Can DSL actually hit 18 Mbps?

[yottabit]

Looking at internet options for someone that currently has Comcast 25 Mbps. Frontier DSL is available in the area and the sales agent confirmed they have a 18 Mbps package available (also much cheaper than Comcast)

Is it common for modern DSL to be that fast? My last experience with DSL was a 768Kbps connection I had in the early 2000s so I'm a bit skeptical

There seem to be quite a few negative reviews about Frontier hitting advertised speeds / reliability.

I seem to remember DSL being fairly stable though. They mostly need this for Netflix and shopping, pretty low bandwidth requirements, so on paper the switch looks like a good idea. As long as it can 5-10 Mbps practically then I don't think they would ever notice the decrease in bandwidth.

Just looking for a second opinion from AT.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Unless they're incredibly displeased with Comcast, I would stick with them. 18Mbit/sec on DSL sounds like pie-in-the-sky to me. I know newer DSL technologies can bring faster speeds, but a lot of it still depends on the quality of your line, and the distance to the local / nearest CO.

OTOH, DSL can be cheaper. Comcast isn't cheap. But consider, if they get DSL, they may have to pay for a telco land-line on TOP of just the DSL service, making cable internet seem like a bargain in comparison.

 

[mnewsham]

Depends on the type of DSL

VDSL2+ can hit 300mbps theoretically. Though in practice they'll be splitting that among many customers. And the further you are from the fiber node the worse your performance will get.

Right up against the node with only 50 feet of copper you could probably see 100mbps without issue if your ISP allowed such a connection speed.

 

[yottabit]

This particular DSL package supposedly requires no landline, and actually it comes bundled with a VoIP phone and number (which I thought was odd)

It looks like maybe I should be able to ask the sales rep for an actual speed estimate based on distance from the station. Thanks for the feedback so far

 

[Red Squirrel]

Here I believe they offer up to 12 on DSL, but it's rare you'll see those speeds. Even 8 is rare. Really depends on cabling and how far you are from the CO.

 

[ch33zw1z]

yup. DSL is a crap shoot. if you make the change, have a fallback to cable plan.

 

[Genx87]

I have 130Mbps DSL from Centurylink. Fiber to the pole, then copper to my house.

 

[Gryz]

There are many technologies that send IP-packets over old copper wires. And they are all called DSL. But they are all different. They have different requirements and different speeds. It all depends on what your provider is actually doing.

At the moment there are DSL technologies, like e.g. G.Fast, that can do 1 Gbps over your old copper wires.

That being said, it's unlikely that you get G.Fast, unless your provider explicitly says so. But 18 Mbps over DLS is nothing special.

 

[bbhaag]

I would never never never ever go with the crap known as Frontier Communications. You need to just forget the conversation you had with the rep and stay with Comcast.

 

[XavierMace]

I have 130Mbps DSL from Centurylink. Fiber to the pole, then copper to my house.

I assume CenturyLink is still trying to sell that as "Fiber" internet or did somebody finally put a stop to that?

OP: I've got several clients using Frontier. I wouldn't recommend it unless there was no other option.

 

[VirtualLarry]

OP: I've got several clients using Frontier. I wouldn't recommend it unless there was no other option.

Basically, this.

 

[JackMDS]

Imagine that Car manufacturer companies would rate the Cars' Engine by the size of the space under the Hood.

E,g, "Our car is better because the Engine sits in 36" x 48" space, the completion is only 36" x 42".

This is a "Demonstrative" analogy about the state of Consumers Networking (wire and wireless) "Fake Data".

 

[Genx87]

I assume CenturyLink is still trying to sell that as "Fiber" internet or did somebody finally put a stop to that?

OP: I've got several clients using Frontier. I wouldn't recommend it unless there was no other option.

This was sold as DSL. When I saw 130Mbps got excited it may be Fiber. But it wasnt. I asked the tech how they got speeds for DSL so high. Centurylink pulled fiber to the box. Then copper to the house. My copper run is about 100 feet. It works fine. I was using Comcast with similar bandwidths before. But their data cap forced my hand to move to Centurylink. We use VUE for TV, netflix, and Amazon for movies ect.

 

[mnewsham]

This was sold as DSL. When I saw 130Mbps got excited it may be Fiber. But it wasnt. I asked the tech how they got speeds for DSL so high. Centurylink pulled fiber to the box. Then copper to the house. My copper run is about 100 feet. It works fine. I was using Comcast with similar bandwidths before. But their data cap forced my hand to move to Centurylink. We use VUE for TV, netflix, and Amazon for movies ect.

At least they're not trying to call it fiber like in Australia.
They call it FTTC, fiber to the curb. With copper for the final run into the premises. In Australia however they were originally promised a real FTTP (fiber to the premises, no copper until it's in your house) network that eventually turned into FTTN (fiber to the node, typically ~400m of copper to the premises) and appears to have finally settled with FTTC(usually less than 50 meters of copper) at least for the time being.

I still think calling it fiber is disingenuous so it's good to see centurylink isn't trying to do similar.

 

[JackMDS]

What does it Matter Wire, Fiber, or people carrying in "Buckets of Bits".

The honest thing to do is to inform the Client, at the Modem's output Bandwidth is! and take it from there.

 

[pcswig13]

I had Frontier and their DSL product from 2003 until 2017. My first connection was 3mbps/768k (up/down) until 2012 when I upgraded to 6mbps/1mbps. In 2014 they made 12mbps/3mbps available so I got that without any cost increase. In early 2017 they announced 24mbps/3mbps but you had to be close to the switching station, closer than I am. I never had an issue streaming Netflix at these lower speeds.
Then in June 2017 AT&T pulled fiber to the front of my home, and i got a good deal from them for 300/300mbps with fiber to the house, so I dropped Frontier/DSL. I was very happy with Frontier's tech support guys - never had an issue they could not resolve.

 

[Gryz]

What does it Matter Wire, Fiber, or people carrying in "Buckets of Bits".

Exactly.
That's why some companies call is FTTx. Fiber To The Whatever.
It's the speed that counts.

This is the speed of G.Fast.

As you can see, if the distance of the copper wire from your house to the "box" outside is less than 100 meters, you get 900 Mbps. Good enough for me.
https://networks.nokia.com/solutions/g.fast