is there any real need for cable powered internet at home?

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2006-01-11 02:24pm

I use cable- DSL not available

(which sucks since DSL is cheaper and less restrictive on servers)

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-01-11 03:59pm

DSL is usually cheaper, but cable is nicer when you happen to live in a neighborhood with a shitty phone infrastructure that gets you speeds barely faster than ISDN

J · Post by J » 2006-01-11 05:11pm

DSL speeds are dismal in the little corner of Toronto where I live so cable is a must unless I want to wait...and wait...and wait...for things...to load....on dial-up. In the GTA, prices are within a dollar or so for cable & DSL and in most cases the speed's about the same so I think it's just a matter of personal preference and convenience.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-01-11 05:34pm

Don't forget that the most acutal DSL in the US is neutured PPOE DSL which is an abomination onto the computer. Take the key benfit of DSL(High speed and your personal connection) is removed. Instead you get DSL ala Cable, with slower speeds than Cable with the more on the less speed problem of Cable.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2006-01-11 05:57pm

You guys are lucky, I'm in the sticks and get a pathetic .5 mbit download and even less upload. No cable, either.

I'm living on the edge!

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2006-01-11 07:03pm

DSL? I work for a DSL provider here and I would never switch to them for my own internet service because in my area I am not capable of getting more than a 1.1 mbit/s signal on DSL where's with my Cable internet I am able to get 6mbit/s from them for a price thats only a few dollars more per month than the price I would be paying for that 1.1mbps DSL signal.

With my 6mbit/s cable service I have seen download speeds in the 600+ kbyte/s range quite consistantly, Its impossible to get anywhere near that on a 1.1mbit/s DSL line. Plus I've rarely ever had any issues or outages with my Cable service since we first got it over 7 years ago.

It really all comes down to what system works the best in the area each person lives in, both cable and dsl are great in some areas and bad or just impossible to get in others.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2006-01-11 08:16pm

Full disclosure: I work for Verizon and we have ADSL and fibre-optic offerings in direct competition with cable. Now that said ...

Verizon's DSL does not usually use PPPoE authentication, at least in Florida. Most COs are served by an ATM connection at 155 megabit/sec (IIRC). Unless you purchase a guarunteed-bandwidth plan don't neccessarily expect to get the speed that is listed on your service plan (that is max speed).

Verizon's FiOS service has 622/155 megabit/sec connection shared by up to 32 users (with eventual upgrade to 2.4/1.2 gbit/sec and possibly a 64:1 split). You purchase a certain amount of bandwidth (like with DSL). The rest of it will be used for video and "normal" telephone services.

Cable services usually are fed by fibre optics to the neighborhood node, and then RF copper to the home. Speeds vary depending on node usage and ISP.

The Vodka Vindicator · Post by **The Vodka Vindicator** » 2006-01-17 01:39pm

I say take the cable.