to DSL or not?

samcurry

samcurry

Screwing with the code...
Staff member
I am currently running a cable modem at home. download speeds are ok but more people are signing up and im am slowing down. I pay 55.00 a month for this with no actual cable tv, just internet.
I can get DSL 128 upload and 512 download from the local Phone company now. Their price is 39.99 for 12 months. But this is also a 12 month contract with them, where cable is a month to month contract.
If you were in my position which would you choose?

DSL does offer a 256up and 1.5 down for 54.99 a month too.
 
Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
I've been happy with my DSL (I'm not sure which speed it is but it's $40 a month through my on-campus ISP) for the year and five months I've had it.
 
catocom

catocom

Well-Known Member
My cable sux on dependability.
That would be my main concern.
I'd like DSL over cable if it's dependable, mainly because
I'd like to do a little personal web serving, and my cable doesn't
allow in the TOS and I think they make it sporadic just to try to
stop it.
 
Kawaii

Kawaii

Well-Known Member
I'd wait for a while until some sharper DSL variants are released(like the 46 mbps being tested a couple miles from where i live)... The upload speed kinda sucks on that one you're looking at.

Bottom line: Stay with cable.
 
samcurry

samcurry

Screwing with the code...
Staff member
the upload isnt much worse than my cable at the moment, all cable companies put a cap on it.
as for stability DSL is always better. its guarenteed speeds. where as cable is not. the more online the slower you go. I knew these when i got cable but dsl wasnt available at the time.
kawaii they also offer a 384 up and 3 mb down but its at 95.00 a month so way out of the ball park. but i wish i could. plus they do offer static IP for less than cable. soooo i could actually host the site from home. but i dont think the 384 up would be fast enough for us.:(
 
Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Have the DSL hooked up & running before disabling cable. Verizon keeps sending me info on how I'm now able to get DSL but when I visit their website, it says my number won't work. I'd expect the same out in the hinterlands where you live.

The main advantage to DSL would be the "privacy" you get compared to cable. Also, verify that they guarantee speeds. Usually it's not unless you pay for the real packages(768 down or better), not the home packages
 
catocom

catocom

Well-Known Member
I tried to get BellSouth DSL once.
They said it qualified, came out, put a figgin digital splitter cover
on my box, and said to hook it up.
Well it didn't work.
They checked my line and said it no longer qualified. (the dumbasses)
I told them what the problem was, but the wouldn't fix it without
charging me. .... So I said piss on um.

I hear ya sam about the higher connections.
I've got a T! just right up there on the road, but I just can't
swing $1500 a month right now. :D
 
G

greenfreak

New Member
There's no question in my area, Cable is King. The speeds are damn fast and we have had very few instances of slowness in the past two and a half years. The only complete outage was when we had the blackout. :D

I'm afraid I don't know much about DSL. I know our cable company said if they found out you were using a file server at home (like for music uploads), they would cap you. They never did it to us but I guess it's possible. Good luck with it Sammy. :)
 
Mirlyn

Mirlyn

Well-Known Member
I'd have to look it up again, but I heard its a misnomer that Cable is shared bandwith. Around here at least, they've upgraded all their main lines so its no longer a "shared network." To test it out, I checked and I don't see any traffic on my modem that isn't mine. I used to see occasional broadcasts and such from other IPs in my area, but not anymore. :shrug:

I'm sticking with cable. Can't find a DSL package that will give me good upload and won't cost me an arm and a leg.
 
P

PT

Off 'Motherfuckin' Topic Elite
I can't speak for the DSL in your area, I assume it depends on the company, but mine is very dependable here. Plus they will usually give you dial up (EEEeeeek) just in case for a backup. I think I've used it once. You've got alot better prices than I do too, I pay 44.95 a month for 512 down 128 up.
 
S

Stop Laughing

New Member
My dream now is to get DSL for my 2 desktops, 3 laptops (one isn't my property though) and perhaps the PS2 so my brother can waste even more time on Madden. DSL and Cable prices are similar here, but DSL isn't configured on our house's main phone line, but it is on our second line (which is charged to my mother's office, so that'd be a nightmare to work out). We'll see what's going on with this whole work at home experiment when the time's up in March, also when my dialup expires.
 
F

fury

Administrator
Staff member
samcurry said:
I am currently running a cable modem at home. download speeds are ok but more people are signing up and im am slowing down. I pay 55.00 a month for this with no actual cable tv, just internet.
I can get DSL 128 upload and 512 download from the local Phone company now. Their price is 39.99 for 12 months. But this is also a 12 month contract with them, where cable is a month to month contract.
If you were in my position which would you choose?

DSL does offer a 256up and 1.5 down for 54.99 a month too.
Click to expand...
How fast is the cable?

If the cable is guaranteed at a minimum speed, try to catch a few screenies of some bandwidth sites showing much lower than those speeds during the peak times of day. If they see proof of node congestion they will upgrade it or lose customers... My cable company did it the day I started maxing out at 200kb/s downloading from this server, where I used to get 400. I told them that the bandwidth on that server was well into the range of 1.5mb per second both ways and said that if they didn't upgrade their equipment to be able to provide the advertised "100x faster than 33.6k dialup" then we would be looking elsewhere for high-speed service. Not like I would've been able to follow through on that threat, because DSL still isn't available here, but it worked nonetheless. By the beginning of next week I was zipping by at 400kb/s once again.

I still haven't been able to get them to raise that 16kb upload cap though. :mope:

Don't you think that's a load of bullshit? 16kb upload for 400kb/s download?
 
Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
greenfreak said:
I know our cable company said if they found out you were using a file server at home (like for music uploads), they would cap you.
Click to expand...

That's one hell of a threat! :eek:

A few months back, when a recycling center in south Fresno was on fire, the owner refused to leave, and a cop threatened to cap him, too. (The cop's words with the gun pointed at the guy: "I'll cap you.")
 
pc_builder

pc_builder

New Member
fury said:
I still haven't been able to get them to raise that 16kb upload cap though. :mope:

Don't you think that's a load of bullshit? 16kb upload for 400kb/s download?
Click to expand...

Wow. :eek: That's just ridiculous. Here, I'm paying around $40/month for DSL. Getting 384 up and down, a static IP, and very reliable.
 
pc_builder

pc_builder

New Member
Actually, my phone company also sells "fractional T1" line service. I don't know what that means and I don't know what the prices or speeds are. I'll have to look into it.
 
rrfield

rrfield

New Member
I pay $35 for cable per month, I get 128 kbps up and between 2 and 3 mbps down. I have a DHCP address but it hasn't changed in almost 3 years.

My neighbors have DSL and pay $30 for 756 kbps down and 128 kbps up.

With DSL you have to remember that you are guarenteed speed, but that's only from your house to the phone company. They still have a finite speed that they themselves are connected at. If they have a bundle of DS3 connections or even an OC192, there is still a limit. The bottleneck is at a different place then it is with a cable connection.

PC Builder: a fractional T1 is just that, a fraction of a T1. A T1 (DS1) is made up of 24 DS0's (64 kbps each), multiplexed together to form one bigger pipe (1.544 mbps). You can order a fractional T1 with, oh lets say 10 DS0's for a speed of somewhere around 640 kbps. Depending on the phone company, once you get to a certain number of DS0's, it's the same price or cheaper to just get the full T1 (usually around 14 or 15 DS0's, but this was 3 years ago the last I checked).

It's f-ing expensive because the phone company will guarantee 99% reliability. Oh, plust the speed is the same up and down. Short of a backhoe cutting a fiber line, your connection will almost never drop like it will with cable or DSL. I'm sure as hell not gonna pay for that tough, its the Internet, its just not that important.

rrfield
 
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