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Thread: Cable VS DSL

  1. #1
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    Cable VS DSL

    OK....I've about had it with the lack of service I get from my cable modem and ISP via my cable modem. We finally have DSL via SBC Yahoo! available in my area. the cost would be cheaper....but I'm wondering about service? Will my internet experience be better via DSL that with my current cable ISP? I ain't worried about having it shut off. I'm on DirectTV for my TV needs.

    Any ideas about the differences? I'm on the end of a line from the cable company that is in the next town from me...or about 20 minutes drive. Internet service is fair for the most part....but there are MANY times when I call them and tell them that their DNS is down, their router is down or when a switch of theirs is down. They ask me how I know....I send them the info I have gotten from the network and send it to them. They fix it and all is well. Sheesh!!!!!!!
    Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
    Dennis -
    Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
    ....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.

  2. #2
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    [QUOTE=Dennis Peacock]OK....I've about had it with the lack of service I get from my cable modem and ISP via my cable modem. We finally have DSL via SBC Yahoo! available in my area. the cost would be cheaper....but I'm wondering about service? Will my internet experience be better via DSL that with my current cable ISP? I ain't worried about having it shut off. I'm on DirectTV for my TV needs.

    I don't know what dsl stands for but I have internet through the air. They came out and put a 15" square receiver on my barn ran a cable to my house. WaLa ..
    I get it without any interference, the phone can still be used and it's fast. It's a bit pricey though at $39 a month. and you have to be within a reasonable distance to a broadcaster (tower in my case) But I'm on line all the time with no startup waiting. As I said I don't know any thing about how it works but it works for me.

  3. #3
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    $39 a month is not pricey....try $64.75 per month for just Cable internet service alone.!!!
    Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
    Dennis -
    Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
    ....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.

  4. #4
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    Olathe Kansas
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    Dennis,

    I have SBC Yahoo DSL up here in OlatheKansas. I like it a lot better than what I had thru the phone lines and AOL. IMHO, for what it is worth, you will be a lot happier with SBC DSL. And you won't believe the speed .

    Randy
    Randy

    Don't worry abuot tommorrow, it may never arrive
    Don't fret over yesterdays mistake, you can't undo them
    Just live today the best you can.

  5. #5
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    Dennis, I've used both Cable Modem Service and DSL. My current setup is Verizon's DSL (3mbs down, 768kbs up). Cable modem service in my area is "faster", but throughput/performance is not because cable modem service is "shared" at the neighborhood level. DSL is consolidated at the CO. (Central Office) Cable was the first available in this area and when DSL finally was in the cards, I actually had both in the house for a little more than a month. I stayed with DSL and am happy I have. Only one outage in nearly three years and that was due to an accident taking out a pole. Cable was down a few times a month, albeit briefly. DSL is also less expensive for me at $29 a month plus tax. Cable modem service is about $45 here. Do remember that DSL performance (and availability) is dependent on distance from the CO. 18,000 feet max and many times they limit it to less.

    There is no guarantee that DSL will be better service than you have now, but at least you have a choice you didn't have before. Cable tends to be "faster" in most markets, at least on incoming, but that doesn't amount to a hill of beans if it's down too often and the customer service is bad...not that SBC has a good rep, either, alongside all the other providers! We'd all be fired if we treated our employers' customers the way many of these outfits do...

    ------
    Verizon is starting to roll out fiber to the prem services in many markets, including this one. (called FIOS) Once that is available, for about $49, I'll have 15mbs down and 2mb up (base service is 5/2 for about $30 a month) The phone lines also travel via the fiber (much cleaner) and they will be offering "cable" as soon as they have regulatory approval/franchise for the area/state...again, for less money than COMCAST.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 08-31-2005 at 9:01 PM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
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    Hi Dennis:

    I have SBC DSL both here at home and at work. Both have worked well. Prior to DSL I had a Wireless INternet Provider and that worked well also.

    The reason I switched was price SBC DSL costs about $29 a month vs $59 a month for Wireless. DSL is also faster 1.8 gig up and down vs 384k up and down.

    Joe

  7. #7
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    Joe, interesting that you have symetrical service (1.8 up AND down). That's quite uncommon with DSL. Do you have a business service?

  8. #8
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    All good and interesting things to take note of here. I don't care if I have "blinding" speed all the time....I just need reliability of connection.

    With decent service, I will be able to "work from home" about 2 days a week instead of driving in to the office to work. I already to this when I'm OnCall, like this week in the evenings....so as long as I don't have an outage, I can maintain customer support while at home. In my line of work, there are "steep" penalties for computer outages (read Thousands of dollars per minute).
    Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
    Dennis -
    Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
    ....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.

  9. #9
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    Allen, TX
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    Well, everyone's service is different, but...

    I've had DSL provided by SWBell for...6 years now?? Started out as just SWBell, and now it's SBC Yahoo. Reliability is quite good here. (Dallas area) I can count the number of outages that lasted longer than an afternoon on one hand over the 6 years....and I still have some fingers left over And these were very rare. When I've had problems and had to call (3 times total), the line service is generally good, and the yahoo service is also generally good. The ONLY issue is when it's a gray area - yahoo sends you to SBC who sends you back to yahoo....you get the idea. But every time the problem was resolved in resonable fashion. (The biggest problem/outage had nothing to do w/ the reliability or service - billing cut off my DSL incorrectly when trying to upgrade to a pro line. Once they figured out why it was back in less than a minute.)

    Cable in the Dallas area I'm told is also reliable, but if you do have a problem getting service is difficult.

    Even though the cable is shared, I've yet to sit down on a cable connection that's slower than my DSL. So although there's the 'myth' about sharing a cable connection, until Jim said he's had problems I've never heard of anyone else having speed issues w/ cable due to the hub sharing. My coworkers all say cable is faster. (Since I work for a computer company, many of my coworkers are network engineers and we all use VPN, if it was slow, they'd know...

    But for service, or consistant upstream, DSL is the way to go! I'm very happy w/ my DSL. My brother has it in Atlanta, and parents in Wisconsin - all 'Bell' DSL, all have good service.

    Perry

  10. #10
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    Dennis, I have SBC DSL. Had it for 3-4 years now and other than one or two outages that lasted for a few hours the only other problems I have had is having to reset the modem occasionally. I've now added a router so LOML can have access on the "old" computer and as of Aug. 31 will get DSL pro (3 mps insted of 1.5) for about $29 per month which is a reduction from the $49 I had paid for the slower service. If you are too far from the central station you maynot be able to get the service as I understand there is a distance limit.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker
    Joe, interesting that you have symetrical service (1.8 up AND down). That's quite uncommon with DSL. Do you have a business service?
    Jim, at both stores I do. The shops' monthly rate is more expensive. To clariy, I may not have the same up/down rate at the house.

  12. #12
    Dennis, add me to the list of the happy DSL subscribers. I currently have Verizon DSL, and prior to that I had Earthlink DSL (which was provided by Verizon and marked up about 100% by Earthlink). I've had a DSL connection for years (since it was first available in the LA area), and can only recall one downtime, and that was because the phone line into my house was physically down (and in the driveway).

    There are indeed speed differences between cable and DSL, but as others have mentioned, cable can get slower as more people get on the same line as you. (Jim Becker is the first person I've seen who noticed the cable slowing down, so I don't think it's real widespread.) Even with its ostensibly "slower" speed, DSL is no slouch, and it's more than fast enough for my needs. (I do a lot of telecommuting, and transfer some pretty big files to and from the office.) From the description of your needs, I think you'd be very happy with DSL service.

    - Vaughn

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn McMillan
    (Jim Becker is the first person I've seen who noticed the cable slowing down, so I don't think it's real widespread.)
    It was usually at about 2:30-3pm...when school lets out. It was quite noticable at times. One other thing...at that time COMCAST had a probibition on any form of business use, and yes, that included even simple email access. Everyone did it anyway, but the rub was you could pay more (a lot more) to "officially" allow business use, but it was still the exact same service. No more speed. No more priority. That really turned me off since my office is at home and I'm on VPN 24/7. I believe they have changed that now (but am not sure since I no longer have their service) and frankly it wasn't enforced. But it does bring up a good point...know the terms of service of your provider.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  14. #14
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    Jan 2004
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    San Jose, Middle California
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    I currently use SBC dsl. It is fast enough for me. I occasionally will dump a couple hundred MBs to a server, takes a couple of hours so I do it late.

    A while back PacBell (pre-SBC) used my neighborhood as a test site for fibre optic dsl - 20+MB up and down - and that was a downrated system. PacBell was talking of 50+MB feeds eventually. Unfortunately they diabled the test facilities, but left the fibre. Sigh.
    Michael in San Jose
    Non confundar in aeternam

  15. #15
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    Hey Jim!!!

    Do you work for the phone company???? (I know you don't,but....) I just got a phone call from an "SBC" person offering a lower price on my DSL.


    Joe

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