DSL or Cable?

[Comixion]

I currently have DSL through my local phone company using an external modem.
My current cable tv company has a special where I can combine my cable tv with their internet. What hardware would be needed and is cable any better than what I have? Although I'm happy with what I have so far, they state 5mbps. Of course we all know thats just a number.

[Stone Fox]

Interesting question... Never really looked into it but I would guess that cable would be better - Proper fibre optic cabling rather than the copper core PSTN... Also you should have a much lower contention ratio.

It could all change though if BT follows through on affordable VDSL. Mind you the last I heard of that was when I worked for them.

[Stone Fox]

Interesting question... Never really looked into it but I would guess that cable would be better - Proper fibre optic cabling rather than the copper core PSTN... Also you should have a much lower contention ratio.

It could all change though if BT follows through on affordable VDSL. Mind you the last I heard of that was when I worked for them.


Ooops. :( I've just realised he's on the wrong side of the pond for that advice...

Damn yanks! :D

[Wolfgang]

I currently have DSL through my local phone company using an external modem.
My current cable tv company has a special where I can combine my cable tv with their internet. What hardware would be needed and is cable any better than what I have? Although I'm happy with what I have so far, they state 5mbps. Of course we all know thats just a number.


I'm on the right side of the pond. Even a fellow Texan. I pay earthlink but Road Runner came out and set me up. They will give you the equipment you need. The modem will belong to them, if you need a LAN card or USB LAN, they will provide one (you keep that if they do). I'm happy npt getting DSL because I don't have a landline.

[omga14]

Proper fibre optic cabling rather than the copper core PSTN... .

just to clear up any confusiond, cable is has no fiber optics. cable is still a hardline metal medium while fiber optic cable uses clear medium(glass) and uses light pulses to send 1's and 0's for data transfer.

cable has nowhere near the maximum scalability that fibre has.

[Assimilator87]

If you change to cable you'll have to buy a cable modem and you'll have a useless DSL modem that you paid for. I recently upgraded my Qwest DSL to 5Mbit for $49.99 a month. I'm very happy with it so far as it's quite a leap from my old 1.5Mbit. You can probably get a similar TV + internet deal through your local telephone company. I think Qwest is doing a DirectTV + DSL deal right, but I'm not entirely sure.

[omga14]

WOW, you get 5Mb/s with your DSL? that's crazy. i only get 3 with verizon. i'm hoping they start offering their FIOS(fiber) here on the island soon or else i'm going to have to wait till i get back stateside which is like in a year. either way i want their 15Mb/s service:D

[NotMyBest2Day]

Comcast is mostly fibre optic here. That's on the trunk line, and then the old fashioned copper lines come off of that. Same thing for the phone lines. I'm all fibre here. When I do dial-up (very rare circumstances, and it's only for a minute or two), I get 52.0kbps which is screaming for dial-up. Cable I get 4mbps down/384kbps up. I don't like the up speed, but it gets me by. I keep forgetting to call Verizon about their fibre optic DSL (15mbps/2mbps for $49.99/mo). I don't even know if it's available here or how long I'll have to wait until then.

The biggest difference between DSL and cable, is that DSL goes through your phone lines, of course, and you have to dial-in to connect, and some DSL providers give the offer of a static IP address for an additional charge. Cable is always connected unless you unplug the modem, has a much lower latency, and I believe comes with a static IP address automatically.

The only additional hardware you'd need if you already have cable TV is a cable modem and a router if you don't already have one. You can rent a modem from your cable company for a few bucks a month, or you can go buy your own. I went online and bought one. RCA DCM-226. It was $225 four years ago, but now there's so many options for them and they're readily available, they're cheap. I'd stay away from the ones you see at Best Buy and stuff that is a modem and router combined.

Personally, I've always preferred and highly recommended cable, but it's up to you to make your own decision.

[Hansaman]

I am pretty sure that most broadband modems are cable/DSL not one or the other. Cable is also much faster than DSL.

[NotMyBest2Day]

Cable and DSL modems are different. It would be very rare to find one that is both. Two completely different interfaces.

[chris000001]

I am pretty sure that most broadband modems are cable/DSL not one or the other. Cable is also much faster than DSL.

i think you are thinking about Cable/DSL routers, cable and DSL speeds differ in different areas. But cable has a higher potential than DSL does. thats why verizon is coming out with FiOS. I expect to see cable speeds to dramatically increase in the near future.

[ElrichMeister]

yea cable is coaxial and DSL is a phone line, i have Verizon DSL @ 3mb/768k

[gokusimpson]

I got cable and I get i think a 5 or 6MB bandwidth. No lag ever on games. DSL is soooo much cheaper though.

[LiquidPsyrix]

*Chants* Cable! Cable! Cable!

DSL is OK, but who wants slow internet? =D

-LiquidPsyrix-

[gokusimpson]

*Chants* Cable! Cable! Cable!

DSL is OK, but who wants slow internet? =D


THATS RIGHT! RIGHT ON MAN!

Cable is the Scheiße.

[omga14]

downloads are slower but DSL is in now way slow. can't wait till verizon offers FIOS here in hawaii or when i get to san diego. 15Mb/s down:D

[chris000001]

im more interested in the 2Mbps up!!!

[NotMyBest2Day]

im more interested in the 2Mbps up!!!Ditto! I don't <b>really</b> care about the downspeed nearly as much as upstream. T1 can't even match FiOS upstream.

[omga14]

nothing can touch FIOS. fiber maintains signal strength and integrity for longer distances than any other medium, is not affected by EMI cause it uses light pulses, and has a higher speed scalability as well. man i can't wait to get me some FIOS lovin':D even if we went with the cable split on down/up that would be ~1.5Mb/s up. i think it's more, alot more, but i'm not sure. i'll be back after some googling:D

*edit* after searching the dslreports forums i found a thread that has some guys testing thier fibre speeds. one person gets 9644kbp/s down and 9139kb/s up :eek: talk about hosting whatever the hell you want :eek: man now i really can't wait to get me some FIOS. $45 for a 15mb/s line right now. man some of these guys are getting rediculous speeds: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,8909853~days=9999~start=20

edit(again) some guy with verizon FIOS is getting for his 15/2mb/s service 10559kb/s down and 1816kb/s up. looks like consumers will still get the short end on uploads. commercial is more even.