Cable or DSL?

[snidy]

I've heard that cable is faster, but DSL is more reliable, anyone have an oppinion?

 

[Sugadaddy]

It really depends on where you live and who your ISP is. What you said is what generally is the case, but it could be the opposite in your region. I have cable because where I live it costs 10$ less than DSL for about 4 times the bandwidth.

My friend has DSL and I can't say it's any more reliable than my cable. (mine's been down maybe twice in 1 year...)

The best way to compare both is to ask around, or maybe there are people on this board who live close to you that could help you.

 

[Renob]

Were did you hear DSL was more reliable??? Not in my area its not. I would go with cable if I were you... HEHEHE I get cable for free and cable TV My sister works for ATnT

 

[Poncherelli]

You're correct. I opted for dsl because it became available in my area first but my friend recently signed on for cable in the same neighborhood. His speed is about 4x that of mine during non-peak hours and his ping is approx 20ms lower than mine in CS. However, he gets horrible lag during the busy hours of the night and gets frequent packet loss during all hours. This causes much lag for him and freezups while on the internet (each freeze up lasts anywhere from 5-30 seconds and he can get anywhere from 0-20 in a day, they usually come in waves). Meanwhile my dsl is signifcantly slower than his for download/upload, but i get nearly always the same speeds at anytime. Also, my dsl provider gave me a free modem while my friends cable provider leases him a modem for an extra 5 bucks a month. Both services are great though and so much faster than dialup.

 

[SerraYX]

I live on the east coast of the US, and here cable is far superior to DSL. DSL is only available in some places, is slower, more expensive, and less reliable than Comcast's @Home. By the way, I took advantage of Radio Shack/Comcast's $100 MIR on the modem, giving me a total of $75 for it, $10 the first three months, then $32.95 after that. Consider the average dialup is $14.95 + however much second line charge (mine's free though, father's a telecommuniation engy), cable's a steal. DSL's a free modem, but it can be $40-$45 a month..little too much for me

I get the occasional 2 second packet loss problem every so often in a game, but it isn't a major problem at all. I'm content knowing my ping is 40 on average and my peak download speed is 500kbytes a sec (so far). The major bottleneck with my cable is the quality of the server, which can provide a constant 400kbytes/sec or be a POS.

But compared to dialup, either service is heaven.

 

[novice]

I would say go with DSL over cable unless it is Verizon DSL. If that is the case, go cable, if available. If cable not available, make sure you have a decent 56K modem for backup, because you will be dialing up to go online frequently.
An unhappy Verizon subscriber, Chuck

 

[bluegi]

If your cable is serviced by cablevision than definitly go for cable. Its also much cheaper than DSL.

 

[bozo1]

All depends on your local provider. Some cable companies have already sorely oversold capacity in some neighborhoods and things slow to a crawl during peak times. DSL with a decent provider and your speed shouldn't vary.

 

[GrumpyMan]

It really is region specific as far as choice goes. I use TXU DSL and get a consistent 1273 down/ 256 up kbps. I'm more than happy with the service. I'm sure cable is faster but I like stable bandwidth all the time. Slow downs don't occur for me. After dialup for years this is a breath of fresh air, that's for sure.

 

[GT1999]

If you're close to the telephone CO try DSL first if it's available. If you can get it, get DSL, in my opinion. If you can't, look into cable.

 

[karmasalad]

You should really check out DSLReports. They have lots of info on both DSL and Cable connections, along with tons of user reviews on broadband ISPs.

I personally have a cable connection (RR) because where I live (NYC), the only other option would Verizon DSL, which as others have mentioned, is pure EVIL.

I've had my connection for almost two months now, and I love it. The only time my connection crapped out on me was when TimeWarner (RR's provider here) had a fire in one of their offices.

 

[chuckieland]

me cable all the way
dsl have crap upload speed

 

[bozo1]

<< dsl have crap upload speed >>



Upload speed is not a DSL issue - it's your ISP. Most cap uploads as do most cable companies. You can get DSL with upload=download if you want to pay for it.

 

[GT1999]

I don't know where you guys think DSL has a low upload speed. I have 512K, and my friend has 1.5Mb upload. It's also a steady stream of 1.5Mb. What's your upload for cable?

 

[crypticlogin]

Can't the bandwidth of DSL be variable, depending on how much you are willing to pay? If so, then you should weigh your cable and DSL options for what you need and what you're willing to cough up. For some, cable is the way to go due to the 3 people who might be interested in it. For others, it's DSL since they can't even get cable TV. This is definitely a decision based on your regional market, not on someone's &quot;cable is always faster&quot; argument.

 

[lazyboy]

I have cable and my upload is capped. But I like it otherwise.

 

[Zipp]

Go with DSL unless you are the sharing type and want to give some of your bandwidth to your neighbors.

 

[*kjm]

snidy
You have to ask the same question but tell them you are in the Washington area. I have had both for over a year each but I live in Wisconsin so it would do you no good to tell you what I think. I will say this though, my DSL was from a local provider and I got 608/128 and a dial up accout so if it ever went down I had a way onto the net. With the Cable I dont get a dialup acct. and if it goes down (and it has 3 times in the last 6 months) I have nothing. If you are a net freak or own a business the choice is clear in my area. Like I said it depends on your area. Look into the contract on the DSL... if you lose your job you have to pay if you are on a contract and thats not the time to have bills, and see if they offer anything like a dialup acct. for free. I would have DSL in my area but the job market in Wisconsin sucks at the time and I just dont need the contract part of the deal.

 

[damac]

i know its the quality of the network but based on experience i would go with dsl. I have never seen pings range so damn far from a big place like att@home and them telling me they only monitor pings to their node, not the internet. Yeah I get great surfing speeds in bursts, but for games im constantly timing out ever since I got service last september. and my cap is at 128k up which kind of sucks. I can pretty much get really fast speeds on the net here yet most of the time even past midnight gaming sucks with pings going from 50ms to 2000

@home sales are such liars I can't believe it and would switch to dsl in a second if I could.

 

[Odoacer]

well it also depends on how far away you live from the DSL station. Their radius is around 3 miles, but you should preferably live within a mile of it otherwise your speed drops alot. I personally have cable and am satisfied with it. I havent experienced any down-time that wasnt my fault. Generally I'd say cable > DSL, but its really more of a matter of personal preference.