OT: DSL vs Cable Modem??

[bigeyedfish]

I figure i can get a lot of different experiences here on the board. I need a little advice before I decide which service to get at my house. My parents currently have a comcast cable modem. Its great when it works, but so far in the 6 months they've had it i've been on the phone with tech support more than they've been surfing. I'm really considering Verizon DSL at my place even though your bandwidth is less than half that of cable. I'm curious as to who else has DSL and their thoughts. Is it up all the time and do you get close to the advertised speed 768 kbps? Verizon is working on upgrading to 1.5 Mbps service in home, so i think i can deal with the slower speed for a while. i just want reliability!!

 

[phoenixrising]

I have Comcast cable and usually it is no problem. Lately however, it seems like my programs freeze up regularly. Never did that before. Other folks in my neighborhood with cable modems have had the same problem. I thought it was just time for a new computer, but who knows...maybe it is just a Comcast issue.
I'm told that cable is waaay faster than DSL (which I have never used).

 

[slick]

I have DSL through a local company. It is up all the time. The only time I had a problem was when we first set it up. I can't stnad dial up speed anymore.

 

[saltwaterdave]

I have the verizon dsl and I am very happy with it,I have never had any problems at all with it!

 

[banshee]

Currently, I have DSL and Comcast cable modem. I just got the DSL to try it out. Let me tell you, cable is 2 or 3 times faster than DSL. When I used the DSL, it's like I went back to dial-up. I am going to ditch DSL and stick to cable.

 

[wamp]

DSL speed is dependant on distance, cable is not. So, if you live far away from the DSL center, cable will be faster. Cable is the same no matter the distance.

 

[sammystingray]

I have a Roadrunner cable line...wasn't very happy at first. They had it split, and I didn't like it....later they installed a dedicated line, and all was well. I would like to see folks throw even more business at Verizon due to the fact they are seriously fighting in court right now to protect individual users rights. They have yet to give up the names of the users busted for downloading music from the internet even though they were ordered to by that idiot Judge Bates. Two thumbs up for Verizon, and I pray they win for the sake of the free internet, and peoples rights to privacy.

 

[jugger]

my DSL sucks so bad (well better than dial up) when i had cable it was easily 5 yimes faster and my ping ws alwasys 3 times better... and i pay $75 for my crapy 650K DSL whick only gets 400K...and my cable was $50 ... wish i could get cable but not in the new house
you shold be happy you have a choice

 

[pigeoncreek1]

I have AT&T(soon to be Comcast) cable. It's very fast and reliable, and at $50 a month, a better all around value than DSL..

 

[krunk]

I have cable and i love it, my friend has dsl, when he comes over too my hosue he always tells me how better cable is then dsl....

 

[logan15]

I love my AT&T cable modem

 

[hhands361]

I have heard from many experienced computer people that cable is much better. I use cable and have never had a problem.

 

[bigeyedfish]

Ahh what a hard choice! I would get cable no matter what but I have DirecTv and that uses the cable lines in my house. Comcast would have to run another line into my house and at $65/month for non-current users i'm not sure thats cost effective.
I even looked into DirecWay through the satellite but found a few people at work that said it was junk due to firewalls and proxy servers forced on you by DirecTv.

 

[bigeyedfish]

hhands : I'm a computer guy so I know the technology. Believe me comcast help desk hates getting a call from me. They seem to think that losing your IP address every 5 minutes is acceptable. Just dont wanna repeat the same mess with Verizon.
thanks for all the input so far

 

[rook]

DSL speed depends on how far you are from the nearest station, but is supposed to run smoothly. Cable modem is not distance related for speed, but speed depends on how many people who share your network are using their modem at that moment. At full speeds cable is faster, but if your dsl is server is close by, or you live in an area with a lot of cable modem users, than dsl could be faster.
I have cable just because I boycot any Ma Bell company, which includes Verizon, Ameritech, or any Bell. I have occasional problems with speed or with connetivity, but its better than dealing the Ma Bell if you have a problem with them.

 

[billwinterholer]

Which utility do you have more faith in? The phone company or the cable company?
Here, I have SBC-SNET for my phone and Comcast for cable. While I particularly don't like SBC as a company, I've never had any major complaints about my phone service.
But Comcast is a different story. For years we've complained about poor reception on channels 3 to 6, always beging told "we're working on it". We'd see our cable rates increase, but never our reception improve. I complained that the coax service into our home was pulled taut against the eaves of the house and was chaffing into the stranded shield. They came out and replaced it, pulling the new cable taut against the eaves.
Finally, last summer we got rid of them and went to Direct TV.
Speed is not just a matter of the method, but also of planning. A poorly planned cable broadband system can become slower than DSL if too many users are added. And I have no faith in Comcast to properly plan their system. That is why I chose DSL.
Again - I would look over which utility you've had the fewer problems with and decide from there. If you really can't complain about either, or if your complaints are about equal, then I'd recommend going with cable.
Bill

 

[attml]

I highly endorse the cable modem!

 

[fshhub]

had cable for 3 yrs and hated it, same probs, or they were dconstatnly ocming out and telling me it was my problems, UNTIL the tech got there and fourn a bad filter or something in the line(their filters)
2 months ago, i got dsl, love it. The only prob I had was connecting, I liked it being on automatically with cable. DSL I have to wait for it to connect. Anyhow, i used both for 2 months in my home. NOW, tuesday, I just called the cable company and said shut it off.
dsl, I get about 720, all the time, for less thatn I was paying for cable at 400 which was shared, normally got 315 to 360, bc of too many other users on the same darn line. If you are near the CO, go with dsl. IF not, and your cable is more than 500, go for cable.
BTW, I run a computer store and internet service. My techs are now dropping cable and getting dsl as well adn they all love it(dsl just became availabe after christmas around here)

 

[david s]

I am a online gamer I had mediaone cable for a long time and dealt with bad routers and around 5 oclock forget it I switched a year ago to verizon dsl and boy am I happy with it always up with steady data transfer what more could you hope for

 

[xxvietxjustinxx]

Well I'm currently using Earthlink DSL which runs very smooth. I once in a while get normal dsl cut offs for 1 second then it reconnects right away, but other then that, its fine. I don't like cable only beacuse my whole area of where I live uses Roadrunner and I tested the bandwidth speed and it couldn't compare to my DSL. The only problem with dsl is if you use 1 phone line in ur whole house, and you fax a lot, your dsl isn't going to run, or say it doesnt run for me when my dad faxes, and yes he faxes ALOT. So if your a person that consistenly faxes, I would go with cable, if not, go with dsl IMO.