Cable vs. DSL - CEG Archives

I am currently running SBC DSL and I have had the same continious problem for 8 months and SBC can not seem to figure out why.

Basically my computer stops connecting to the web, it will then reconnect after a minute or so and all is well for a while until it disconnects again. It is not DISCONNECTED mind you, just refuses to connect to web pages.

Whats weird is that I have no issues with using a P2P file swapper, they never disconnect. This has happened on 2 different computers I own, thye say software problem I say BS?

So ATT says I am good to go with having a Cable modem in the Apt. now (just upgraded), besides being cheaper and me never seeing above 200kbs on DSL (I hear DSL is faster)what other noticeable differences are there. I have hit over 1mbs but that was downloading from newsgroups, using newsbinpro.

Opinions

I have had AT&T Broadband Internet since this past January and IT ROCKS! I have never been disconnected, not once. It is cheaper and FASTER (yes it is DSL folks)and I love it. Go with the cable and to heck with SBC! All of my DSL friends envy my connection speed and stability. :-D

I too have AT&T Broadband and yes, it is faster than current DSL in most California areas. The thing with cable is that you're on a shared line (you and your neighbors "share"). Which means with more and more users on the same cable line your Broadband performance will slow down and have "hiccup" performance (in the same day you will have different lo/hi bandwidths). Shared also translates to easy access to your computer (If I wanted to I am able to go into most peoples Broadband connection easily and see what's going on).

DSL is a little bit more private but slower that current Cable offerings. Cable will be the way to go for a couple years since they burst(??) the signal every so often (more bandwidth). Best thing to protect yourself is to get Nortons Internet Security, this will setup a firewall and prevent people from getting into your computer. A pop-up will appear if someone is trying to gain access to your computer asking if it's okay or not. Without it you really don't know.

Ditto... For the time being (unless you want to pay for a fixed IP and higher bandwith), Cable modems are the way to go...

Personally, I have DSL, and have only had a few problems... However, I was early in the DSL acquiring stages, and received a fixed IP address for no charge....

I hope that this helps....

Cheers,
Tom

Basically, DSL has a higher theoretical throughput, but cable has a higher AVERAGE throughput.

An analogy:

back in the early days of steam locomotives, they conentrated on making engins that had higher top speed. They built trains faster and faster. There was even a steam engine that could go 130 MPH. BUT it took a long downhill run to get that fast, but once at speed, it could hold it straight and level.

As time went by they realized that a better AVERAGE speed actually got the cargo there faster than a high TOP speed.

At that point they concentrated on making trains with better AVERAGE speed.

I hope that wasnt to OT for everyone to follow.

Originally posted by Fmr12B:
I am currently running SBC DSL and I have had the same continious problem for 8 months and SBC can not seem to figure out why.

Opinions

I had SBC for almost 6 months and it was crap. They blamed everything on my computer and OS. They dont know what the F they are doing. change to AT&T, I have heard a lot of good things about them!

Maybe I'm just lucky, but until last night I've never had a problem with my DSL at all.
I too am one of the lucky original owners with a fixed ip. It's rather nice. And I haven't had a connection problem in as long as I can remember. That was until last night when it took a crap for a few hours. But that was 1 in the morning, so I went to bed like I should have.
But I'd personally go with whatever is cheaper. You're not gonna see much of a difference either way.

-jason

just got ATTBI - it's fast when it wants to be

almost every night ~11pm though they reboot my cable modem!

my PacBell DSL rocked!! it was down once in 2 years, and i got 1.5Mb/s down, 128up flat out smoked! but i moved and can only get cable now...

i do get 2Mb/s at times though

not like yesteryear when my buddies got 6Mb/s before they capped dl speeds