Author Topic: What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?  (Read 12341 times)

Rockrivr1

  • New Member
  • Posts: 10
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« on: March 15, 2005, 06:18:04 AM »
I currently have a cable connection and it works fine, but the price is close to $50 a month and going up.  Getting to be to expensive.  I was thinking of trying DSL that is running at $30 a month if you sign up for a year.  Wondering though if DSL is just as fast as cable.  

What do you use and can you recommend on over the other.  I don't really want to change if the DSL connection is slower then what I currently have.  But, the prices for the cable connection is ridiculous.
Free people will never remain free if they are not willing to fight, if need by, to maintain their freedom

My thoughts, heart and thanks go out to all those serving to protect this great nation.

jamz

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 540
  • bleem
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2005, 06:31:35 AM »
As long as you keep in mind that Verizon is the debbil, you should be all set.


Love, James
Everybody loves Magical Trevor

Sean Smith

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 257
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2005, 06:32:28 AM »
You have to compare the specific services, really.  Cable can theoretically be MUCH faster, and the cable I have is faster than the DSL I've tried at other people's homes.  The latencies are also very low (which matters if you play online action games).

But the actual speeds that cable providers give you can vary, alot.  Some have special offers where you can get insane download speeds for a nominal extra fee.  Others add more people than their network can support, so their speeds fluctuate alot depending on how many people are on at a given time.

Best bet is to run a speed test to see what you are actually getting, and compare it to what the DSL services in the area offer.  Also, the cable service may offer you a better package deal if you tell them you are going to DSL because of the price.

http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Control Group

  • New Member
  • Posts: 20
    • http://control-group.livejournal.com
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2005, 06:41:58 AM »
You get what you pay for.

If speed isn't your end-all, be-all, then DSL is probably a better deal (although there's probably a one-year contract involved, which is something cable doesn't have). As a rule, DSL is slower than cable, and often by a material amount (factor of 2+, in many cases). On the other hand, though your cable connection may offer 6Mbit down, if most of what you do is web surfing and the occasional file download, you'll never actually hit that number, anyway.

If you're a gamer, speed is somewhat more important, but still not critical. Higher throughput generally goes hand-in-hand with lower ping times, but not necessarily. Besides, for most broadband ISPs, the bottleneck won't be at your end, regardless.

If you're a music/movie/file sharer, cable is well worth paying for. Once you start splitting your downward pipe five or ten ways, the extra capacity offered by cable really starts to shine.

The other thing to consider as far as cost goes is the associated costs. For example, in my case, I've elected to go cell phone only. Not having a land line, if I wanted to get DSL, I'd be paying for the phone line, basic service, and DSL, all of which will add up to more than I'm paying currently for my cable internet connection. Of course, if you've already got the land line and plan on keeping it, that's not a consideration.

On a side note, it's amazing to me how much money you can save by just ditching the phone company. Given that I wanted to have a cell phone anyway, it's a no-brainer in my book. And so far, the only problems I've had by not having a land line have been with a pizza delivery joint that won't take cell phone orders and a mom-and-pop video rental store that needs a land line number for their application.

Well worth the $30+ a month, IMHO.

DigMe

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 169
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2005, 06:42:26 AM »
I agree with Sean.  Lots of people like to just say offhand "Cable is better!" but it can indeed depend on the area and the providers.  Here the DSL is cheaper but it's slower and I wouldn't trust it to reliably run my VoIP with no problems.  Maybe it would but I hear things...  I used to have DSL though and I was perfectly fine with it.  They regulate the top speed for the cheap package to 1.5mbps in this area though.  I've seen other places that have it faster than that for a good price.  Good thing about DSL is it doesn't seem like it got clogged up like my cable sometimes does.  Over the past few months I've seen the Roadrunner and Grande (Cable companies) trucks out here in the neighborhood a lot and lately there's been a day or two where I get slow as molasses around 5pm or so.  Hopefully it won't get worse.  

EDIT: Also the money I saved by going to VoIP phone over the regular landline more than makes up for the difference in cost between cable and DSL.

brad cook

Harold Tuttle

  • Professor Chromedome
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 8,069
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2005, 08:49:33 AM »
my neu 29.99 Verizon DSL is ~800KPS DL and ~180 KPS upload

good for most stuff, but the T3 at work has me spoiled for FPT uploading

i looked at Cable, but since my home is cable TV free, there was an additional fee on top of the modem fee
"The true mad scientist does not make public appearances! He does not wear the "Hello, my name is.." badge!
He strikes from below like a viper or on high like a penny dropped from the tallest building around!
He only has one purpose--Do bad things to good people! Mit science! What good is science if no one gets hurt?!"

Wedge

  • friend
  • New Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 76
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2005, 09:33:13 AM »
I have cable, it is $39.95/mo.  I can't complain, it is fast enough for me and very reliable.

WhoKnowsWho

  • New Member
  • Posts: 46
    • http://whoknowswho.yafro.com
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2005, 10:09:43 AM »
At $40 a month, I have the same positive things to say about Cable Internet service, but I am a gamer also. I have never had a problem with the download or latencies being worse during the whole day (and trust me, I played almost a whole day a few times) so cable has easily been worth it. And the Qwest DSL around here, when I talked to them, they specifically told me I would not be able to play online games, it just wouldn't be possible, so that was an easy choice.

I actually get out phone service through the cable company too, so we get $10 off the internet bill.

You really gotta check what is around your area.

Oh yeah, that speed test said 4.5 megabits per second : Rating Awesome

...has left the building.

  • Guest
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2005, 11:00:45 AM »
My in-laws have DSL and I have cable. My connection seems to be significantly faster than theirs. I ran the above speed test and got a 3.5, which the site said is "awesome". Good enough for me.

Matt Payne

  • New Member
  • Posts: 5
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2005, 12:40:49 PM »
It all depends.

With my DSL, cheaper than cable, I have 1.5Mb/s down and 768 up, as well as a static IP.

My brother has cable: He gets close to 3 Mbps down. He's throttled to 128 up, and has a dynamic IP.

Evaluate your needs and local offerings.

HForrest

  • Guest
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2005, 02:43:03 PM »
I know that my cable connection speed fluctuates like, uhhh, some sort of fluctuation device. I can never get a consistent speed out of my connection, and more often than not it seems quite slow. I think this is because so many people in my town have it. At the time of its introduction by Charter Cable, it was much cheaper than DSL, so practically everyone in the town bought the service, overloading it. Now that DSL is cheaper I think I'll switch.

Dave Markowitz

  • friend
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 137
    • http://blogostuff.blogspot.com/
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2005, 02:55:48 PM »
Disclosure:  I work for Comcast Online.  With that out of the way...

I have had both DSL (Covad) and Comcast cable.  In my experience, cable has been far more reliable and much, much faster.   Others have had the opposite experience.

One thing that you need to keep in mind is that DSL lines are slower the further you are from the DSLAM (the piece of equipment on the other end of your DSL line located in the central office).  In contrast, cable speeds are unaffected by how far you are from the CMTS (other end of the cable connection in the head end).  What does affect cable speeds is how many people are on your node and the usage patterns.  E.g., we often see individual users' speeds drop at certain times of the day, like after dinner when the kiddies all jump on their PCs to do their surfing and file trading.

For the most part, cable ISPs offer faster speeds than DSL, but that is not universally true.  For me, the slowest my cable modem has ever been was still faster than my 608k down ADSL connection ever was.  If you do a lot of downloading and/or streaming media, a cable modem will be better, IMO.

BTW, I like Motorola cable modems, although I am currently using an SMC because as a member of our product development group, I have a commercial account, and that's what is currently used for our business customers.

WhoKnowsWho

  • New Member
  • Posts: 46
    • http://whoknowswho.yafro.com
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2005, 03:47:29 PM »
Quote
One thing that you need to keep in mind is that DSL lines are slower the further you are from the DSLAM
Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Qwest said that if we were across the street (as in the house across from us) we could get the service, but on our side of the street, we are out of range, so that really made the end decision easy to go with cable.

BryanP

  • friendly hermit
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2,808
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2005, 04:28:26 PM »
Depends on what you want.  I have Comcast cable with 4Mb download and 384Kb upload.  As soon as certain things happen I'm going to spend the extra $10 per month to upgrade to 6Mb down / 768Kb up.  It's that second number I care about more.

For less than I'm paying, a friend of mine in Seattle has a DSL line 1.5Mb/1.5Mb symmetrical.  Honestly, I'd take that in a heartbeat if it was available to me here.
"Inaccurately attributed quotes are the bane of the internet" - Abraham Lincoln

Silver Bullet

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,859
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2005, 06:41:29 PM »
Either should be way faster than dialup, if that's what you're using now.

Zundfolge

  • friend
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 143
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2005, 06:51:38 PM »
Typically home DSL lines slower then Cable ... but most phone companies offer faster versions of the DSL for more money.

Wedge

  • friend
  • New Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 76
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #16 on: March 16, 2005, 02:56:26 AM »
The CE department has gigabit ethernet...it is scary watching file transfers.

uvakat

  • friend
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 107
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #17 on: March 16, 2005, 03:48:37 AM »
Cable here is more reliable then Sprint's DSL. It is not a fact, but it's just what most of us have experienced. I know back at home, reliability is not a problem, but for some reason DSL where I am living now is unreliable at best (this was 2 years ago when we were picking either DSL or Cable so that might have changed). The only problem is that like rockrivr1, my cable bill is outragous and rising. I think we pay $110-130 for basic cable + high speed internet.
Nothing like a couple hundred rounds down range to make a girl feel better.  

aguyindallas

  • New Member
  • Posts: 24
What's better Cable or DSL for internet connection?
« Reply #18 on: March 16, 2005, 07:12:22 AM »
My experience is that while DSL is more reliable, Cable is faster....like typically 3-4 times faster.
Vote For Pedro