just went from Cable to DSL

[IEatFriedPikmin]

My Dad is strongly against DSL... but after the crappy service from our cable providers, and our internet not working for well over a month, he decided to make the switch....

it feels good... i felt like my connection was worse than dial-up for a long time.

so which do you guys think is better... dsl or cable? i don't really notice a speed difference.

[Krad]

Cable all the way. DSL is too slow for my needs.

[Garfunkel]

Cable, i like it more, faster for where i live and somewhat cheaper too. Obviously it's less predictable then DSL as the speed of the connection relies on many variables but it's fairly good where i am.

[Carlos]

DSL just feels worse than Cable.

In our time switching from DSL, to Cable, back to DSL, then back to Cable for good....well, I gotta say that after trying DSL after Cable, it stuttered. It was inexcusable.

That's because AT&T, back in the day, wasn't doing good with DSL, since they expanded in that area with their merge with other companies, I hope things changed for AT&T DSL customers, but...I still perfer Cable over it anyday.

Example, I have a SBC (now AT&T) building nearby, and their DSL service was inexcusable when we last used it.

Whereas my Comcastic cable provider is about a few cities away from me, providing ME with High speed internet with cable. See the difference?

EDIT: I agree with Garfunkel when it comes to predictability of DSL. Sometimes, it will work fast, but sometimes it stutters like a sneaky mouse, at other times, its inexcusable. Especially when pitted against Cable.

Cable wins in all accounts.

[Krad]

Cable in my area is decently priced but for the speed, you can't beat it. I surpass T3 speeds most of the time.

[Garfunkel]

Carlos i think you got it backwards there mate. the main difference between cable and DSL is that cable uses coaxial cable like TV networks while DSL uses twisted copper wires. (regular home phone cable, but on a different line). This makes DSL more predictable as the speed is totally determined by your connection and your provider, while cable can by MUCH faster then DSL due to far greater bandwidth but can become slow randomly because it has many variables when using TV channels.

[Carlos]

No, I know what Cable is. I haven't felt speed drops with cable, in fact, it provided me with better speed than DSL.

I edited my post to further prove my point on what I meant about your "predictability" theory, by giving examples of how its dependant on your provider with a DSL connection.

[Garfunkel]

ah ok, sorry, just got a bit confused is all, my bad

[IEatFriedPikmin]

i really dont notice a speed difference at all, although i know there is a difference.

and yes, i hear it is suppose to be more reliable. You don't have to worry about peak hours being slow since you have a direct connection.

[Khaos]

You probably won't notice a speed difference just browsing the web. But for downloading or gaming, you may ;-).

Personally, I enjoy cable more. Network Service/Support class has taught me that cable enjoys higher theoretical speeds as telephone systems were not originally made to carry high data loads. TV was of course, with video and audio data. It has also taught me that Cable is just more reliable and stable.

Even with peak times slowing you down, you will probably get a faster connection than ADSL atleast.

Of course, it sounds like you don't have much of a choice, unless the problem was infact fixable.

[VG Aficionado]

As soon as I can get cable, I will (stupid old neighbors). I don't know anywhere else, but latencies are lower with cable, like 4 or 5 times lower compared to DSL here. That's great for lag-free multiplayer, although I'm not a huge fan of online multiplayer games at all. I might play more if I get a pretty much flawless connection though.

Then there's the bandwidth aspect. Cable wins hands down. I can get 4 times more bandwidth for the same price, and closer to the theoretical maximum. DSL sucks, really.

That said, despite of high pings and relatively low bandwidth with my current DSL (same situation with most people in my country), my online experience with my PC, PS2 and PS3 has been pretty much lag free. Worst on PC, fine on PS2 and best on PS3.

[frosty]

I get 16mbps through my cable connection. DSL currently tops out at 3mbps here.

[VG Aficionado]

I have 1mbps I could get up to 3 Mbps according to my service provider, but last time I checked they couldn't provide it yet. With cable I could at least have 4 Mbps + phone + TV and more for about the same price.

There's also ADSL2+ available, which theoretically provides up to 24 Mbps, but it's far from constant and reliable despite of what the marketing advertises. It would also require upgrading a few things, and given that it is more than likely that I'd just get about 10 times less than the theoretical maximum, I'll pass.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

wow... i thought there would be more dsl supporters... maybe its just my location, because all my friends claim dsl is better here.

[AndyLG]

I used to use DSL on AOL, and it was awful. Now we're using cable on Virgin Media hooked up to my wireless router and it's fantastic. We get a nice reliable signal for both my Laptop and PS3.

[frosty]

It very well could be, some areas just have shitty cable providers that are waaaaaay behind the times.

[Fillibuster]

Cable in my area is getting more reliable as time goes on. At first I was probably DL on avg at 256kbps (which still seemed like lightning switching from dial-up) but in recent months when I would come home for a visit from school, and now that I'm home I'm downloading at an avg of probably 1MBps with a speedtest.net of 7mbps...

I have a friend that has DSL I might ask what kind of speeds they're able to get

[dork]

i have cable but both the cable and dsl in my area are very fast and reliable. i can't tell a difference.

[Fiend]

Don't worry about it sir, you can still game on Live with no problem. I have DSL, and I think it's great. So you'll have to wait 30 seconds to download a song instead of 15, big deal. At least you can be more trusting of your internet now and that's what it's all about. I think maybe once that I can remember, my DSL has been out, and my company told me about it. My friend has cable and it's unpredictable sometimes. If you don't notice the speed difference while casually browsing you will when downloading, buuuut, it's not like a huge downgrade so whateva.

[frosty]

Well you can't just make a blanket statement and say that one is more reliable than the other when it all comes down to the individual ISP.