Thinking of switching from cable to dsl. Suggestions?

[Jenny]

Ok, so here's the deal.

We have Road Runner cable right now. I complain all the time about how sucky my connection is. The speed is great, but only about half the time. The other half, it slows down to where pages take forever to load. Plus, I get disconnected about 3-4 times a day.

We pay $30/month plus an extra $15/month for the modem.


Now, for dsl.

The only provider here is Southwestern Bell, who I have my local telephone service through, too, and I like their customer service. They have a special going on right now. $49.99/month for DSL AND the modem is yours to keep. They wave the $50 activation charge and installation is free if you install it yourself, but they offer tech support to help you do that. (lol)

They say speedwise, you get 384kbps-1.5mbps/128kbps. She said one of their techs lives a little further from the office than we do, and he consistently gets 1.0mbps or so.


I am seriously considering doing this. I hate the 12 month contract, but they also said that if for some reason the line is bad or distance is too far or whatever and they can't make it at least as fast as their minimum that they will cancel the contract with no penalty and refund the money and we can give the modem back. So there is a clause like that, which reassured me.

Help please! :)

[topane]

I love my DSL when it works. You're dealing with a monopoly either way, though, and customer service isn't their strong point.

[attgig]

the downside of cable is exactly what you're describing.... - sometimes it's fast, other times it's not.
DSL should be a heckava lot more consistent.

I say go for DSL.
worth the extra 5 bucks.
or...

go satellite :)
direct duo - and get satellite tv while you're at it :)

[mojo]

even when my cable fluctuates (which i never noticed), it's still faster than dsl.

[chrissy]

Originally posted by attgig


go satellite :)
direct duo - and get satellite tv while you're at it :)

Are you able to do that? Did that all get ironed out?

[NuTs62]

I've had DSL at my home in San Francisco, and now in my apartment in San Jose. I never went with cable because when more people are on it, its slow! Although if you're lucky, you get speeds up to T1. That special you're referring to is like regular price where I'm at. Check if www.directtvdsl.com has it. Yep, its by DirectTv, which bought over Telocity. I'm getting a 384-1.5 connection, with a static IP for $49.99, and for setup, I just paid for the sending of the DSL Gateway/modem. They have a special, 39.99 for the first 6 months I believe. I'll try and find the link, but just try to see if its available first. If you go for DSL, and you're concerned with speed, DEFINTELY go with static. I have yet to see any of my friends with dynamic IP download over 45kb/sec. I can download upto 160kb/sec on a consistent basis (and one time, miraculously I downloaded close to 300kb/sec). DSL does have its down times also, as does any other service you'll get. I'm not sure how it compares to with cable, but welp, theres my 2 cents. Good Luck =)

[Merlin]

I've had DSL through Earthlink - slow
I've had DSL through Northpoint/MSN - Great but they are out of business.
I've had DSL through SBC - slow and they made me use their damn PPPOE software which did'nt work very well.

I have cable through AT&T broadband with the @mediaone.net address and it is pretty good. Even during slow times it gives me pretty good speed.


Keep the cable service and buy yourself a modem. You can probably find one on Ebay for less than $100 (I got mine for $70). At $15 per month in modem rental it will pay for itself in no time.

[aglio412]

i might be lucky, but i'm thinkin there's only a few people in my apt complex with cable modems...cuz mine is damn fast. faster than a friend's directTV DSL. if i was at home, i'd go to dslreports.com and post a bandwidth test. mebbe i'll do that later.

but i think i'd rather have dsl since i'm assured a static ip (at least with directTV i am), my comcast ip hasn't changed, but there's always that chance.

[attgig]

Originally posted by chrissy
Are you able to do that? Did that all get ironed out?

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/InternetAccess.jsp
direct way have been advertising heavily lately, and frankly looks pretty good.
http://www.hns.com/direcway/intro.htm

[DoPeY5007]

Originally posted by Merlin
I've had DSL through SBC - slow and they made me use their damn PPPOE software which did'nt work very well. :P I don't use their soft...


I say try the DSL, it will be YOUR bandwith not to be shared with the world!!!...

[chrissy]

Originally posted by attgig


http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/InternetAccess.jsp
direct way have been advertising heavily lately, and frankly looks pretty good.
http://www.hns.com/direcway/intro.htm

The condo association will let you? That's cool :)

[jujubees]

Don't do it! I miss my cable modem so much! :bawl: It never disconnected me, and the speed, ohhhh, the speed. :love2: When I moved, I had to settle for DSL because cable wasn't offered in this city. It's grown on me, but I've definitely had more trouble with it than I ever did with cable. I get dropped about once every 2-3 weeks, but it gets fixed relatively quickly.

Since the DSL also depends on the quality of your phone lines, make sure you don't have rickety phone lines. My sister can't get a DSL connection because the wiring @ my folks' place is faulty (and yes, I mean that on MANY levels :P).

[ChrisMG187]

Cable is much faster and more reliable. DSL will often be slow depending on weather and if you're not next door to the switching station, you're not gonna get the advertised speeds. Go with fiber :D

[Jenny]

Originally posted by jujubees
Don't do it! I miss my cable modem so much! :bawl: It never disconnected me, and the speed, ohhhh, the speed. :love2: When I moved, I had to settle for DSL because cable wasn't offered in this city. It's grown on me, but I've definitely had more trouble with it than I ever did with cable. I get dropped about once every 2-3 weeks, but it gets fixed relatively quickly.

Since the DSL also depends on the quality of your phone lines, make sure you don't have rickety phone lines. My sister can't get a DSL connection because the wiring @ my folks' place is faulty (and yes, I mean that on MANY levels :P).


But see, that's the thing. I get dropped 2-3 times a DAY usually! And even though it isn't usually out for long, it's annoying as hell. Now, today, it has been dial-up slow (SERIOUSLY! Taking 30 seconds or more to load pages, IF they load at all) for about 4 1/2 hours now. *sigh*

And yeah, we'll be able to tell if the lines are too bad, since the speed won't be good. If that happens, they will cancel the contract with no penalty. :)

[dbax791]

Well I don't have a choice - No real DSL available here.

BUT!

The Cable guy is coming tomorrow to install my new cable modem! Whoo hoo! :D

[jase71]

I've had DSL through Verizon here in town...

And I now have cable through Charter.

When cable is fast, it's noticeably faster than DSL.
But when it's slow, it's very much slower.

Plus, my cable modem goes down for a short period
every day or two. It often "hangs" for 30 seconds
or so when I'm on it.

If I could get DSL at my current location, I'd switch
back in a heartbeat. It didn't have the peak speeds
of cable, but it was stable, and didn't have the slowdowns
that cable does. DSL was consistent for me. Cable is not.

[NuTs62]

Originally posted by ChrisMG187
Cable is much faster and more reliable. DSL will often be slow depending on weather and if you're not next door to the switching station, you're not gonna get the advertised speeds. Go with fiber :D

I've never had weather effect my DSL speeds. Do you have static as well? Because all I know is the speed SBC offers for dynamic sucks. A perk about DirectTV DSL is that its the cheapest static IP package still around. I got in on the Pacbell DSL static IP a few years ago.. I must say, nice speeds. When I first got it, there was some down times, and the modem was kooky. They replaced it, and since then, my DSL only goes down like once every few months now. DirectTV DSL, I've had for 6 months now, and theres only been one down time for me caused by their service. The others just required me to reset my modem or my computer, and then I was off downloading once again.

Jenny, if you're going to pick DSL, seperate everyones opinions between dynamic and static. I'm sure you'll see that static IP people generally get faster speeds, and are happier with their service.

And as for going with Fiber, don't I wish! They were laying down the fiber lines in San Francisco last year I think. But to this day, I still don't know how long before someone starts offering the service. But I hear people up in Davis or Sacramento have fiber now. Its tempting me to move there!