Cable or DSL

[pinky]

I'm in the midst of a move and I'm debating about getting cable or DSL in the new house. Currently, I'm on DSL, but I wanted to get everyone's opinion on the matter. Thanks in advanced, ya'll.

[dirtyoldgoat]

DSL!

I pay 29.99 a month and get 2.5mb down and 768K up...

From Missouri that gets me a ping of 45 - 70 on Cain's DoD server...

[{CLR}geneSW]

LOL. i'v actually had both and from where i'm at dsl is at best 150k up 75k down. Cable on the other hand is 5mb up and 500k down. It's actually best to call up both companies and ask some questions like "How much bandwidth do you provide both for uploading and downloading?" and "how much will it cost to upgrade to get more bandwidth is I so want?"

Come back with answers and post 'em up and then we can help ya out. Obviously if there isn't much of a difference in price (say $5-10) then go with the one that will have more bandwidth.

[beanlover]

Never had DSL. I would only switch to DSL because of price (but I can't get it where I live). Cable is very fast for me and 99% reliable (I have Comcast).

Go with the cheapest option IMO. Even with 2mb down and 128kb up or 256kb up your gaming shouldn't be affected too much (I have 4mb down and 256kb up...I get great pings when the routers aren't acting up).

B

(I voted DSL because price will probably be lower)

[Premonition]

i had verizon dsl and its like 3 meg dl 250 up
i hated it..

i went to cable and love it..
i pay a little more but i get 5 meg dl 725 up
xp auto configs for cable... so no hastle either not like dsl you have to set it up.

[{CLR}geneSW]

ok, let me break this down for ya. The main difference between cable and DSL is that cable is shared with everybody in the area that has it. With DSL you have your own connection, but it WILL go down more. Especially if you have any routers (wired or wireless, it dosn't matter). My dad has had cable for about 5 years now, and the only time it's went down was when his router started to act up. With DSL (which is what I have right now) It's always down for "upgrades and updates". Really I think they just cut it off to save power. :D

[dirtyoldgoat]

I have had DSL for over 3 years and have only experienced one outage and that was because something with my phone line down at the switchbox...

It really depends on your phone company, but that's a very good suggestion about calling your prospective internet service providors and talk bandwidth...

[Apache Warrior]

I have DSL with Bell South and have never had any outages. I am 6 hours from Cain's Servers and I ping as low as 19 but, I average 29. :10:
Apache

[MoN)S(TeR]

I think Cable ( Comcast ) is better than DSL ( Verizon ) :!:

[Nomadicus]

Cable is my choice. RoadRunner (TW) is upgrading their download 3Mb/s to 5Mb/s and didn't advertise or tell me; they just did it. Upload is a paltry 384Kb/s. OTOH I would switch to DSL if I could get better upload speed and 2.5Mb/s download; RoadRunner charges roughly 4 or 5 times my current rate just to get 512Kb/s. :(

[WalkinTarget]

5+ years on DSL here, I got it the day it was rolled out by GTE. After a few years it became Verizon and as many bad thoughts as that name can bring, I've been overall satisfied. My downtime was never more than 3 days total over a calendar year. Every time I would become frustrated by the local cable companies monopoly and Verizon's price and/or service, they would either drop the price or raise my speeds.

I started out at 768/128 frame relay at $42 a month, then after 4 years went to 1.5/384 ATM at $35 a month. After about eight months, they have now doubled my D/L and U/L to 3.0/768 and dropped the price to $30 a month. The local cable co. is at 5/256 I believe which isn't too synchronous for a gamer, so I'm happy with DSL.

[lucid]

Best thing to do is try both and go with the better service. DSL could be awesome for you and suck for the guy down the street. If you don't have to sign a contract I would try both.

[PeanutButterSnake{CLR}]

Like others have said, it really really depends on the location and the local offices. My suggestion is try to google for opinions of others IN YOUR AREA. For instance, if you were moving to San Antonio, Texas, then you should google:

"DSL vs. Cable San Antonio opinions" or something like that. Most likely you can find some forum page somewhere that discusses opinions from actual local customers. Obviously this will work better if you are moving to a Metropolitan Area. You might try the county name instead depending on where it is.

[Starfire]

I've had earthlink dsl for 5 years and had 2 outages that lasted no more than a couple of hours each. It's expensive but the extras make it worth it. For price, SBC-Yahoo just dropped their price on dsl to $14.95/month.....a great deal if they service your area. A guy who works for me(and plays Cains ctf regularly) has the service and has had no probs for 2 years and usually pings to Cains the same as me.

[{CLR}geneSW]

If you don't have to sign a contract I would try both.

I would say you would always have to sign a contract of some sorts because they need to know who to bill, and make sure that they are getting their money's worth out of the customer.

[Nomadicus]

After about eight months, they have now doubled my D/L and U/L to 3.0/768 and dropped the price to $30 a month. I am jealous. :P

[lucid]

If you don't have to sign a contract I would try both.

I would say you would always have to sign a contract of some sorts because they need to know who to bill, and make sure that they are getting their money's worth out of the customer.

I have bellsouth dsl and mediacom cable and neither required a contract.

[{CLR}geneSW]

If you don't have to sign a contract I would try both.

I would say you would always have to sign a contract of some sorts because they need to know who to bill, and make sure that they are getting their money's worth out of the customer.

I have bellsouth dsl and mediacom cable and neither required a contract.

How did ya manage that one? I'm rather curious.

[Mr_Hat]

Cable is fast. Fast is good. Cable is good.

[dirtyoldgoat]

How did ya manage that one? I'm rather curious.

I know withy SBC-Yahoo DSL you don't have to sign a year's contract, but you'll pay $39.99 a month. With a year's contract you get into the special deals, I know I signed a years contract to get a guaranteed 2.5/768 for $29.99 a month.

Plus if you call SBC up over the phone you never know what you can get if you get an service rep who has been with them a long time, knows what they are doing, and is in a good moood. :P

[Mr_Hat]

I tried SBC once, and it sucked. It was slow (we're talking 128 kbps slow) and they kept telling me I had to wait 10 days for the service to speed up. The 10th day came and went and it was still slow so I called and FINALLY got a guy who knew what he was talking about. Iit turns out I'm 15,000 feet away from the nearest server, which placed me in the slowest possible "speed tier" (a feature they never seem to mention when you sign up for the service). The person I ordered the service from told me I was 4,500 feet away...not the case.

The funny part is, I still get calls from them every month or so letting me know SBC Yahoo! DSL is now available in my area. Every time they call I tell them about my experience and every time they place me on hold only to come back and say "yeah it would only be 128 kbps for you" yet they STILL keep trying to sell it to me.

Needless to say, I switched right back to Comcast. Sure I get outtages every couple of months for "system upgrades" and stuff but it's well worth it.

[Shadow<CLR>]

Broad-band 8)

[pinky]

Thanks all for the input. I've done a good bit a research in my area and it all really boils down to a cable versus dsl debate. Costs and bandwidth are pretty the same between the two. The other requirement that I would need is that I would be able to host servers (eg. Web server). I'm currently on Earthlink which allows me to do this, but I've heard that other providers are actively monitoring anyone hosting servers or are so lax about their policy that they don't care. Thoughts?

[Bomzin]

I think he was refering to signing a year long contract.

Bomzin

[Paminators Hubby]

Verizon is starting to offer Fiber Optic service in my area.

Up to 5 Mbps ..... $39.95 (2 Mbps guaranteed)
Up to 15 Mbps ....$49.95 (2 Mbps guaranteed)
Up to 30 Mbps....$199.95 (5 Mbps guaranteed)

I have cable, but I'm thinking about switching.

[Nomadicus]

Verizon is starting to offer Fiber Optic service in my area.

Up to 5 Mbps ..... $39.95 (2 Mbps guaranteed)
Up to 15 Mbps ....$49.95 (2 Mbps guaranteed)
Up to 30 Mbps....$199.95 (5 Mbps guaranteed)

I have cable, but I'm thinking about switching.Looks nice!
It is funny. I can get something similar from RoadRunner but only when I go for the $200/month do I get above 384Kb/s uplink. Honestly, I don't care about download speeds anymore . . . they are fast enough. I want uplink speed so I can setup a server.

[Mr_Hat]

You could always do what I do and just use other peoples' servers.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Thanks all for the input. I've done a good bit a research in my area and it all really boils down to a cable versus dsl debate. Costs and bandwidth are pretty the same between the two. The other requirement that I would need is that I would be able to host servers (eg. Web server). I'm currently on Earthlink which allows me to do this, but I've heard that other providers are actively monitoring anyone hosting servers or are so lax about their policy that they don't care. Thoughts?

speak to a few people in your area that have both and ask them how often each service has gone down, what they think of it, if it's even been slow for long periods of time...

Choosing between DSL and cable is like buying a car, you NEED to do research.

[Acacia]

DSL - I worked for the cable company... I know too much. LOL j/k

Here at the house we get 768/6MB which does not vary..


We also have Cable internet in the house because the roomate gets the service for free.... and also gets the 'upgraded service' that is 768/4MB and variable.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Here at the house we get 768/6MB which does not vary..

here it can vary because it will cut on and off. Not to mention their modem isn't compatable with linksys routers for the most part.... Curse Alltech and their crappy support.