Does anyone know whether or not it’s possible to have a cable modem (instead of DSL) without having cable TV? We have coaxial cables but we have satellite TV, not cable. And which do folks prefer? Cable modem or DSL?
Yes, I have a cable modem, and use sattelite instead of cable tv. Used to have cable, and dumped it because of their poor customer service. Oddly the customer service for their high-speed internet has always been acceptable. (Besides I couldn’t bring myself to give up broadband anyway, and DSL is not as fast as cable. At least around here.)
My folks have that arrangement. There are channels they can’t get on cable so they elected to get cable modem with no other services. The cable modem is unfortunately more expensive since there is no discount for having cable TV but it’sthe best alternative considering their dial up was so bad and DSL is unavailable in their area.
We have cable internet via Comcast. We’re pretty happy with it, although I think we pay more for having the internet without also having cable TV.
We have Dish Network satellite TV.
I tried DSL for awhile and it absolutely sucked. I think you have to live right next door to the telephone company in order for that to be worth it. Then, they also require you to have residential phone service, which we have no need for.
I think it just depends on what services are actually technically available in your area and what packages the different companuies are prepared to offer you; I have cable internet and I could have cable TV with it (for a price), but I don’t; I also don’t have satellite TV, but it’s available if I wanted it.
Same here. The modem runs about $41/month and the basic cable runs about $8. If I didn’t have the basic cable, the modem would cost $57/month. So, I have the basic cable. I spend $8 to save $16!
Thanks so much for the insights. Now…next question.
We have a LAN that we set up ourselves. I know we can do a LAN with the cable modem but the company wants us to pay for each additional computer on the LAN. Why do they want us to pay for other computers? There isn’t any more equipment required, is there?
For most areas, Cable inet seems to be better than DSL, though you should ask first, 'cause even if you live well within city limits, sometimes one service isn’t available, and your choice is made for you.
Make sure you check out all the options on service packages too. As Mr. Blue Sky posted, for some reason, the bundle Comcast offers for data + TV is less than that for internet alone. When I worked there, I always mentioned it to people if they just had the single package; you don’t have to watch it!
The basic cable is useful when extremely bad weather knocks out the dish (happens 3-4 times a year and rarely longer than 30-40 minutes). Also, DISH no longer carries CBS (greedy bastards), so I can record Letterman locally.
If you want to plug multiple computers into the same internet connection, you need a router - this device performs network address translation - essentially, the router communicates with the ISP as one machine, but it remembers which of the machines behind it made what request, so incoming data finds its way back to the machine that asked for it.
There may be a numbr of reasons why an ISP may demand extra payment for multiple machines on the same connection, but it’s primarily because they can. If your bandwidth is capped or throttled, then the number of machines attempting to use the connection makes no difference to the amount of usage that you’re getting; they just all have to take their turn.
However, your ISP knows that you will sometimes be sleeping, or otherwise not using the computer and even when you are using the computer, you won’t be maxing out the connection all the time, so they rely on you not actually using the thing to its full potential; if you have five machines on the connection, it’s more likely that the connection will be maxed out for longer; you’re still not getting any more bytes down the pipe that you’re paying for; you’re just using the service more thoroughly than they’d really like.
If you have a decent router, it should be actually rather difficult for your ISP to determine how many machines are are attached the other side of it (short of actually visiting your house), but I’m definitely not recommending that you violate the terms and conditions of your service arrangement.
Are you sure that’s what they said? If you are just hooking all the PCs in to the modem (with a hub or a switch), then each PC is assigned an IP address from your ISP. Comcast will give you two with your subscription (according to SOP just before I left), but you have to pay for more.
If you hook up a router to your modem then the router is assigned one IP address and it doesn’t matter how many PCs you have attached; as Mangetout says they’d be hard pressed to get that data at all. Most ISPs work the same way Comcast does, so I’d be interested in knowing which company is telling you that.
(Comcast did have some thing going where you rent a cable modem/wireless router combination from them, and paid extra for each PC attached, but it cost much more $$$, was only available in certain areas, and I wouldn’t recommend that)