Thinking of Getting DSL Service

[Amy]

After years of trudging along with a dial-up modem, DSL service is finally available in our area thru Earthlink, our current ISP (so we won't have to change our e-mail address). I started researching DSL, and so far I've discovered that since we use MCI as our local phone company, we have to switch to Verizon or Sprint since MCI isn't a provider for Earthlink DSL. (When I called Verizon, they told me that Verizon DSL isn't available in our area yet.)

Are there any other things I should be looking into before making the switch? I know absolutely nothing about DSL, other than it uses your existing phone line, phone signals and DSL signals are at different frequencies which is why you can be on the internet and still use your phone, and now that we have to switch local phone companies.

Please tell me the good and the bad. TIA for your help!

 

[Pam]

Amy,
Did you ever think of getting it through your cable provider? That's what we did - and we love it.

 

[LarryE]

I have direcwa through our satelite and it's amazing

 

[Amy]

DH absolutely HATES cable - we have a satellite dish for TV. I checked out connecting to the internet via satellite, but it seemed like it wouldn't be much faster than dial-up since the signal has to bounce off the satellite.

 

[DiznEeyore]

We have DSL through our local phone company, SBC. We really like it -- ds loves to play games on various kids' sites and dh says it wouldn't be possible with our old dial-up. I love the lightning-fast page loading.

We pay $29.95 per month and have a year contract. If the cost goes up a lot at the end of the year (and if we can't get them to let us keep our rate) we'll probably go back to dial up -- I'd definitely miss the DSL!!

 

[ead79]

I have DSL through my local phone company (Bellsouth), and I LOVE it! I have been so pleased with the speed and customer service. Two thumbs way up!

 

[doxdogy]

We have DSL and love it. We started out with a cable modem. At first the cable modem was great. Then as more and more customers were added it got to be almost as slow if not slower then a dial up modem. Especially, when everyone came home in the evenings and started signing on to check e-mails and surf the net. We had lots of down time with the cable modem. Since we have had DSL, I don't think we have had any downtime.

 

[LarryE]

Actually it's a ton faster mine stays around 52x faster than 38.8 dialup download and 35x faster than dialup upload.

We've had snow storm after snow storm here in KY and I've never dropped signal once.

Originally posted by Amy
DH absolutely HATES cable - we have a satellite dish for TV. I checked out connecting to the internet via satellite, but it seemed like it wouldn't be much faster than dial-up since the signal has to bounce off the satellite.

 

[mickeyfan1]

We have satellite for TV but we have cable internet. You don't have to have cable TV to get it, and it is faster than DSL. When DH worked from home, his company wanted to give him DSL, but it was a hassle and a halt, qwest couldn't connect to earthlink, no other local companies for dial tone, so he ended up with cable and he loved it. We switched from dial up to cable for personal about 2 months ago, it is great. You might check into it, but you might have to change your email.

 

[farleyman]

Cable is typically faster than DSL, but not always. It all depends on where you live. With cable, you share the line with others in your area. As doxdogy was explaining, if everyone in your neighborhood jumps on at the same time, your connection will slow down tremendously. However on the flip side, a friend of mine just moved to an area where hardly anyone else has cable internet, so his download/upload speeds are usually near the top, which is in fact faster than DSL. With DSL, you have "your own connection" (if you will pardon the not-so-technical terms), and aren't sharing a line, so therefore aren't bottlenecked with others in your neighborhood.


--Jim

 

[LarryE]

techinally some "dsl" is shared line

Bellsouth DSL is a shared connection, if drops dramactially in a highly populated area with alot of users..

I was a technician for them 2 years ago and know every bit of detail about their service