Sprint DSL or cable??

[aircooled]

DSL is $10 a month cheaper (in my neck of the woods). If cable is faster, is it $10 a month faster??

 

[pm]

One of these threads seems to pop up once or twice a month. Everyone chimes in and recommends the service that they use citing circumstances that only pertain to their local area.

Pliotronx is absolutely correct. The best way to find out which is better is to ask around, check places that track complaints and praise (like DSLReports.Com's area report) and to research the situation as it is in your area.

Some places have uncapped cable, most are capped. Some DSL services automatically hang up after two hours, most don't. Some places offer static IP's, most don't. Some are on DHCP, some are on PPPoE, some use some weird proprietary thing. Some have horrible internal routing (100ms just to the gateway), most are pretty good. Some cable connections vary widely in performance from hour to hour, most don't. Charges vary widely from location to location.

Aircooled, I recommend researching the companies in question at places like speedguide.net and dslreports.com and try and ask people locally - a local computer enthusiast group would be a good choice - which one they prefer and what gripes they have.

My personal experiences with @Home in Colorado (which has been great) differ from my friend's service from the same company in San Francisco, CA (his service is really bad).

 

[nweaver]

1. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A CABLE MODEM!!!!!!
2. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A CABLE MODEM!!!!!!
3. Cable does slow depending on nearby usage as bandwidth is split between a few homes (they may add lines as they add users, but you still share bandwith with joe porno next door), BUT DSL can also be very slow depending on Location. Best Advice... Talk to your neighbors, what is fast in your area? Service for both varies by the company and the area.

4. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A CABLE MODEM!!!!!!

Thank you

 

[Xuttah]

Being a network engineer, I can't see why anyone would pick Cable over DSL. I have the choice, fortunately, and I'm pretty close to my local DSLAM. The logical workings of cable just bug me, security-wise.

The fact that packets leaving my node are hitting the next node, and the next node, and on and on until it reaches the service provider is not a confidence-builder. DSL is a bit more palettable, since my packets leave my node, then hit the DSLAM.

Of course, I run a firewall w/ NAT for my connection. That would apply to either service, though. And yes, I realize that once your traffic is out on the Internet anyone could potentially compromise it. I just prefer having a more secure option.

I truly believe, though, that Sprint ION is the future. I can't get it yet, but a friend is signed up. All I can say is WOW. 8Mbs/1Mbs connection. 2 static addresses. The ability to control your own Telecom services (from your PC). Bundled long distance & free local = consistent billing. 4 phone/fax lines. All over 1 pipe into your home. Cable/DSL, it doesn't matter. Say bye-bye to them.

FYI: Sprint ION is cell-based (ATM), meaning no variable packet sizes, meaning GREAT performance.

 

[Zivman]

The two hour window thing is for the basic DSL, so it may not apply to all.

 

[WoodDogg]

Nweavers point number 3 above is the best advice anyone can give you. Talk to your neighbors that use it. Ask them to let you test it out on their computer. Test the download speeds and ping some game servers you like. Then make sure to ask your neighbors about the reliability.

 

[Floydian]

I have dsl - my advice - CHECK what speed the DSL you are buying - mine is on par with what I bought - 640Kb (I think i got the capitals right) line and around 64-70kb d/ling - constant, doesn't go up down (not as exciting heh) pings are about the same as cable in my area.

My friends that have cable all experience slow downs, but usually they download at the same or above what I do (up to 150-200kb peaks for them).

You might check if you could buy instead of rent a cable modem (if thats what sprint does) - saves you that 10 dollars if its available.

 

[DaBoogieman]

I have never ever heard of this 2 hour thing. The only companies that I could possibly see doing that type of thing would be the FreeDSL companies. Most of the information you provide is blatantly false Zivman. I think you should do a bit more reading on the subject at hand. The fact of the matter is that it is like comparing apples and oranges. They are both equally fast in most situations it is more a matter of cost and availability.

Most people that can't get DSL can get cable because there are less stringent requirements to be met to qualify. The other advantage to cable is generally you can get it installed within a week.

DSL takes 10days at the soonest and I've seen 45 even 60 day installs in some cases most generally you are looking at a good 3 weeks for a DSL install and there is always the chance that even though you prequalify for dsl, once the teleco comes to hook it up they might determine you are too far to recieve service because prequalifying does not guarantee service.

Now that I've said that, unless the cable is uncapped and you can verify that people in your area are getting 3mbit or better service I would go with the DSL simply because it's steady service usually faster than cable on average because most cable is capped at 1.5m or lower and is shared so everytime someone else logs in your bandwidth gets taken away. DSL is generally cheaper by at least 10 dollars a month sometimes more. DSL is also generally more stable. If your cable goes out when it rains for instance so does your net connection. Also when your cable goes out the cable company can sometimes take days to restore service if lines have been cut etc...whereas with phone service generally if a line is cut it is repaired within the hour at least in my area.

These are all things to consider, I wish you well with whichever you choose.

 

[airfoil]

I'd choose DSL, aircooled.

 

[helpme]

My @home cable in sandiego has turned to total crap.

I used to get about 256kbps up and 3mpbs down...

now I get 30kbps up and about 200kbps down... all with constant packetloss and very high ping times.

 

[rommel]

definately dsl...as cable subscription goes up your speed goes down...its not dedicated

 

[mindiris]

DSL for one important reason: You are at the mercy of the cable company to install more nodes so that 600 people aren't all downloading stuff at the same time on the same.

My experience is that once it the load has been fixed, they advertise like hell and slowly realizse the process starts all over again. I've had pings worse than 56K dialup modems for days at a time on a cable modem.

DSL seems fairly stable to me so far(PacBell DSL/SBC).

You are stuck on a 1 year contract with PacBell/SBC however (I currently am, but it's somewhat not quite a total rip off at a $200 cancellation fee).

I'm definately going to look into that Sprint ION package everyone is mentioning anyway. Seems interesting.