Cable, DSL, Sprint Broadband - Which one?

[rtd2x]

Alright, I want to get a faster internet connection but can't decide which is best.

I've been reading about the cable modems. My cable company is offering a 30-day no contract special right now, I pay nothing for installation (do it myself) pay $30 or $40 for Ethernet card, and $44.95 a month.

Sprint Broadband has a special $99 installation, if I sign for 2 years I only pay $99 for equipment, depending on what I need, I can either pay $49.95 or $39.95 a month if I sign up for their Anytime plan.

I haven't had a chance to checkout DSL yet.

But I'm worried about networking my familys pc's together. Have any of you ever networked your computers together using any of the connections? Did you have to pay for extra equipment (purchase from cable, dsl, provider)?

What are some issues I need to be aware of? Bad experiences anybody?
Well I'm going to go check out the Broadband demo tomorrow but I still need some input.


[This message has been edited by rtd2x (edited 08-25-2001).]

[Rick]

Networking your families PC’s together is an easy job.
All that is required is a Network interface card(NIC) for each PC
If you have 3 or more then you’ll want a HUB.

With a cable connection you can use a router or a hub to network all PC’s onto the web.
Depending on the cable company.

I Use Time Warner Cable .
I have a Hub and a NIC in each PC.
Using TW’s setup program is easy.
Then All I did was add a connection sharing program and I can have all my PC’s online at once.

If you want details on how to set up your network and more details on sharing the web connection Just do a search of the messages here on PC Guide.
It has been covered in detail

I should also add that with cable the number of households in your neighborhood that use the cable connection can and does have an affect on the speed of the network.
Seeing speeds of 1500K is normal for me.
Also with a large number of people online in the area has dropped the speed to 700K

Regardless of your connection .. If the server you want to access is slow then your max speed will be the same as or slower than that servers speed.
Thus is normal for all of the web.

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To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !

[iisbob]

Rick has pretty much covered everything you need to know, i'll only add that i'm also on cable and i did check into DSL-cable IMHO is the best choice because even though with DSL you get your own dedicated line ( which means no one shares the bandwidth ) the installation hassles, the undependable service, and the only marginal increase in speed from dialup ( 44k to a max of 128k, where with cable i usually see an average of 300k ) and the fact that you have to be a certain distance from your DSL provider ( no such limitation with cable ) it just wasn't worth paying the same price.

As for networking your other PC's, follow rick's advide-or you can even start now with the Direct cable connection program built into w98se/windows ME, just use a male to male parallel cable; only downside is they'll have to be 10feet or less apart. But it gives you an alternative. Works great for networking say a laptop.

I purchased my own Cable Modem ( a toshiba PCX1100 ) it has the capacity to network up to 12 other PC's ( i''ve got 3 on it now ), all i had to do was by a simple hub and a couple of NIC cards.

Good luck with your decision. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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iisbob
"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." --Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

[Tindalos]

I won't get into the technical aspects of all of this. Let me just say this... I have a cable modem (Cox @ Home in Arizona). I play games. Alot of games. One of those games is EverQuest. I also use Roger Wilco while playing EverQuest. I could not accurately tell you how many times I hear complaints from other players about their DSL service. It seems to be down all of the time.

I would definately recommend cable. No muss, no fuss.

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AMD Athlon 1.13 Ghz
512 Mb DDR
GeForce 2 MX400 64Mb
Diamond Monster II MX300
MSI MS6380 MB

[kenja]

Some more anecdotal evidence: My father and I both have cable from AT&T@home. In a word: excellent. My dad tried DSL previously but it never worked right, and even seemed to cause occasional problems with his voice communications.

I already had an ethernet board in my computer, so the AT&T installer simply connected a CAT5 cable from the external RCA cable "modem" to it. My father was supplied with an ethernet-to-USB adapter (SMC brand) because AT&T doesn't want to open up people's computers. (Too many people claimed the install tech messed up their hardware.) These modems are rentals at the rate of $10/month (current total monthly cost: $46).

I have a LAN (local area network) in my house, so I installed a D-Link DI-701 "Residential Gateway" between the modem and my ethernet hub. This means outsiders cannot "see" my LAN, which can have up to 32 computers.




[This message has been edited by kenja (edited 08-29-2001).]

[Gallaeglagh]

I have Earthlink dsl for a year and the only complaint I have is it did take 2 months to get in. It has never been down. Cable internet isn't available here but most every time there's a big storm (quite often in Colorado) the cable tv goes out from 2 to 12 hours.

While I don't get the top speed cable does it's always the same 185 kB down and 45 kB up. DSL is also inherently more secure. There's no monthly cap on data transferred or restrictions on running a ftp server or hosting your own web page.

All I've heard about Sprint is to avoid it unless you're desperate

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Your attempt to reach civilization by fashioning a crude raft will astound everyone else at the office. - The Onion

[bassman]

Here is a wrench in the gears http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
Starband (http://www.starband.com) . A little bit more to set up, but looks to be a good idea for people with limited access to Cable or DSL.

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If I tell you to think for yourself, then you're not doing it.
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This is not directed at those asking questions in order to gain knowledge. That shows you are thinking.

[Gallaeglagh]

this link has lots of info on broadband
http://www.dslreports.com/

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Your attempt to reach civilization by fashioning a crude raft will astound everyone else at the office. - The Onion

[YODA74]

I think the thing with Starband you would get the same as you would with cable even cable is satelite and in the summer months your going to get what they call sun glitch I have a friend that has new satalite he says he might as well go out doors and stand with rabbit ears he's down 30% of the time ??? i've been happy with cable my self on all the time and we get a LOT of lighting storms here. it's probobly going to get so crowded eventually that we'll have to go back to snail mail and telegraph or pony express.LOL http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Supa Dupa]

I've got a cable connection and although it can be slow at times I'm happy with it. I'm in the process of networking 3 boxes and am going to use two nics in the machine connected to the modem and install a Network Address Translator. The second nic goes to an hub which the other two boxes will be connected. This way my ISP won't be able to tell if I have more than one machine connected. It's $9.95 for each extra machine you have connected. I won't be really accessing the Internet from these two machines, it's just for the networking experience. Seeing as I'm studying this stuff in school, I'm trying to turn my home into a networked environment. Our lab at school lacks resources big time.

Supa Dupa

[pjungwirth]

I've had a DSL connection for a couple weeks now, and so far I've been very happy with it. The company is Cape.com, and they have excellent customer support. (Too bad they're local to Massachusetts.) They are also more than happy to let you share the connection on a LAN and run servers of any kind. I'm hoping to transfer a slave DNS server to their computers within a week. They've said that wouldn't be a problem, so now I've just got to write the email to their networking department.

Paul
~{:-)