can I say that here? Verizon is AWFUL.. and in all caps for good reason. Bad, Bad, Bad.

Their customer service is notoriously bad and they take foooooooorever and a day to get dsl installed.. and you would think that it wouldn't take THEM that long because THEY are the phone company!!!! Lol!!!

I can't tell you how many people I know who have started out wanting verizon dsl and just can't make it through the process -- the 2 that I know that made it through the long signup, ended up cancelling after a few months because their tech support was soooo bad. One of my friends had signed up for verizon, waited and waited.. signed up with another company, got everything installed and was still waiting on verizon-- she cancelled before they ever set it up!

2 Suggestions if you want DSL (which as everyone stated above, is much better than cable for the exact reasons above and others) Anyway -- if you want DSL .. you can try MCI's* the neighborhood... You can get an all in one package -- of local phone, with all the extra features, all the long distance you want and DSL. Just be careful, MCI has 2 DSL packages... the cheaper one uses VOIP for the phone service, which isn't as good for the phone service part. But the regular plan is great, they have a better customer service group, send you one bill and should be a lot faster and better than Verizon. They will take care of all the changes, and notify you when everything is set.. and you get to keep your phone number.

The second option I would reccomend is Speakeasy (speakeasy.net) They have reasonable prices, and are very very fast 1-2 weeks. and they are giving away a FREE IPOD if you get the $59 package and signup for 2 years.. well nothing in life is free, but over 2 years the extra $10 pays for itself (I'll leave that one to the budget experts) They also have excellent tech support. Another nice thing is that you can track your status on their webpage to see what part of the installation they are waiting on.

My grandmother wants highspeed.. yep 85 years old, and all I hear these days is that her modem is too slow Just finished upgrading her computer too. She just doesn't want to give up her email account and have to tell all her friends a new email address! But, she'll be making the switch soon, and this is the same advice I gave her

Goodluck,
--Heather

*Disclaimer: I work for MCI... don't work for the neighborhood or have anything to do with the dsl signup/support group, but yep I work for the bankrupt monster (and yes, we are still in business!)