Cable/Internet Provider Question

[Ninjja]

My roommates and I just moved into a four bedroom apartment in NYC and are, for the first time, looking to set up cable and internet. However, we're just so confused about 1) who to go with 2) what the best deals are and 3) how we can connect individual tvs and computers to cable and internet, or if that is just going to be too expensive. Do you guys have any thoughts? What do you all use? We just don't want it to get really expensive; living in the city is eating a big enough hole in our wallets as is ;-).

 

[blackdogdeek]

i'm pretty sure there will only be 1 cable provider in your area.

what part of nyc?

as for internet, you can go with dsl through the phone lines, 56k dialup through the phone lines or a cable modem through the cable lines. are there any restrictions in your building?

 

[RossMAN]

Definitely sign up for high speed broadband internet.

Broadband offers

 

[TheAudit]

Your location?

You will probably end up with Time Warner.
If you get lucky, you will be in an area serviced by Cablevision. Their broadband service is good.

 

[PanzerIV]

3) how we can connect individual tvs and computers to cable and internet, or if that is just going to be too expensive.

No need to connect indivdual computers to a cable connection. Have one setup with a wireless router and run a home LAN. It's easy and relatively cheap to do and can also apply to a DSL connection.
As for the televisions being setup for cable access the cable guys will do that for you. Some companies even offer a wireless package to use for your LAN.

 

[Ninjja]

I live in Soho. I'm not really sure of the difference between DSL, Cable and wireless. THanks for your help everyone, i really appreciate it.

 

[Hankerton]

Where did you find a 4 bedroom apartment in NYC? Do they even make them for under a $1,000,000 a month?

Anyway, if you're in the city, you have to remember that Cable is a load bearing infrastructure. If you're close to an end-office (most likely) you'll have a reliable DSL connection all the time versus having to fight with other users in the city for cable bandwidth.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Originally posted by: Ninjja
I live in Soho. I'm not really sure of the difference between DSL, Cable and wireless. THanks for your help everyone, i really appreciate it.

dsl = digital subscriber line: which essentially means that the phone company delivers broadband(high-speed internet access) over traditional copper lines directly to you only.

cable is the cable company providing broadband over its own network. in this situation, you are sharing the bandwidth with all other people who have a cable modem in your immediate vicinity.

wireless is a method for delivering internet access throughout your home AFTER the cable or dsl modem and is different from the traditional method of running wires throughout your house to the individual computers who want to share internet/network access.

 

[PanzerIV]

Originally posted by: Ninjja
I live in Soho. I'm not really sure of the difference between DSL, Cable and wireless. THanks for your help everyone, i really appreciate it.

Cable modem gets its signal, albeit on a different frequency, from the same stream coming into your home that allows you to watch television. You can have one computer setup with the cable modem connected to a wireless router which will allow the other computers on your network to wirelessly connect to the internet. If you go this route do NOT forget to take security measures which are easily found on the web.

DSL shares the same copper line that your phone does and you can surf the net and talk on the phone at the same time. Again, you can set up a wireless router in the exact same manner as you could with the cable modem.

Wireless internet means there is no wired connection (of course), coming into your home like there is going to be with cable or DSL. It's transmitted to a special apparatus (not sure what since I don't use this type of connection) that will receive the signal through the air.

Speeds will vary on all of these services. You have to find which offers the fastest speeds for the least amount of money.

EDIT: Blackdogdeek was writing his summary at the same time as mine...

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: Hankerton
Where did you find a 4 bedroom apartment in NYC? Do they even make them for under a $1,000,000 a month?

Anyway, if you're in the city, you have to remember that Cable is a load bearing infrastructure. If you're close to an end-office (most likely) you'll have a reliable DSL connection all the time versus having to fight with other users in the city for cable bandwidth.

yep. i think they should go with dsl as well (high constant dl/ul rates)

then again, ive never had dsl before so could someone enlighten me about problems i could encounter?