comcast@home vs verizon-dsl

[sea69]

hehe this could be a "hot" one.

I just had my first experience with the MUCH touted comblast cable connection.

(my first install)

with no tweaking, the average download speed was 864kbps.

the line is advertised as 1500kbps- this was on a winME system using a USB connection- they offer a choice of USB or NIC both on the modem they rent out (they being the cable company)

My Verizon Online DSL service is advertised as being 640/90 and I average 768/128kbps- on a winXP system using a NIC.

where's all the hubba bubba??

I feel pretty certain that if I upgraded my service ($10.00 more) to 1500, that I would get at least that.

and winXP can't get the MTU up to 1492, (unless you use rasspoet).


so- "where's the beef??"


plus if all your nrighboors are also online with cable your even slower...... I'm rethinking my own personal options now.


http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif



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sea1_69@hotmail.com

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[iisbob]

OK common DSL myth no#1

plus if all your nrighboors are also online with cable your even slower...... I'm rethinking my own personal options now.

I've been on Cable ( now under Comcast ) for nearly 4 years now; during that time i've watched as most everyone in my neighborhood has finally switched from the nightmare of DSL to the stability of Cable-and not only has my average download speed not decreased, i've not noticed any other type of connection problems ( other than the occasional Copmcast problems with their email servers ).

USB is the worst way to connect for a broadband connection-it's flaky at best for input devices, do you really want to use it for your 24/7 internet connection?

Also, as for the price, at least around here it costs $54 for ADSL and only $44 for CAble.

Also sea you have to remember that no ISP can garuantee any true download speed, as your connection is only as good as the server(s) you are connected to and their maximum transfer rate-not to mention the no# and quality of connections between you and them.

Even if i slowed down to only 25k on the average, i'd not go back to dial up, 'cause i'd still be surfing 6x faster then the average 56k modem. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif






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iisbob

There is no such thing as a stupid question; just an improper one.-my own belief

[Ghost_Hacker]

The thing you have to remember with consumer broadband is that they can "partition" their service anyway they like. You may noticed that they'll say "up to 1.5" or "Up to" whatever.


Without an SLA (service level aggreement) they can do what they like.

I finnally got broadband myself after checking how far I was from the CO. I picked DSL and I love it. (even though I picked Cox business cable at work and my Family all use COX cable. I choose DSL for the ISP's newservers.) Now the DSL lines at my work's branch offices have been a nightmare. So I know it's not the tech , but the "service" from the ISP that counts. Since my home DSL has never (so far) been a problem.


Perhaps where you are Comcast just bites http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by Ghost_Hacker (edited 06-29-2002).]

[sea69]

now iisbob- that {{"myth”}} was taken directly from the comcast at home web page under FAQ's (which you can't even get to unless you are already a subscriber!)

I have had little to NO connection problems here in 3 years on verizon- 5 different computers- 3 different operating systems.

I pay $39.95 a month- cable is a bit more here, especially if you don’t already HAVE it.

and lastly- dialup would NEVER be an option.

hehe GH-

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

[jabarnutcase]

Well, I have to agree with all of you to some extent-

Sea- Boy, you got that right. If you have used ANY type of "High Speed" connection, going back to dial-up would be like using two tin cans with a string. NOT an option.

And it's also a fact that you do share your bandwith with your neighbors. However,
I have cable and never have noticed any significant slow down at "peak hours".

As Ghost mentioned, your local cable company can "Cap" your modem speed however they please- In the case of my provider, they have several different options for business, private, etc. Depending on how much you want to spend http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

A lot too depends on the cable system, how many "Nodes" they have-( Breaking the system down into a bunch of "mini" systems) thereby giving you fewer neighbors to "share" with. And the configuration they have in the Headend with the UBR (router)and the number of subs per "Blade"

And iisbob- yea, I agree that a usb connection is not the way to go with a cable modem.

Anyway, DSL- At least in my area, has been a bad scene so most are swithing over to Cable.
So, Cable gets my vote.

But, I suppose any way you connect is better than no connection at all. Maybe even if you have to resort to tin cans http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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"The perfect computer has been developed. You just feed in your problems and they never come out again"

[kayofcircles]

"Maybe even if you have to resort to tin cans"...that's cruel, jabarnutcase . Out here in the boonies, I am very grateful for the tin cans! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Cable is not an option...and satellite is outrageous, so also not a "real" option. We have tried hardware modems, and still stuck at the slow 26,400 bps..on a good day with the planets aligned properly, we might actually get to the 28.8! But I think I speak for all of us riding tricycles...it's better than nothing! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[jabarnutcase]

Hi Kay..
You're right, that is kind of cruel. Certainly if dial-up is your only option, it's a lot better than nothing. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I spent a long time with (14.4,28.8,56K) dialups before broadband became available in my area and, as you said, was grateful to be connected.
Broadband spoils you- (Or makes you mad, depending on the reliability of your connection!)

Anyway, however you get connected, I'm glad your here! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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"The perfect computer has been developed. You just feed in your problems and they never come out again"

[Anubis]

I was on Charter pipeclog and they were completely pathetic. The local loop was handled by Charter with long haul by HSA. During my 9 months with them I was visited by no less then 6 different contractors, each promise from the local office was that they would fix the problems. Nope, not even close. The first guy came out and got the &%$# shocked out of him 'cause the cable box wasn't grounded, then admitted to me that it was way overloaded. Then the winter came, every time the temp would drop below 40 degrees I would lose sync. But guess what, this was mostly at night and Charter refused to have anyone present to witness the problem and my line tests during the day were perfect so that is what mattered. Even when the system was actually up they obnoxiously oversold their network and the connection to the backbone was never sufficient in much of the SouthEast. I watched pings jump 100+ milliseconds during peak. I then checked if BellSouth was available and it was, great service, down time has been low and its stable. Fortunetly BSFA has been smart about turning up, they get the network and trunking to the backbone POP set up first then turn up customers. On DSLReports they are by far the highest rated provider that has a substantial amount of reviews. Verizon is the lowest but that is because they let their sales people go willy nilly offering &%$# the network guys weren't close to being able to support.

Now if I was on dialup I at max can only get 26.6 but that is because I am running off a SLC. I know BS is deploying them more and more instead of going with the long copper run and installing load coils.

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I can feel the wheel, but I can't steer
When my thoughts become my biggest fear
Ah, what's the difference, I'll die
In this sick world of mine

[This message has been edited by Paleo Pete (edited 06-29-2002).]

[Jhorner1]

I too have charter pipeline, and the service is down a couple hours every 3-4 months, usually after a period of heavy rain. However the big advantage to cable is the distance one can live from the servers. When I first tried to get broadband I tried with Verizon. They offer DSL where I live but I live too far away from the servers (about 3-4 miles from their office (max distance is 15000')) cable became my only other option. Also where I live cable is about $10 cheaper.

[Paleo Pete]

Anubis This is a public forum, profanity is not necessary and is not acceptible. Please watch the language.

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[sea69]

all good points made here!

especially the one about distance from the co for DSL, that can kill your prospect right off the bat if you're too far away.

I have heard horror stories about verizon (in nyc area a lot) - but here in Baltimore it has worked great for all my machines and all that I have installed for customers, even when going through an AOL/Verizon setup it all worked well.

The point about using a NIC rather than USB is well taken also.

Kay- I was on dialup and was happy to have it too!


http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

------------------
sea1_69@hotmail.com

winXP Recovery Console (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q314058)



Computer Works (http://www.seanweb1.homestead.com/index.html)

[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 06-29-2002).]

[Anubis]

Sorry about that, didn't even realize I had used profanity http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Distance from the CO is becomming less and less of an issue as RDSLAM's are deployed. That is what I am off of and is easily integrated with a SLC.

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I can feel the wheel, but I can't steer
When my thoughts become my biggest fear
Ah, what's the difference, I'll die
In this sick world of mine

[iisbob]

First, have to say i'm kinda dis-oriented right now with the new forum setup . :p

Next, just like to say that it's nice to be able to connect no matter what type of connection you have-try a 300 buad modem next time you complain about a slow connection!

Also, that " myth " sea is always touted about by DSL providers-that's why i was deriding it.

Is it true? certianly, to an extent depending on your circunstances-but weigh the chance of a slow connection against non at all because you live just 1 foot too far from your dsl provider; and well...what odds do you prefer?

When they finaly get inexpensive 100GB per sec home connections down pat, then i'll be content-until then we'll all just have to muddle along on the wevb as best we can. :D

[Flick]

Originally posted by iisbob
First, have to say i'm kinda dis-oriented right now with the new forum setup . :p

Next, just like to say that it's nice to be able to connect no matter what type of connection you have-try a 300 buad modem next time you complain about a slow connection!

Also, that " myth " sea is always touted about by DSL providers-that's why i was deriding it.

Is it true? certianly, to an extent depending on your circunstances-but weigh the chance of a slow connection against non at all because you live just 1 foot too far from your dsl provider; and well...what odds do you prefer?

When they finaly get inexpensive 100GB per sec home connections down pat, then i'll be content-until then we'll all just have to muddle along on the wevb as best we can. :D

I started out with 300 baud and worked my way up to 2400 baud over 6 years. Since then I've had DSL and cable but I don't need it. I just use a good dial up now and normally get 28.8 or 31.2. It's fast enough for me. I'll bet that in the backwoods, mjc is running at 1200 baud on a good day!:D

[mjc]

Actually, Flick, I get a 52k+ connection almost everytime I connect. And that isn't just an initial connection that immediately falls off, it is sustained.

[sea69]

Originally posted by mjc
Actually, Flick, I get a 52k+ connection almost everytime I connect. And that isn't just an initial connection that immediately falls off, it is sustained.

that's because you're a "Supreme Exalted Grand Master Geek"

hehe- you know what modem to use and how to tweak it out to Maximum performance.

;)

[mjc]

Yeah, that's it! ;)

[iisbob]

Spitrrrrrrthrrrrr!!!!

To ever dialing up again!!! :p

[joea64]

Well, I'm somewhat confused as to which alternative to pick!

In my area (Manassas, VA), the three chief alternatives to dialup, as far as I know - there may be others - are Comcast cable (I'm not sure whether it's actually deployed within the Manassas city limits yet, but it's available in other parts of Prince William County) and Earthlink DSL and Verizon DSL. (Earthlink is my dialup provider, by default as it were; they bought out the dialup services of Verio, which in turn bought out Clark.net, which in turn bought out my original ISP, Monumental Network Systems).

With my modem - a 56k Askey PCI "hardware" modem using, I believe, a Rockwell/Conexant chipset - I customarily get connection speeds of 48 kbps and (more rarely) 49.3 kbps. The quality of the connection is variable, though; sometimes the actual speed is so slow that I have to break the connection and redial up to two or three times to get a decent connection. (Right now, my connection is 48k and looks OK.)

I've heard bad things about both Earthlink's and Verizon's DSL services - Verizon's DSL service, in particular, which I had heard had even had a class-action lawsuit filed against it because of consistent failures to meet promised speeds, or something like that. Comcast's cable has a better rep but the downside is that they don't have a news server of their own, as far as I know; you have to subscribe to Supernews to get a decent newsfeed. This would have been a bigger issue a couple of years back, admittedly, when I was a real Usenet junkie, but I still have several newsgroups that I like to read on occasion.

At any rate, there's a real price war going on in the Washington, DC area here - all three providers mentioned above are offering substantial savings in monthly rates for the first month to three months (after which, of course, prices go up to their "normal" level, which, in D.C., is $39.95 - $49.95/month). In fact, Comcast took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post today, touting an introductory rate for its service of $19.95 per month. _That_ is tempting to try out, but before I do anything else I have to verify two things;

1) That cable Internet is available in Manassas;
2) That I have a NIC installed in my system. (I can get a good basic one pretty cheap these days, but then I have to figure out how to get it working with everything else...)

-Joe-

[sea69]

look in forums or other local online reviews of other people in you area- just because here in Baltimore verizon works excellent for every machine I have installed it on doesn't mean that in your area it would be the same!

a lot of ISP-s have "User Forums"- this is the place to look, they already have it, and you can see by their posts how good it is.

services differ dramatically according to venue- just over in the NYC area verizon has MANY reported problems almost daily.... here it's fine, faster than advertised and up 99% of the time-

that comcost deal looks pretty good- use your NIC not USB for connecting, it's a very simple installation- be carefull if you cannot at first get into synch (your modem) , comcast has sent more than one bad splitter out in their install packages- and it can be very frustrating to have it all hooked up right and then a little thing like that can drive you insane- if not checked.

;)

[Anubis]

One of the best places for specific information is www.dslreports.com

[jabarnutcase]

I second that one Anubis - It is a good site and compares a lot of different providers.

Never thought of that one even though it's in my "favorites":)

[classicsoftware]

There is NO comparison, at least in the greater Philadelphia area.

COMCAST is superior to Verizon ANY day of the week.

First of all, Cable IS faster than DSL, second Verizon has frequent outages::mad: . Their service pales in comparison to Comcast. And in Philadelphia, Comcast is $5.00/month cheaper :D . I can connect at 600-700k on my p-iii 667. For clients with P-4 I have seen speeds over 1700K. Try the performance test at www.toast.net

If you do try DSL, get a Linksys router and NEVER NEVER EVER install the buggy,cranky, disgusting WinPoet (aka resource hog) software that verizon tells you you need.

Maybe it varies from place to place, but in the City of Brotherly Love, Comcast Kicks A!! over DSL.

[Mitch Hatfield]

Hi Sea,

I have NTL cable here in the UK, at a cost about $40 a month.

The modem's advertised speed is 512kb's. but I test very reglarly and it averages around 550/600Kb's, sometimes peaking at over 1Mb.
NTL offers a 1Mb connection, but at almost the twice the cost and I don't need it really. How many servers would work at the same speed?

When I swapped over from a USB cable connection to an Ethernet card, performance improved noticeably, although I can't comment about reliability, because with one small exception its been 100%.

When u watch DAP flying through a big program download, it makes u shudder to think of 56K dial-ups.:) :)

[sea69]

classicsoftware-

have you personally had verizon DSL?

are you in a "rural" area of Pa.??

how many machines would say have you installed both to and were your results consistent?

how many times have your customers called you with connection problems on both?

as I mentioned above-

look in forums or other local online reviews of other people in you area- just because here in Baltimore verizon works excellent for every machine I have installed it on doesn't mean that in your area it would be the same!

a lot of ISP-s have "User Forums"- this is the place to look, they already have it, and you can see by their posts how good it is.

services differ dramatically according to venue- just over in the NYC area verizon has MANY reported problems almost daily.... here it's fine, faster than advertised and up 99% of the time-

that comcost deal looks pretty good- use your NIC not USB for connecting, it's a very simple installation- be carefull if you cannot at first get into synch (your modem) , comcast has sent more than one bad splitter out in their install packages- and it can be very frustrating to have it all hooked up right and then a little thing like that can drive you insane- if not checked.




I consistently get over 700kbps download and over 600kbps upload speeds, on a 640kbps/80kbps advertised speed line.


Price: $39.95 a month



;)

[Anubis]

There are LOADS of reasons for a provider to have an "outage" What exactly is considered an outage? If the provider's long haul backbone has a problem which stops viewing of some sites is that considered an outage? This is what people fail to understand about broadband service, their are multiple layers of networking that are in place and the provider just might not be having a problem. This is not 56K folks, this is a whole nother ballgame.

PS: Checking last weeks ISP charts on dslreports yields an interesting tidbit:

Comcast: 2.83
Verizon: 3.00

It's look like Philly might be the only place Comcast is doin good in, seems the outage plagued Verizon is still doing substantially better.