Cable vs. Satellite, DSL vs Cable Modem......

[bonosloveslave]

Howdy ya'll.......

Seriously considering getting either cable or a satellite (ie DirecTV or Dish Network). Also reallyreallyreally tired of my slow dial-up for internet.

I'm trying to keep costs down, just wondering what some of you use and/or things above that you were sorry you choose, have had problems with, really are glad you got, etc.

Also, I'm not really sure what all the options are for a faster internet connection than dial-up, can any techies advise?

Thanks

 

[Sicy]

I had cable for high speed internet for a long time but it gave me nothing but problems. I have since switched to pac bell dsl and I absolutely love it. I have never had a problem with it. It costs like $50 a month which is steep but I could never live with dial up.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i would personally recommend cable over dsl in terms of internet connections.

as for cable versus satellite, i've never had satellite, so i don't think i'd be a fair judge on that.

howevah, if you did go with cable internet, and you can get road runner in your area, you get a slight discount if you have time warner cable as well. it's only like $5-10 a month, but that adds up.

btw, if you have multiple computers, don't even listen to their spiel about networking. you can do that yourself (or have someone do it for you, but it's easy and legal, it's not like splitting cable or something) and get all the features and save yourself an extra $10 a month.

 

[Bonochick]

We've had our cable modem for awhile, and it works wonderifficly! We still have a dial-up on the other system, and it is soooo slow... We are going to look into networking, methinks!

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

networking isn't that expensive at all. all the costs are upfront. a short trip to best buy or any electronics store will have everything you need. you just need a cable router and some cables, one for each computer and one for the router (which should be included). i had our computers up and running in like thirty minutes.

 

[cell]

Cable modem is awesome, but expensive. I can't imagine going back to dialup after experiencing cable. DSL was ok when I first had it, but for me, it wasn't as great as cable. I can't stress it enough how much I love cable. It is worth it

 

[pub crawler]

Cable vs. DSL: You're going to get conflicting answers, depending on who you talk to, and most of the debate centers around "shared bandwith."

DSL providers argue that cable has a bigger potential downside because, and I took this quote directly from a DSL provider's website, "While cable modems may have greater theoretical downstream (from the Internet to the home) bandwidth capabilities, that bandwidth is shared among all users in a neighborhood, and will therefore vary, perhaps dramatically, as more users in a neighborhood get online at the same time."

So they're saying your connection is going to slow down as more people get online.

It gets confusing though because cable proponents will tell you that a DSL connection can theoretically be subject to the same "shared bandwith" problem/slowdown.

My feeling is that the ideal way to guage which would be better for you would be to talk to people in your area who have cable or DSL and ask them how pleased they are with their connection. However, that's kind of a hassle and might not be practical for you.

As for cost, it depends on where you live as to whether cable or DSL is more expensive.

Anyhoo, I had the same DSL service that Sicy mentioned and I really liked mine as well. I dropped it when I moved but I may pick it up again.

 

[Sicy]

Based on my personal experience I will never recommend cable. However, it could just be my personal experience.

Other people in my apartment building had trouble as well. The cable would go out so often that it was getting to the point where I had to have dial up as a back up. The company came out numerous times to check things out but never had a straight answer for me. Eventually they came to the conclusion that maybe the cable wiring in the building ( under the building/places they couldnt get to ) was old and causing problems in the lines. It was also extremely slow at times, driving me friggin mad.

DSL has been a dream come true for me. If you have a house, I'm sure you'll have no problem with cable.. but if you live in an apartment building I wouldnt recommend it because the cable company has no control over the original cable lines that are installed.

 

[ghetofabu]

talk to people in your area who have cable or DSL and ask them how pleased they are with their connection.

I think if you can do this it would be a good idea.


As for me I have have Cable modem and I have never had any problems. I have had it in an apt and home.

Soooo I guess my thoughts would be cable and cable.

 

[nbcrusader]

I'll echo Sicy's recommendation. I started with cable, but found there were too many problems over time. Most cable providers do not include provision of internet access as a core competency.

I use SBC DSL (Pacbell here on the west coast). It has been an absolute dream.

 

[u2er]

directv is
dish is ok too, but I would recommend directv

 

[nbcrusader]

directv is
dish is ok too, but I would recommend directv

I believe DirecTV is out of the ISP business now.

 

[meegannie]

I have a cable modem and haven't had any problems with it (other than that one of the cables was lose when they installed it, so I had to discover that and fix it myself or pay $200 for them to come out and look at it ). I don't know much about DSL, though.

 

[ouizy]

I like my rusty old 56.6K thank you very much...

 

[Mrs. Vedder]

I DSL!!!

 

[Scarletwine]

I believe DirecTV is out of the ISP business now.

No actually I just called for some pricing (not cheap), but I live in the boonies with no cable or DSL.

 

[elevatedmole]

I personally have Dish Network, and I love their setup and the way it works and never have had ANY problems whatsoever since I got it in 1999.

However, DirecTV has more channels, but I don't like the way it works as much. The remote is annoying, and the menus are irritating. But that's just my opinion, after all.

On the subject of cable vs. DSL: go to http://www.dslreports.com. Very good site, and has a MASSIVE FAQ on DSL, and a good FAQ on cable, as well as similar subjects. It's really helpful.

 

[anitram]

I started out with Cable (Rogers in Toronto, Canada) and stayed with it for about 18 months. It was pure shit, they oversubscribed, their servers couldn't handle all of us, and it came to the point where I could only go online certain times during the day because as they told me, my neighbourhood had too high of a bandwidth demand, which lead to local slow down rates which were worse than dial up. Add to that Rogers' nearly nonexistent "customer service" and I ran for my life.

Got DSL, saved my life. Wouldn't go back in a million years.

 

[bonosloveslave]

Thanks for all of the advice

We got an offer for a combo, SBC/Yahoo DSL for $30/month, dishNetwork w/ free satellite and installation for $26.99/month for the Top 100 channels, but we'll probably pay for an extra receiver ($4.99/mo) and local channels since we have crappy antennae reception ($5.99/mo). Not horrible I guess

Anybody have SBC Yahoo DSL? Any comments on it? (is that what you have nbc?)

 

[nbcrusader]

Anybody have SBC Yahoo DSL? Any comments on it? (is that what you have nbc?)

Yes. I've had SBC for over a year now. No down time (which was a major hassle with cable). Always a fast connection.

The only drawback with DSL is that you are limited (to about 7, I think) on the number of telephone devices in your home on one phone line. Once they activate the DSL, you must install filters on all non-DSL phones, answering machines, faxes, DirecTV boxes, etc. (anything that has a phone plug). We have three phones and two DirecTV boxes pluged into our phone line - so we are under the limit.

 

[zonelistener]

I used to work in the High Spped Internet Industry....Were is Kobe???

DSL is just as much shared as DSL. The line still has to go down the same city street, past every house. the further you get from the central "switching station" the slower the service.

The cable piece about many neighbors on one network was true early, but many companies have put monitors into cable systems and can increase bandwidth to specific neighborhoods were usage is high.

Sicy -

I would put oney on the bad lines in the apartment. Many apartment buildings were wired with crappy and cheap cable by landlords when Cable TV first came out. No one had the vision of High Speed Internet at the time. And many landlords do not want to put out the cash to upgrade the wiring.

Now, for stupid ATT Broadband not to figure that out....that is a different story.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

kobe is down the street. it's a lovely japanese restaurant here.

DSL is just as much shared as DSL.

 

[bonosloveslave]

\Once they activate the DSL, you must install filters on all non-DSL phones, answering machines, faxes, DirecTV boxes, etc. (anything that has a phone plug). We have three phones and two DirecTV boxes pluged into our phone line - so we are under the limit.

Hmm, nobody bothered to tell me about filters......

Are they something you'd pick up like at Radio Shack or Best Buy?

 

[meegannie]

YEAH. Where IS Kobe???

 

[nbcrusader]

Hmm, nobody bothered to tell me about filters......

Are they something you'd pick up like at Radio Shack or Best Buy?

They come with the DSL package. If you share DSL and telephone on the same line, the filters are needed. SBC sent me a package of filters (one for a wall mounted phone, the others for regular phone lines).

 

[Tech]

Well I have Charter communcations cable and there dsl. It's been okay BUT as usual they are going to increase $ and of course the services are going to go down the tube!!! Oh well!