OT: DSL vs Cable Modem??

richard rendos

richard rendos

Active Member
I think it will be different in every area you go to. I have a cable modem through my local cable company...up 99% of the time...great bandwidth (small town...I don't share bandwidth with a lot of people)...one of my friends lives just outside DC and had to go with DSL because there are so many people sharing the cable connection it is slow.
Are you connecting your cable modem through the USB port or ethernet connection? If you are going through your USB port, switch to the ethernet port...I bet your problems will go away. The problem may not be your cable company...it may be the connection type. Lots of cable modems lose connection when connected to PC via USB.
 
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elan

Guest
its going to depend on where you live.. some places, cable is better, other places, DSL is better... in general, download speeds with cable is faster than DSL, but upload speeds are generally faster with DSL than cable.
and when i say where you live, i have a neighbor next building over, and he has had a horrible time with cable, and mine hasnt given me much troubles at all....
good luck
 
sammystingray

sammystingray

Active Member
Don't forget....the windows receive window in the registry must be tweaked for broadband , or you simply can't go any faster than it is set at....no matter how potentially fast the line is. The receive window registry setting in windows decides your top speed even if your hook up could go faster. I have to tweak mine in winME EVERY time I reformat, and it pretty much DOUBLES my download speed. Very important to have this setting high enough if you want to use a fast connection.
 
buzz

buzz

Active Member
I have used both cable and DSL, and I prefer DSL. The speeds are more constant.
But also, for someone who has DirecTV, DSL is more practical IMO. That way you get to stay away from the cable companies all together.
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member

Originally posted by Buzz
I have used both cable and DSL, and I prefer DSL. The speeds are more constant.
But also, for someone who has DirecTV, DSL is more practical IMO. That way you get to stay away from the cable companies all together.
could not agree more. Unless you get satellite internet, but it is partly dependant upon weather(fact, not opiniion) and much more expensive if you ask me
 
ddt

ddt

Member
I have SBC (formerly PacBell)and have had great success with it. My throughput is constantly >1.1 Mbps. I also get free dial-up which I haven't found with any cable service. I have friends that have Cable with a couple of providers and it is a little faster, but I have nowhere near the problems that they have.
"Your computer, Your choice."
P.S. cost here is the same for both $40/mo.
 
bigeyedfish

bigeyedfish

Member
Thanks for all the opinions guys! I believe I am going to try DSL (you get 30 days to decide), if all goes well i'll probably stick with it. If I had originally gotten comcast cable tv i'd go with the cable modem no questions, but i have to have my NFL sunday ticket and ESPN college basketball so i can watch all the Kentucky basketball games :D WILDCATS in 2004!
BTW Rich Rendos: The current setup at my parents house is a Motorola Surfboard Modem just via ethernet to a Linkysis Router. ( Can't and wont use the USB becuase if I'm over there and have to take a call for work I cant run the VPN software we have at work through USB on my laptop). I know its not my equipment because a neighbor has the same exact problem (frequent loss of the IP Address, its just the $hi**y jerryrigged architecture comcast runs).
ALso gonna try wireless, but i'll wait to see how everyone likes their equipment when i get the $$ for that :p
 
rook

rook

Member
Oh yeah, I forgot that with DSL, you must use the the Bell company as your local phone carrier, and you must comit to a one year agreement. Cable is month by month.
 
shanev

shanev

Member
Rook,
Thats totally based on where you live. Lets start by saying there are plenty of phone companies that offer DSL that are not Bell companies. Its basically whoever is your phone comapny. And then it is up to that company to choose to require a contract or not. I work for a small telco and we have DSL plans with and without a contract.
Oh and I feel in my area DSL is better as the speed is more stable than cable.
 
mebigloser

mebigloser

Member
Cable all the way, all I do is game. Dsl lags compared to cable. If you get into a game with dsl players, it will slow the game and cause lagging. Dsl in like having a slighty faster dialup.
 
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billwinterholer

Guest
Fshhub:
Are you using Enternet or something similiar to connect to DSL?
I began with that but went to a Linksys DSL router (BEFSR41) and have totally loved it.
I do shutdown the connection when I'm not using the net, but the connection is a lot faster than with Enternet.
Bill
 
bonzarelli

bonzarelli

Member
IM A CABLE MODEM TECH I HAVE BOTH AND MY ADELPHIA POWERLINK IS WAY FASTER THAN DSL I RUN 2.5 MEGS EVERY DAY, AND ONE THING ABOUT THE MODEM IT IS ALWAYS PUTTING OUT THE SAME SPEED TRY CLOSING OUT SOME PROGRAMS THAT ARE RUNNING ALSO IT DEPENDS ON WHAT O/S YOU ARE RUNNING.:D
 
marvida

marvida

Member
Totally depends on your area. Ask people in your area which broadband they prefer. Around here DSL is just now becoming available, so cable is slower. As more people move to DSL, then cable becomes faster. Add distance, infrastructure & a dozen other variables & who knows what happens. Only people in your specific area can tell you which service is better where you are.
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
live in teh sticks - our phones lines are still really copper .... so I use cable .. love it - my dad had comcast and hates them - wit ha passion!!
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
billwinterholer
yes, just set it up and am happy I did
rook
as mentioned, depneds on where you are, we have 5 companies, and only verizon is asking for a commitment of any time, where as our cable is a 6 month. And you my choose either of the 2 local phone carriers and with either, you may choose either of the dsl providers. except with verizon, they want you on their phone if you have their dsl. but if you have their phone, they do not require you to have their dsl. This is an FCC regualtion which falls under the monopolization laws, I believe.
BigEyedFish
We were going to bring wirelss in, and it seems great, but it fel short, since we can do dsl cheaper and t is reliant upon 2 things. Weather and line of site, any obstacles can affect it, even a street sign. So, as a provider, we decided to drop it once dsl became available. And just to let you know, we had researched ti first, since we had already sunk 10s of thousands of dollars into wireless, it was not an easy decision. JUST saying be careful and research it first before trying wireless.
bonzarelli
you have constant speeds with cable? Are you the only one on the line? or one of maybe 3 or 5 homes? That is about the only way that a cable modem would be constant. Or even could be.
AND closing programs will not affect connection speed, only what you may percieve. but, if we need to know, I only run my AV and an IM with 1.5 gig of DDR ram, and an xp 2400 processor. There is no way My open programs affect anything. And yes, i now all about how to check, I am not relying upon my task bar. My resources are always above 90%, I hate lag of any type.
Also, let us not forget that dsl in most instances has different choices for speed, so comparing them, we would have to take into consideration a speed matched to the cabble speed. Most cable companies offer 400 or 500 service and a 1 meg option.
In other words, it would not be fair to dsl to compare a 128 or even a 256 sdsl connection to cable at 500.
 
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