Comments on: Comparing local cable to DSL http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/ Life, adventure and faith in southwest Virginia Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:58:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jeff http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-171817 Jeff Wed, 06 May 2009 03:12:00 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-171817 <img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/467363387.png"> And... this is tonight... As much as I don't want to - because at times, cable is smoking - we are sticking with DSL. The evening times are just terrible. Less than DSL. AND it costs twice as much. So why wouldn't we stick with DSL with at least gives us 5mb down for $35/mo? Instead of $60/mo for anywhere from 2.5 - 9 mb down? We seem to only see high speeds in the early a.m. and afternoon. They are consistently slower in the evenings - presumably when others are hogging bandwidth.
And… this is tonight… As much as I don’t want to – because at times, cable is smoking – we are sticking with DSL. The evening times are just terrible. Less than DSL. AND it costs twice as much.

So why wouldn’t we stick with DSL with at least gives us 5mb down for $35/mo? Instead of $60/mo for anywhere from 2.5 – 9 mb down? We seem to only see high speeds in the early a.m. and afternoon.

They are consistently slower in the evenings – presumably when others are hogging bandwidth.

]]> By: Chuck http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-171722 Chuck Tue, 05 May 2009 21:37:15 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-171722 Still a lot faster than what mine is on a good day. Still a lot faster than what mine is on a good day.

]]> By: Jeff http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169779 Jeff Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:40:42 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169779 I'm getting dismal speed tests this afternoon. The net on cable is moving like a sick dog. Here's the results: <img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/462959684.png"> I’m getting dismal speed tests this afternoon. The net on cable is moving like a sick dog.

Here’s the results:

]]> By: tj http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169774 tj Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:47:18 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169774 to answer the question about cable being limited by distance: no. Just about all cable internet providers use hybrid fiber-coax. Meaning they run fiber optic lines to distribute signal to the neighborhoods. because of this, you get the same speed 20 miles away that I would get right next door to the cable co headend. <abbr><em>tjs last blog post..<a href="http://tjscott.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/i-dont-have-time/" rel="nofollow">I don’t have time…</a></abbr></em> to answer the question about cable being limited by distance: no. Just about all cable internet providers use hybrid fiber-coax. Meaning they run fiber optic lines to distribute signal to the neighborhoods. because of this, you get the same speed 20 miles away that I would get right next door to the cable co headend.

tjs last blog post..I don’t have time…

]]> By: Rachelle http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169766 Rachelle Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:03:59 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169766 We use cable. We love it. It's faast. Only time we notice ANY slowdown is if we try to watch a movie on Netflix at night. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it to run right. But overall we've been really happy with Comcast's version of cable! By the way, on the pricing, look for deals online then print screen them and show them to your cable guy. Bet he will match them. Our's did! We use cable. We love it. It’s faast. Only time we notice ANY slowdown is if we try to watch a movie on Netflix at night. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it to run right. But overall we’ve been really happy with Comcast’s version of cable! By the way, on the pricing, look for deals online then print screen them and show them to your cable guy. Bet he will match them. Our’s did!

]]> By: Elton http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169757 Elton Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:55:43 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169757 The phone company always starts throwing out that line about cable internet being a "shared media" type service. It's true that the more people get on, the slower your connection between your house and the cable head-end. What they don't tell you is that they have their own bottle-neck wherever they put their DSLAM (DSL Access Multiplexer), whether it's in a cabinet in your neighborhood or in the central office. The concept of "statistical multiplexing" - the idea that not all people are going to be using the full amount of their connection at the same time, so I can give my backbone a lot less than than the sum of my subscribers' bandwidth - is used in both cases. Both cable and DSL have bottlenecks, it just that they happen to be in different parts of the network. I feel like the phone company is always being disingenuous when they tell us about cable's problems. <abbr><em>Eltons last blog post..<a href="http://blog.conrady.org/?p=168" rel="nofollow">Why I hate soccer: Reason #835</a></abbr></em> The phone company always starts throwing out that line about cable internet being a “shared media” type service. It’s true that the more people get on, the slower your connection between your house and the cable head-end. What they don’t tell you is that they have their own bottle-neck wherever they put their DSLAM (DSL Access Multiplexer), whether it’s in a cabinet in your neighborhood or in the central office. The concept of “statistical multiplexing” – the idea that not all people are going to be using the full amount of their connection at the same time, so I can give my backbone a lot less than than the sum of my subscribers’ bandwidth – is used in both cases. Both cable and DSL have bottlenecks, it just that they happen to be in different parts of the network. I feel like the phone company is always being disingenuous when they tell us about cable’s problems.

Eltons last blog post..Why I hate soccer: Reason #835

]]> By: Shane Glass http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169704 Shane Glass Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:38:24 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169704 One more thing to add: Notice that AT&T's upstream is about twice as fast as cable's. That might prove useful in Carolyn's situation when she uploads a lot of photos or other things. I know I enjoy it. <abbr><em>Shane Glasss last blog post..<a href="http://www.mshaneglass.com/blog/?p=22" rel="nofollow">Mock University of Arkansas-Monticello Website</a></abbr></em> One more thing to add:

Notice that AT&T’s upstream is about twice as fast as cable’s. That might prove useful in Carolyn’s situation when she uploads a lot of photos or other things. I know I enjoy it.

Shane Glasss last blog post..Mock University of Arkansas-Monticello Website

]]> By: Shane Glass http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169703 Shane Glass Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:35:21 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169703 Jeff, here's a link to my Speedtest results using AT&T's top tier DSL option: http://www.speedtest.net/result/462449006.png I was able to hold pretty constant at this speed. I've noticed on more popular items like TV torrents and iTunes connections that my connection can exceed this, but usually maxes out at 6 or 7 Mb. My experience with cable at home was a good one. We were getting constant disconnections and had a tech guy come out. Turns out we had some unnecessary splits and old cabling under our house (in VA we have these things called basements-- what wonders!). The tech guy replaced the cables and connections for free and instantly our drops ceased and bandwidth increased. I remember researching my options here. In the end I went with DSL because (at the time) the promised speed was the best for the price. We don't have cable, so there would be the $10 surcharge plus $5 for the rental. (I don't buy the modems as I had bad experiences with our cable ones back home). That means I'd be paying $65 before any taxes. On the other hand, after a $10 surcharge for a dry DSL line (that is, no land line connection) I pay a flat $45 every month. I am the last house within city limits on my street and since I got the DSL several months ago, I have had absolutely no downtime or laggy connections. I use strictly wireless with my Apple Base Station Extreme (802.11n) and things have worked flawlessly as far as AT&T goes. I know a lot of people complain, but from my experience AT&T's service has been exceptional, both DSL and cell. Granted, yes, the prices for cell service in particular is exuberant, but I am satisfied with the service. That's my two cents. Hope you enjoy your l33+ gaming on X-box. My wife won't let me have one. Jeff, here’s a link to my Speedtest results using AT&T’s top tier DSL option: http://www.speedtest.net/result/462449006.png

I was able to hold pretty constant at this speed. I’ve noticed on more popular items like TV torrents and iTunes connections that my connection can exceed this, but usually maxes out at 6 or 7 Mb.

My experience with cable at home was a good one. We were getting constant disconnections and had a tech guy come out. Turns out we had some unnecessary splits and old cabling under our house (in VA we have these things called basements– what wonders!). The tech guy replaced the cables and connections for free and instantly our drops ceased and bandwidth increased.

I remember researching my options here. In the end I went with DSL because (at the time) the promised speed was the best for the price. We don’t have cable, so there would be the $10 surcharge plus $5 for the rental. (I don’t buy the modems as I had bad experiences with our cable ones back home). That means I’d be paying $65 before any taxes. On the other hand, after a $10 surcharge for a dry DSL line (that is, no land line connection) I pay a flat $45 every month.

I am the last house within city limits on my street and since I got the DSL several months ago, I have had absolutely no downtime or laggy connections. I use strictly wireless with my Apple Base Station Extreme (802.11n) and things have worked flawlessly as far as AT&T goes.

I know a lot of people complain, but from my experience AT&T’s service has been exceptional, both DSL and cell. Granted, yes, the prices for cell service in particular is exuberant, but I am satisfied with the service.

That’s my two cents. Hope you enjoy your l33+ gaming on X-box. My wife won’t let me have one.

]]> By: grant... http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169699 grant... Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:17:20 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169699 not to boast (sort of) but i just did that test with my cable internet...here are the results.. download - 10.98 upload - 2.68 i guess living in little rock has its advantages! <abbr><em>grant...s last blog post..<a href="http://www.grantlharrison.com/?p=1143" rel="nofollow">Michael and Melanie</a></abbr></em> not to boast (sort of) but i just did that test with my cable internet…here are the results..

download – 10.98
upload – 2.68

i guess living in little rock has its advantages!

grant…s last blog post..Michael and Melanie

]]> By: Chuck http://www.journeyguy.com/cable-vs-dsl/comment-page-1/#comment-169686 Chuck Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:50:42 +0000 http://www.journeyguy.com/?p=1980#comment-169686 I wonder if there is a distance issue with cable like ATT tells me there is with DSL. Here in Tanglewood ATT tells me i'm at the maximum distance for DSL and cant get the fastest speeds. They've tried to "turn it up" and i can't keep a connection. They turn it down to 389K /s and it holds fine. Anyone else live in Tanglewood that has Cable internet? I'd sure like to try it. If i could get 2meg i'd be happy. I wonder if there is a distance issue with cable like ATT tells me there is with DSL. Here in Tanglewood ATT tells me i’m at the maximum distance for DSL and cant get the fastest speeds. They’ve tried to “turn it up” and i can’t keep a connection. They turn it down to 389K /s and it holds fine. Anyone else live in Tanglewood that has Cable internet? I’d sure like to try it. If i could get 2meg i’d be happy.

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