Cable vs DSL

[Arowa704]

Hi,
I want to get high speed internet. I'm leaning on more to DSL because it's cheaper, but I heard the connection speed depends on many factors like distance away from the phone company and even weather. Some told me it's bad because they are using the telephone wire for the connection. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance

[Rick]

I cant speak from experience with dsl

But I can say a few things about cable
Look at your neighbor hood
How many people have cable and have cable internet ?
Of them how many are gamers or extra heavy downloaders ?

The Number of people on a network affect the performance
What they do online affects the performance

Being the first person in my area to get cable
It was great ..
Today with half the houses having it and Half of them having kids online
The performance is noticeable slower

It is still faster than DSL but can be annoying at times during the slowdowns

Also Pick your dsl company carefully
Some charge extra for each feature

For example a friend who signed a contract found out after the fact that he has to pay extra to use the new groups ( usenet) :(
The extra cost once added made the cost more than cable.
But now he is faced with a two year contract

[Variable]

Rick is right, it depends on where you live. If you live in a highly populated area then I would look at DSL. IF your worried about connection speed just call the local phone company and ask them to come out and test the line. They can tell you your upload and download speed in about 60 seconds. Then you will know what kind of speed you will have. Cable modems have the ability to have greater bandwidth than current DSL technology. BUT, it is shared bandwidth, if you live in a populated area with people who have computers, it can be slower than DSL, especially at peak times- for instance 6pm to 10 pm.
I personally know of 4 people in different states that left cable for DSL because of the above mentioned problems. I also know people who love their cable modems, but they all live in rural suburbs.

Isn't it wonderful though, that now-a-days we can be choosy on which high speed access we want? What a great problem to have! Which ever one you pick I guarantee it will be faster than your dial up connection : )

Variable

[Mark Miller]

I have had both and with all things being equal, cable is better.
I have found that I am actually getting higher speeds than I paid for. Not a different tier but just higher.
I live in very highly populated area [Miami] and also in a highrise and have noticed no appreciable loss of speed at any point during the dau or nite.
Dsl never quite gives you top speed [not even within the 10-15% for overhead]
Just my opinion. Either way you will enjoy broadband
Mark:)

[classicsoftware]

It depends on where you live. Who are the providers. is the DSL always on or is it PPPoE?

Please provide more information to be sure. But if it were me i would get

CABLE

[juniper]

Personaly I like DSL. To say Cable has more bandwidth well I think you need to look at the offerings as DSL can be purchased upto 6MB pipe for home users ( cable is usualy at most 2MB ). The bandwidth is dedicated upto the DSLAM (the ISP DSL router) unlike cable that you share bandwidth right on the cable outside your house being effected by other users in your neighborhood. True DSL does depend on how far you are from the LEC but they will not run it to your house if you do not meet the minimum bandwidth purchased (or at least they shouldnt) Most people that have problems with DSL usualy have old phone cabling from the pole outside to the house or more common from the box outside to the patch panel inside ( which the phone company claims no responsibility). When running site to Site VPNs for clients I recommend DSL because it is dedicated to the ISP especialy in high commercial areas. The last DSL I purchased was dedicated 768 down and was consistantly getting 1.5MB due to being close to the provider.

Oh if someone was getting effected by weather on their DSL this would be because there are cracks in their rotten cable so when condensation got through it would be slower. ( I personaly was effected by this and just replaced the phone wire outside the house)

[classicsoftware]

Are you speaking about home use. There are no DSL providers near me offering that to home users. In the business area in Philadelphia, COMCAST gurantees the bandwidth for businesss users. They also allow for static IP addresses.

So for a home user, the bast answer remains:

CABLE

[juniper]

Yes home use 6MB DSL with 5 statics is $99.00 in ohio through SBC 36.99 is 1.5MB - 3MB. I am sorry you are not offered that to your home from COMCAST ( It is offered to me from SBC) that is why I said to check for availability. Also DSL is dedicated to the DSLAM which is why I like it better.

[Mark Miller]

Quick question, unless your big on p2p, what would you do with anything over 3m down. Movies play fine games are great, if you have also good upload.
Most servers when surfing the net don't even come close to these speeds. Just curious?
Mark

[juniper]

I run test servers and ( which is why I need statics) and download alot of IOS images and support pack and stuff. you ever download a full microsoft or novell support pack its like 300 to 400 MB ( I need them for work so I download as soon as they come out)

[Mark Miller]

Juniper.
I understand in your case for business, but I was more curious about a home user like myself.
We get 3m down and 320 up [yes 320 not 384] due to upgrades in our cable system at the same price as what 1.5 was.
I thought 1.5 was pretty cool and the upload is nice for the few online games I play. By the way my pings average in the 50's
Mark:)

[juniper]

Its like I said it depends on where you are and your needs on which one will fit you better. I like guaranteed bandwidth so I go with DSL. also my cable provider blocks port 25 traffic (smtp) for home users so unless you purchase a business cable line and go through their relay you can not have a mail server at home. so for 99.00 a month I could get either 5static cable at 2MB or 6MB DSL it really isnt a tough decision.