• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Is it adviseable to have two distinct cable modem/subscriptions in one house?

Chaotic42

Chaotic42

Lifer
My cousin lives with me and we both enjoy playing games online. Unfortunately two games with two Ventrilo sessions can destroy our pings. He's interested in getting his own cable connection, with his own modem and own monthly bill in his room.

My question is, is that possible? If so, would that actually help our pings out at all? Has anyone done this before?

Thanks!
 
I'm not an expert in cable internet but I can not see how this will work. Both modems are using the same coax cable and are using the same frequencies. One DSL and one cable should be fine.
 
What is your connection speed supposed to be?



Assuming it's higher than 256kbps, You shouldn't have any problems running 2 games and 2 ventrilo sessions. I think the issue is more relavent to your router being an absolute piece, or QoS
 
Since Cable Internet is maintaining parallel Nodes (I.e. all the users in the Building, or neighborhood are connected to the same source). unlike DSL technically it is not a problem to add a second Internet Modem with its own account in the same apartment (house).

However it is up to the ISP decide, call them
 
While it's certainly possible to do (getting the modem up and running that is - as each modem is billed/accessed based on the MAC from the modem), you'd still be limited to the speed, as it's using the same wiring to get back to the cable company.

Unless you say you live in a 2 family house, and you'd like the 2nd family to pay for their own internet and get their own bandwidth, then it shouldn't be an issue.
 
Originally posted by: JackMDS
Since Cable Internet is maintaining parallel Nodes (I.e. all the users in the Building, or neighborhood are connected to the same source). unlike DSL technically it is not a problem to add a second Internet Modem with its own account in the same apartment (house).

However it is up to the ISP decide, call them
Click to expand...

I'm always puzzled by the statement that cable share the same cable, yet DSL has it's own line so DSL is better.

But isn't that eventually all residential traffic will ride on the same internet? Let's say your local DSL ISP and cable company uses same 45Mbps ATM network or other fiber backbone, so what difference does it make?


However, my uncle's company uses DSL and always complain it's very slow whenever it's after 6:00PM, since close to his company there is a big apartment.
 
Better or worse has nothing to do with this issue.

Better or worse depends on what the ISP provides, and the quality of the delivery lines of the specific client whether it is Cable or DSL.

The difference is that DSL line goes as an individual line from your modem to the Telco building, and the Internet is bridged there to your individual line.

I.e. if you do not have DSL service there is No Internet signal on your Tel. line.

Cable Internet carries the Internet signal everywhere on all the cables in the area that the service is offered.

I.e. if your neighbor has Cable Internet the same Internet signal exists on your cable too (if you have Cable TV from the same provider), in order to use this signal you need a Modem and an account with the ISP.

http://www.ezlan.net/DSL_Cable.html
 
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
My cousin lives with me and we both enjoy playing games online. Unfortunately two games with two Ventrilo sessions can destroy our pings. He's interested in getting his own cable connection, with his own modem and own monthly bill in his room.

My question is, is that possible? If so, would that actually help our pings out at all? Has anyone done this before?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

It would be up to the ISP but in my area you can only have one cable modem. For an extra fee you can get a second IP address but it still shares the same modem.

You might want to check to see what plan you have as my ISP has different tiers with different speeds. Might be able to upgrade to a faster speed and share the bill.

 
Why not just get one cable connection and one DSL connection? Or two cable connections from two different providers(provided they have different networks)?
 
Originally posted by: Crusty
Why not just get one cable connection and one DSL connection? Or two cable connections from two different providers(provided they have different networks)?
Click to expand...

I can check on DSL availability, but we only have one cable provider.
 
Originally posted by: JackMDS
Better or worse depends on what the ISP provides, and the quality of the delivery lines of the specific client whether it is Cable or DSL.

http://www.ezlan.net/DSL_Cable.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I do agree line quality has more to do with the matter. My own experience is cable is better (less congestion and speed slowdown problem), at least in my area (SoCAL).


 
At a certain point, yes, cable & DSL is all shared. It's just that with cable, the shared point is closer to the home. Cable subscribers share a common node usually in their neighborhood. DSL is a dedicated line to the telco's office but once it reaches there, it's shared as well. Speed is usually dependent on the ISP, though. DSL may be dedicated line but if the DSL company has 100 subscriber's but their backbone is only a T1, guess what, your internet will be pretty slow. The problem with cable is if your neighborhood node is swamped by subscriber's and the cable co won't upgrade it. In my experience, cable companies are usually pretty good at upgrading an over-loaded neighborhood node. I've had better speeds & latency with cable vs DSL but I haven't been on DSL in probably 7 years so it's been awhile. Been on cable, then on FIOS
 
Both DSL and cable share infrastructure, it's just a matter of where. For DSL, you get all the bandwidth to yourself until you hit the DSLAM / edge router aggregator, and for cable you share the wire with all your neighbors. However, the story isn't as bad as it sounds. The reason why is with cable, for example, the actually total bandwidth of the cable is really high compared to what you get. Part of that limitation is a provisioned speed in your cable modem, and the other part of that is statistical multiplexing that allows for some oversubscription of the line.

The most reasonable course of action for you is to run some qos policy on your router. Basic queueing theory dictates that the average latency of packets going through your network is an exponential function of the utilization of the network (this is easily observable with car traffic on highways). By restricting the amount of traffic (like metering the highway offramps), you will get lower / more consistent pings. If you still have acceptable bandwidth after applying these policies, then you'll be fine.

I believe these overpriced "gaming" routers do nothing more than this. You have to have sufficient bandwidth to begin with, but more than likely this is the case, if not, your problem is probably with your neighbors using all the cable company's bandwidth, and adding another cable modem isn't going to help things.
 
Hmm.. With DSL you can be out of luck and if you are far away from the DSLAM, and the quality of the lines leading to your NID are low, a 3Mb/sec. contract (as an example) can end up much lower at your Modem, in most cases there is nothing that you can do about it beside canceling the contract.

Cable Internet is most of the times at the level of the contract, in cases of of degratation, many times it has to do with the splitters and TVs in the client
house, so there might be ways to self correct the issues.
 
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
My cousin lives with me and we both enjoy playing games online. Unfortunately two games with two Ventrilo sessions can destroy our pings. He's interested in getting his own cable connection, with his own modem and own monthly bill in his room.

My question is, is that possible? If so, would that actually help our pings out at all? Has anyone done this before?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Your router must absolutely suck then.

At the current location that I'm at, there are FOUR people playing online games at once, with at least one Ventrilo going too.

All on a Comcast 12Mbit line.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top