DSL or Cable

[Dizholic]

I presently have Power Link through my cable co. I need accesss for two more computers in my home. According to the Power Link website, they do not recommend networking. Verizon's website states that networking is not a problem. DSL for 3 computers seems to be cheaper also.
So now it comes down to which is better and faster DSL or Cable . Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wdwmom2]

I've had both. DSL all the way!!!! Much faster and always connected.

 

[Pinnie]

We've had both and we took out our DSL and went to cable. Our DSL was always going down and we had a ton of trouble with email. We hooked up to cable and haven't had any problems since.

pin

 

[Grog]

I've had both, roughly two years with each, and prefer cable over DSL. My DLS would go out about a dozen times a day, usually just for a few seconds, but it was still very annoying. The cable I have is also much faster.

 

[Geoff_M]

The biggest factor to the answer is the service level of the local provider. I use Charter Pipeline cable service, I've had very good service with our local Charter service, but I've been on dslreports.com even to know that Charter is loathed in other parts of the country because of poor service and weak download speeds. The same goes with some DSL providers. Each type of service has its pros and cons. Do local research and see if one rates better than the other.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

We have had cable modem(RoadRunner) for 3 years now. No problems at all. In the past 3 years I can only recall it being down 1 time, and then it was only 30 minutes.

 

[caitycaity]

we prefer dsl.

 

[emmagata]

Usally, cable is faster than DSL. DSL speed will be affected by the distance your house is from the phone company's central office. The farther you are from it, the slower the max speed. Cable does not this limitation.

There is really no reason why you can't network several computers on one cable modem connection.

Forget Internet sharing using one of the PCs as the "gatekeeper" and get yourself a Cable/DSL router. They're always on sale for under $50 bucks. You'll also need network cards for each computer. However, most recent models (in the last two years or so) may already have one built in.

Or if you don't want to run wires, get a wireless setup. There are two (actually 3) speeds. For all practical purposes, the lowest speed is fine and the cheapest. It's called 802.11b. You should be able to get all you need (cable/dsl router and a connection (either internal or external (USB) for each computer)) for about $125. Watch for sales.

 

[Raysplus1]

We have had cable modem thru Mediacom for about 4 years. We have had a few problems but none in the past 18 months. Our cable modem is networked through a router and have had no problems.

 

[Ellester]

My understanding is that cable is slightly faster than DSL if there are few users on the line. With cable, as more and more people get it, the individual connections slow down. This is not true of DSL, your speed stays the same regardless of the number of people in your neighborhood with DSL. My DH is a software engineer and he thinks DSL is better for us. We've had DSL for several years (with Bellsouth) and have had very few problems. We go down very rarely and if we do have a problem, the tech support has been great. I do agree that alot depends on your provider though.

 

[Nutsy]

I have cable & we have a LAN cable linking our other computer to this one.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have a cable modem and its faster than DSL....never had any trouble with it and I have had it well over 4 years now. I hooked my moms computer up to my cable modem through a wireless router and they both work fine with it!

 

[Alex]

There is NO right answer to this test... it is completely local. In one area cable may be faster and more stable than DSL and 2 blocks away it may be completely opposite. The only good test is to ask some neighbors (close ones!) that have it.
As for networking Powerlink... it works just fine, I have been doing it for years. We have my computer and DD's computer connected with cables and I have wireless for my laptop, never a problem.

 

[Cindy B]

I prefer DSL. We've had DSL for over three years and its been fine. No outages, or power problems.

 

[Desnik]

We perfer cable over DSL. We had Verizon DSL and it was ok, but slow in my area sometimes. Then we had Optimum Online and they were the best!! Fast, fast fast!!! We had our previous house networked. We had the house built so DH ran all the wires in the walls. At that time we had Optimum Online and we never had a problem. Now since we moved it's a different cable Co. so we have Road Runner. It is much slower than Optimum Online was.
DH works for Verizon and we get a discount but DSL is just not fast enough for us

 

[Dan Murphy]

I think ISP's are like wireless phones, very regional. What is good fro me amy not be good for another person in another locale, even across the street. Ask your neighbors how they like their services. Just a thought, good luck.

BTW, we have had Comcast (or one of its many predecessors) for a number of years and am very pleased. But I know a DIS'er here who took Comcast on, lives rather close to me, and hated it and tossed them out.

 

[barbeml]

I use both--Verizon DSL at home, Comcast Cable modem at work. DSL is a zillion times better--faster, more reliable.

We have a wireless network at home and there is one at work. The Cable service at work goes out multiple times EVERY SINGLE DAY. Some days it is out for a few minutes and a couple of days per week we lose it for hours. At certain times each day it gets very slow. Sometimes, only email functions are out. We have called many times and they never seem to have a good answer, altho they admit the problem is on their end. Many days I end up taking my laptop home so that I can get some work done, since I rely heavily on the internet and email.

In the 6 months we have had our DSL it has been down ONCE, on a Saturday morning. A tech answered when we called and told us there was a problem in our area and how soon it would be back. He was right on.

I'm sure the cable provider has a lot to do with it. If Comcast was not the cable monopoly in our area, I would never use them for anything...they are almost criminal in their incompetence at every level.

Barbe

 

[jfulcer]

Another cable subscriber here. All my friends that started out with DSL have switched over to Cable because of speed and downtime issues.

With regards to sharing you cable line with the rest of your neighbors, most cable companies have enough equipment installed now to not have that kind of a problem. And the ones that I have heard of reporting speed problems to their ISPs had it resolved and the speed increased. While it may have been an issue before, it's not so much of one now.

I agree with the other posts that it's also based on how good the service is from each ISP. Ask around, like suggested and see what you can find out.

 

[KJo719]

We currently have a cable modem (Comcast) and are looking to switch to DSL. We've only had the cable modem since August and have had to have it serviced about 7 or 8 times. It will go down for days at a time and no one can ever seem to figure out exactly what the problem is, but they have admitted the problem is on their end. Also, every time it goes down we have to spend hours on the phone with them before they will send someone to check it out. I think, though, as others have said a lot depends on where you are located.

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by Alex
There is NO right answer to this test... it is completely local. In one area cable may be faster and more stable than DSL and 2 blocks away it may be completely opposite. The only good test is to ask some neighbors (close ones!) that have it.

I couldn't agree more!! This was the case at my house, cable was awful, never really noticed anything FAST about it and, their service was really bad so, I switched to DSL and, so far, I like it so much better and, the service has been excellent!!!