Do any of you have cable intrnet access? How's it compare to DSL?

[napi21]

I've had it for 5 years. I love it, except there are too many link losses that do not seem to be tied to anything! No storms, no heavy rain, just suddenly drops out.

Does this happen to your too, or do I just have bad service?

I get very aggrivated, and have checked into my options. I can get DSL through my phone company for about the same price, but I don't know if it would be any better!

I know businesses don't put up with this kind of BS, but I doubt I can afford a T1.

I would like to subscribe to internet phone service, but I sure can't if I can't depend on the internet link!

[Zuni]

1. I got cable

I think it is superior to DSL

[Blue-Jay]

2. Cable is better, but I didn't mind DSL.

[smbolisnch]

3. I have cable, had DSL before. I would never go back.

DSL was just glorified dial-up. :hi:

[SmokingJacket]

4. Cable is way better than DSL, in my experience.

DSL was always going down.

Cable has the occasional problem, but very occasional.

(I have internet phone, too, and like it except that sometimes when talking to people on a cell phone, it sounds robotic! Have to hang up and call again.)

[Shoeempress]

5. Had both. DSL is much better. It never slows down, and as long as

you are close to the origin, the speed is as fast if not faster.

[napi21]

8. Do you lose your DSL like happens to cable or is it as reliable as

phone lines are today? Pbviously, that's what I'm looking for. Something you know you can walk over to your computer and the link is there, no matter what! (baring downed trees and storms and such!).

I get so many different opinions, it's a tough decision to make a switch!

[Shoeempress]

13. Always was on and completely reliable. We can't get DSL where we

moved to, and cable SUCKS. Goes down all the time, so f'ing slow during the "school year" when all the kids are online. DSL is so vastly superior.

[tjdee]

6. I have cable, and internet phone, wouldn't change either.

Once every great while some funny business happens with the cable connection, but overall it's fine.

What does your cable company say about these link losses? They should *not* be frequent at all.

[napi21]

11. Well, I was told to call them every time there was a problem!

I did! They finally got tired of hearing me, I guess, and they sent a tech out to test the signal. It was fine then, but the guy also admitted that if the problem doesn't exist while he's there, it's almost impossible to find!

I would say my losses happen at least once every day, and the exception is when I can actually go 2 days without any problem! Grrrrr!

[Crazy Guggenheim]

7. I have cable. Some of my clients have DSL and it can be a real

to setup. Generally home cable is faster than home DSL. The one problem with cable is you cannot FAX - in my area at least.

[Chicago Democrat]

9. DSL is cheaper and SBC is a better company than Comcast

politics wise.

DSL is slower than Cable, not been a problem for me.

[steely]

32. That's saying something.

I have comcast and I hate them, what with the recent eavesdropping and email filtering, but they let reams of spam thru. True it is fast, but I question if it's worth the cost. They smell like big brother, and their help isn't that great. (and they wouldn't hire me when I needed a job, but that's beside the point).

I'll have to investigate if SBC works in our area - a sub-contractor recently laid cable (fiber) in the area - may be for verizon tho.

[Chicago Democrat]

33. Comcast, is more like Scamcast! Evil GOP supporters and rabidly

predatory. They bribe local officials to give exclusive rights and just take over.

They gouge! They predatory price! They are bad bad bad people.


William Daley used to run SBC. SBC fairly bargains with its unions and avoided strikes. Comcast is non union and horrible.

[texanwitch]

10. I have cable internet and it is great, so much better then dial up.

I have never had DSL but have had friends complain plenty about it.

My cable company had a good deal if you already were a cable customer, I wouldn't go back. I don't think I could be without the speed of broadband cable anymore.:hi:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

12. My DSL is great. I have had both.

Cable Modem was $50/month from Comcast, DSL $30. I really can't tell the speed difference.

[Uroboros]

14. Have you have anyone come down to check out your connection?

If so..what have they tell you?

I recently had a problem with my cable connection where I was down for a few days. Turned out my signal was weak.

Of course if you're always having this problem though the "fix" it; then you probably have to search elsewhere unfortunately.

In my case Road Runner has really upgraded their speeds in the past year. 4790 kbps download in a test I just ran. It would suck to have to settle for some thing slower

[napi21]

17. Yes, they came out a couple of weeks ago to check.

Speed was fine, and they simply can't find a problem unless it occurrs while the tech is here. Fat chance of THAT happening!

[Imalittleteapot]

15. I have used them all,

including T1 at the office. Cable out performs T1 and DSL.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

16. much much faster and better

[napi21]

18. So an outage every day or every other day is just the way it is?

Maybe I'm too pickey! I want my internet service to be as reliable as my phone service is! The only time I've had a problem with my phne service in the last 25 years was when a tree fell at a neighbor's house and took the lines down!

[tjdee]

22. I have not had an outage for about three months.

And that outage was because of a virus/trojan. Before that it was a while, and it was out for a number of people for a few hours.

Do you live in a rural area? I'm kind of surprised you get an outage every day--no es normal, LOL.

[napi21]

26. No, sure not rural. It is suburban though.

I live about 40 miles north of Atlanta, and 5 miles south of Gainesville in a town named Flowery Branch Ga., but there are thousands of people who live here! Although not mine, there are many $300,000 homes in this area as well.

I know Bell South offers DSL too, but I'm not sure just where the closest source is. I'm told that the speed of DSL depends on how far away from the link you are.

[charlie]

19. It's weird

seeing all the troubles everyone's had with DSL. I just left Japan and a DSL service I had for years that was rock solid and smoking fast. I signed on at 12mbps and never bothered to upgrade as the faster packages were rolled out -- they're offering up to 47mbps right now. About a year ago, 100mbps fiber optic connections were deployed in my area.

Now I'm on Cox cable with a pokey 5mbps hookup. Actually, the speed is adequate, but losing my IP address twice or so a day and having to reboot to regain it is reeeally annoying.

[shugh514]

20. I had cable and went to DSL

because it was cheaper and the cable company - Adelphia is the worst company I have ever dealt with.
Is your DSL through Verizon? They have trouble with their DNS servers sometimes which causes slowdowns. I switched to some public DNS servers and haven't had a problem since. If you want help with that, feel free to PM me.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. Depends entirely on the providers and...

your location. If you're pissed at the cable company, try DSL and see if it works better.

DSL kind of fades away and slows down the further you are from the switching station. Other than that, I've had no problem with mine. At least you get you own connection and bandwidth that doesn't get messed with. And, it's usually cheaper. If you upload a lot, note that you get the high download speed at the expense of slow upload speed.

Cable is theoretically faster, but again you are at the mercy of the equipment of the provider, and there is a maximum bandwidth that you all share. If every one of your neighbors is on, you might notice the speed, or even the connection, drop.

[napi21]

23. Well, as usual, the cable co has me in a bit of a fix.

I have the whole package...cable TV service, 2 converter boxes, and internet. I've checked several times, and I'm always told that I have a great deal on the whole package, but if I change any of it, I will loose the "grandfathered price status" and just be a new customer if I decide to come back. I only believe them because my son moved into a new home abour 1 1/2 years ago, applied to Charter Cable, and the pricing they were charging him WAS much higher!

If I knew I'd be happy with DSL, I wouldn't care, but I hate to take the chance, and find out Bell South isn't a great provider of DSL and then have to pay increased cable charges because now I'm a new subscriber!

[TreasonousBastard]

25. Yeah, they gotcha, but...

can you get a free month or two, or even pay for a month or two while keeping the cable hookup? Does BellSouth insist on a cotract, or ca nyou go month to month?

That way you could see if DSL works, but not lose the cable deal. Might cost a few bucks, but at least you know which way to go.

[napi21]

27. I don't know if they require a contract or not. I'll ask.

Do you know if I can do both at the same time? I have an external modem right now that was supplied by the cable co. What do you need to connect to DSL? Can you have them both connected at the same time?

I'm not too bad at this techie stuff, but I don't know anything about this part!

[TreasonousBastard]

29. You get a different modem for DSL...

and if the cable company gave you a router, it may work, but I don't have one, so I guess you wouldn't need it. But, it should work the same way it does for cable.

Theoretically, you could have both modems on and attached through a switch or router and just sign on to one or the other, but I'd physically connect only one at a time just to make sure nothing wierd is going on.

[warrens]

24. I've had both and I hated cable modem

It seemed to be faster, but like you, it would drop out for no reason at all, and fellow subscribers could "camp" on my connection and keep me from logging in. I would call and complain and they would say, well, there's nothing we can do. It turned out it's illegal, but they were too worried about losing customers so they let them get away with it.

I have had DSL for over three years now and have never had a problem except that it slows down from time to time.

[yvr girl]

28. I have DSL and I have never had a problem

It's been over 2 years and I've never had a service outage or issue. It isn't noticeably slower than work.

[tibbir]

30. I tried DSL once a few years back and it was a disaster.

Even though they offered a better deal than cable I told them to send me a box so I could return their equipment to them. Even with TONS of technical support they couldn't get it to work on my computer. :argh:

Someone I know had DSL for a while and her computer ran way slower than mine does on cable.

[Justpat]

31. My cable is way faster

and we have never had a problem with it going out of anything - yet.