internet service? comparing them?

[luvmyfam444]

How do I compare apples to apples? I need a SIMPLE answer, please. If I ask the cable co they say they are the fastest, if I ask AT&T they say they are faster.....and I know they have different levels but they aren't all called the same....

I know only NOT to get dial up & other than that I don't have a clue.

Right now our service is thru cable company - had it through AT&T before that

 

[dakcp2001]

You need to identify a couple of items

1. Is it Fios, Cable, or DSL
2. What is the actual speed upload & download
3. What will you use it for? Do you need speed?

Fios is the fastest and there is a neverending debate about dsl vs cable. Dsl comes in 768kb (we did not care for the 768K, too slow for us), 1.5mb & 3.0mb(fastest) (at least through my former provider) and it is an individual connection that is not split up between neighbors.

Cable in my area had 3.0 and I think 5.0 but it is shared between neighbors and got slow when everyone was home (evenings & weekends) most of the time it wasnt an issue. Occasionally on a snow day or whatever it would be really slow.

Fios came in 15 and 50mbs I think? Something ridiculously fast. We never had a single speed issue on fios, it was super fast all the time.

What will you be using it for? For general internet use any would prob be fine (I'd skip the 768K dsl) but anything else you wont notice much of a difference. if you work from home or download a lot you might want to get the fastest.


We preferred the 3.0 dsl to the higher speed cable, fios blew them both out of the water.


In my area ATT is not a provider so I am not sure if they are dsl or cable in your area.

 

[Jestocost]

I'd also recommend doing some research at dslreports.com. You can look up reviews and information about the specific providers in your area.

 

[FireDancer]

I'd also recommend doing some research at dslreports.com. You can look up reviews and information about the specific providers in your area.

I recommend this too.

The published speed is a theoretical maximum which you will never reach. With something like DSL the distance to the closest telco office will effect speed. With cable this isn't really an issue but you share the access network so your speed will very depending on how much of the available bandwidth your close neighbors are using (close is relative meaning neighbors that share the access network).

FIOS can technically have the shared bandwidth issue of cable but because the throughput is so high it is almost always unnoticeable. If all your neighbors go with the fastest possible Internet connection it could be but Verizon limits the number of shared connections to 32 for each fiber channel while Cable has (theoretically) no maximum to how many homes they will put on one connection.

DSLreports (that is just the name, the cover more then just DSL) has forums, reviews, FAQ's and really is the best place to find actual comparison information. Remember, what the person you are most likely going to talk to at any ISP tells you will be more marketing then technical data. Chances are the people you are talking to don't know the difference between a TCP or UDP packet.