Cable vs DSL

[MikePA]

I'm always leery of a deal that seems too good to be true.....Let me explain.

We've had dialup, then DSL service, from the same provider for over 10 years. The DSL service provides 1.5M download/384K upload for $39.99/month. (This also means I've had the same email address for just as long.) We've never had a problem with the DSL service.

Our cable company offers 7M download/800K upload for $41.95/month. A cable connection to the Internet would also allow me to cancel a second phone line I use just for the DSL connection.

All in all, switching to a cable Internet connection would save me about $22.00/month as well as providing more than 4x the speed.

Are there issues with a cable Internet connection versus DSL?

Has anyone ever changed email addresses like this? How big a hassle is it?

 

[ronjhall]

I have Cable. Got rid of the dial-up. Did not get a chance to use DSL, not available. But with cable I was able to get rid of all land-lines. Hooked up to VOIP. Will never go back. I went with AT&T CallVantage with unlimited long distance for $29.00 a month. There are better services. AT&T was only company that allowed me to keep phone number that I had for 30 years. Went from 3 phone lines to none. It was a great savings. We get up to 8 mb from Comcast.

 

[GaryM]

I've had DSL in a previous location and had no problems with it. Now on Starband satillite and would go back to DSL if it was available.

You say you have a second line for the DSL. Why is that the case? Everyone I know with DSL has it on their main phone line. That's one of the advantages.

So far as speed goes, unless you upload/download large files on a regular basis you might not even notice the difference.

Cable internet used to have issues with line sharing. You have a dedicated phone line to your location, while cable runs to all the houses on your circuit. Used to be the case where as more folks logged on and started accessing the net everyones speed would drop. However that may not be the case any longer.

Depending on how many folks you correspond with changing addresses may not be an issue. Just send a note to all in your address book. Some providors will make it easy by automating the process.

 

[Bird]

Mike, down in the country we had dial-up Internet service, a separate Verizon phone line just for Internet and fax, and we had DirecTV satellite TV service. The best speed I ever got on dial-up was 28k and usually less. When we moved to town we got Verizon telephone and AT&T cable TV and Internet service, and the Internet really was so much faster that it was great. Then they sold the cable service to Comcast but no noticeable difference in service. And now we've moved out of Verizon and Comcast's territory. So we have Centurytel, which I'd never heard of. They're providing all of it; telephone, DSL Internet service, and Dishnetwork TV all on one bill. After 2 months, we're happy with them. I'm sure the DSL service isn't quite as fast as cable (for another $10 a month supposedly would be twice as fast), but it's fast enough for us amateurs. So, of course I had one e-mail address down in the country, a second one when we moved back to town, and now my third one. The only problem is getting everyone that you want to know notified of the new address.

 

[WhyNot]

Mike, you could always have your dsl switched over to your main phone number and then cancel the second number also the mb per second rating they are giving you is just the size of the pipe from what I have been told what really matter's to the average user is what they call latency which is how long it takes for the info to travel from point A to point B. DSL Reports has a free test tool to measure this with and I think it will even let you compare it to other users.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've had both cable and DSL, and for my needs, I couldn't tell the difference in speed or reliablity. If I already had one, I'd stick with it. In your case, I'd get rid of the second phone line since there's no reason for it and keep the DSL.

Eddie

 

[thatguy]

As someone mentioned you dont need the separate phone line for the dsl, but you will need to buy filters for every phone that is connected to the line..

I can see the advantages of going from DSL to cable, but would you really notice the speed increase? Going from dial-up to any broadband would be drastic and noticable... But do you do anything that you really need or notice that 'possible' increase?

just my thoughts..

Brian

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( you will need to buy filters for every phone that is connected to the line )</font>

When I signed up for DSL, my phone service, etc., the lady asked how many phone jacks in the house. I told her we had 5. She said 4 filters were included in the normal installation and I could pay for an additional one if I wished. However, she also said that you only need the filter if you want to connect both a telephone and computer to the same phone jack. I didn't, so I didn't ask what they cost. So I have 4 filters they sent and have no use for any of them.

 

[GaryM]

Good point Bird. When I had DSL the filters were supplied by SBC.

 

[jwstewar]

We just had DSL installed 2 weeks ago. I had run some Cat5e a few years ago for a network in the house that I no longer used. The installer extended this to the phone service box and connected this for the DSL. He put 1 DSL filter in the in the box on the outside of the house. They filtered the whole house at this point. That seems to make more sense then filtering at each jack. Of course, I know this isn't possible if you would be sharing a jack w/ a phone and the DSL. This allowed me not to have to change the phone, modem, and fax configuration that I have in the office.