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.

wireless is fast too. I think the computer has to have a fast processor and plenty of RAM. Does it matter/help if you regularly clean out cookies and defrag?

That's what I've had for years......
BTW, hi Surf !

Hi again
 

Hi Ambo.
been really busy, so sorry for being a lurker.
Did you get in on the cable high speed early, and have your pricing stayed the same? I wanted to switch to cable but waited to long and now its just to much when DSL prices are dropping. The way I see it, going back to 56K modem speeds always puts any higher speeds at a better deal. Mayber if I started doing digiatal vid-editing and transfers of super huge files I would need the superior service. But for now DSL is just fine.

Ambo:

I don't know if you ever said where you're located, but here's a rundown of what my provider (RCN) offers, in which regions.

I highly recommend them, for their immediate and helpful tech support when/if you need it, as well as the rest of it. (I not normally one to go blowing the horn of public utility companies, but I am surprisingly happy with RCN.)

I have a bundled pkg from them that includes TV/Internet/Phone. It costs about $5 less than purchasing all the services separately from sbc, comcast, etc., but it also includes a MUCH bigger local calling area, and premium TV channels that are not included in the basic packages from RCN's competitors.

Although the price is based on buying the package, I noticed on my last bill that the Internet portion of the bill is listed as around $38 of the total invoice for all the services I get.

You won't believe this, but I have dial up at home through a provider that boasts faster speed and guess what? It is pretty freaking fast. Especially considering it's dial up.

I don't know if it is the provider OR if it is that in the area I live, I may be the only Flintstone left using dial up.

I'll tell the provider to anyone who asks...I just didn't want to place it on here and have you good folks thinkin' I'm advertising. :D

Yes , it does help. Gets rid of the crap. :)

I've had Comcast for years, and they keep raising their rates every year. But they also increase the speed of the service. I am so spoiled now, I'm afraid anything less than what I have will be a disappointment. I just checked on the Comcast site, and they advertise my service as being "up to 2 times faster than 1.5Mbps DSL" - so I guess max 3Mbps. There is apparently a faster service which is around 6Mbps - I didn't even know that - that must be the service you were talking about, huh ? I guess I don't pay $50 after all !

Hi Smarty,
Well, I used to be in California, but I'm in Washington state now. I just checked, and RCN isn't even available in Washington. It does sound like a great deal. Just one more reason you are so lucky to be living in California :(

I still have a 300 baud DisplayPhone in the mechanical room, if anyone is interested.