DSL vs Cable
 

Has anyone actually had both ? How do they compare ?
I've had Comcast for many years now, and they claim they are 4 times faster than DSL. I may not be able to get cable in many of the areas in which I am now looking to buy a home. Will DSL be a big disappointment ?

The only people who could possibly like DSL are those who never had cable. The DSL at my office seemed really fast (it was my first high-speed line) until I got cable at home. Now I have a new office with DSL that's so crazy-making slow that I stay home to work.

Cable's not only lightning fast, but I don't lose service or have my downloads/uploads hang as happens on my DSL line. My vote: Get DSL only if there is no cable available. I'd pay extra if necessary.

This is, of course, in MY area. Service may be different elsewhere, but I've had DSL from numerous San Francisco providers (SBC Global is the WORST!) and I've had cable from AT&T (now Comcast) and RCN (my current provider) and they've both been great. If you're in an area with RCN, you can get good TV/Phone/Internet package deals, but they're not in all markets.

here the cable companies suck monkey ass compared to the ADSL providers.

you can't phone them (unless you want to hold the line for 6 hours), they have stores you can actually go to (but with 8 bigass security guys for 2 employees) and the connection never works.

if you get cable here, you're pretty stupid. apparently, it's not the same in the USA?

Cable has just been taxed by the state (again) here and my bill is now +$5 for my package.

It took ONE whole minute to open this screen to post this. That's probably busy servers and I'd bet it's six of one and half dozen of the other.

The g'vmt is after all the money they can get. You make it/use it, they tax it. We had some gusty wind yesterday and lost electric power in part of the state. How can we keep that from happening?

^^^

the revolution will not be televised!

:)

LOL! We do EVERYthing differently here in sf! :)

We started off with DSL and we swtiched to cable because trying to deal with SBC was ALWAYS so ****ing PAINFUL!
We went cable and have never been happier.

Thank you all for your replies. I was pretty sure cable was the better choice. If I have to switch to DSL, you can all join me in a Crying Because I Don't Have Cable thread.
:cool:

I get my DSL for free wheras I'd have to pay 40+ a month for cable....

So yeah, DSL is great

cable jus is better in speed,

Ya, it IS expensive !

Everything is expensive compared to free

Packages
 

the DSL I have has been good but I also live close to a service provider (key for getting good speed). The further away, the worse. I have friends that have had cable and they say it was great but would run into slow periods durring high traffic times. Also you have packages to choose from. My cable service company offers three packages starting at a speed that is less than DSL for the same price as what I am paying for DSL, a comparable speed to my DSL for ten dollars more than I am paying, and a high speed package that is comparable to a T1 line-lightening fast but was like 50 dollars a month. Find out the packages, what speed your house will end up getting, and what high traffic will do to your speed if your in a congested area. They should tell you all these things or that may be a sign that they are not a good business to deal with.

Beware of the low price DSL offers as they are giving slower bandwidth to the lower pricing. Ask what the company has to offer as far as speed. Earthlink only offers high speed DSL and that is why the say they are more expensive than others.