DSL vs. Cable

[jlind23]

Well I am getting ready to move into a new house and with the move I am going to go from 56K to either DSL or Cable. My options in the Denver, CO area appear to be DSL from Quest or wait a couple months and get Cable from AT&T. Since this is the first I have started to research the topic I thought I would field some opinions and advice.

The DSL plan: $29.95
Qwest DSL Deluxe Up to 640K/Up to 256K You don't share your connection with anyone which means quality of service is at it's best. Use this option for web surfing, e-mail and moderate-size file download. Order by July 25, 2001 and receive at no charge: Service for first 30 days, Activation - Save $69, Single-user modem (regularly $150)

The AT&T plan:
Well I wish I could tell you, but I just spent the last 45 minutes on AT&T's site trying to get the information on pricing, but they won't provide that. I had to put in my future address which they currently don't provide service too and say they can't give pricing at this time. So being the smart guy I thought I was, I put in a guys address who lives 3 blocks from where I will live and know he has AT&T Cable, but then they say this address already has an account, please contact customer service with any questions on this account.....Arrrgh I guess that's 2 strikes for AT&T and my business.

I guess that changes my question to how realistic are the speeds DSL quotes and how would those speeds compare to what most people are using. Also are there any other services I should look into before making the jump.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Jayson

 

[Wah]

it really depends on your area and what services are offered. Look at dslreports.com for info in your area about both cable and dsl.
From my experience, I've had both adsl and cable. I am currently using cable right now, and it is much faster (about 3x the download speed) and about 1/2 the price i was paying for dsl.
good luck

 

[GT1999]

Fast and correct response: It depends on what is available where you live (exactly what Wah said). I have 1.5M / 512K ADSL and love it. Very steady ping times and excellent routes matter more to me than being able to download at 3Mb at 6AM in the morning, and only having 384k late at night. Not all cable services are like this though. One of my friends has cable and swears by it.

Also if you live too far from your CO you might not get optimal DSL speeds. I live 14,000 ft. from my CO and still obtain in excess of 2.2M, but I'm capped at 1.5. I'm supposed to be capped at 512K for uploads but I've uploaded at over 700Kbps 😉

 

[kormaster]

I personally FAVOR Cable Modem.. no hassle of dialing out and using PPPOE or some kind of port to call out.. cable is simpler...

 

[erub]

be careful with AT&T stringing you along w/ just a couple more months, then a couple more months, etc. I got sick of their crap (when they were TCI here in Dallas) and just went with DSL. I pay extra for a static IP from my ISP so no PPPoE for me. I get around 155-160k/sec on downloads, all the time. I have no complaints 🙂

 

[reitz]

It really depends on your area. My company offers DSL through 5 different telcos, and in most cases our DSL outperforms the cable options, in terms of latency and speed. Cable, however, is less expensive and can generally be turned on in a fraction of the time it takes to provision a DSL line.

Your best bet is to check out DSLreports for comments on the competing services in your area, and to speak with people close to where you will be living about their own experience. Don't base your decision solely on the advertized speeds. The maximum speeds for DSL are only attainable within about 7k feet of the CO, and cable speeds can very widely, based on the number of users connected to your node.


If you do decide to go with DSL, your best option is to subscribe through a local or regional provider. Most areas have at least one local ISP whose prices are competitive with the national providers, and the service is generally much better. I currently have DSL over Verizon lines at my apartment, through the ISP I work for. If I were to switch to Verizon as my ISP, my download speeds would stay the same (the quality of the line will not change), but I would experience more latency (higher ping times, for example). There is less than two miles of cable between my computer and my ISP's backbone connections, while Verizon's nearest gateway is in Washington, DC.

The smaller local and regional ISPs generally offer better customer service, and are usually quicker to respond to issues and outtages in your area. When a company provides service to only a few thousand customers in a relatively small geographic area, it can identify and fix outtages much quicker than a behemoth like Verizon, which must monitor connections all over the nation. The locals also have less equipment to maintain, making problems less likely to occur. The only downside to choosing a local or regional provider is that the telcos place a lower priority on new orders or problems than they do for their own customers (though hopefully the myriad of lawsuits against Verizon and others will change that for the better).

 

[Dan]

Like reitz said, it depends on your area. I had DSL for a year through GTE/Verizon and it was generally a negative experience. The service was constantly down for extended periods of time, their technicians were cretins and customer support was nonexistant. In the end they made it clear to me that they had absolutely no interest in keeping me as a customer so I voted with my feet and left them for cable.

Talk about a completely different experience! I pay about $9 more per month for cable. (And that appears to be essentially the rental charge for the modem.) The service has been up and running steady for the last 7 months and any time I've had to call tech support I've been able to quickly get through to a person with a semblence of personality and a modicum of knowledge.