If the board is slow & you get a DSL modem thinking that its sure to make things faster, the board is still going to be slow.
I’ve had DSL for 3 months, and it’s been great. Only 2 outages so far, and I’ve actually achieved a speed of 1.6 MBit at times. When they tested my line, they said it was good for “up to 5.2 MBit” if I just want to pay to upgrade.
What I’ve found, however, is I’m just no longer the weak link in the chain. Most sites seem to be an awful lot slower than my connection. CNN seems to load just barely faster on DSL than it did with my 56k modem.
DSL wasn’t available in my area, so I went with 2way cable modem. Comparing it to 56k modem, here’s what I’ve noticed:
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It’s REALLY nice keeping the phone line free.
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Most web surfing doesn’t seem much faster. Like handy mentioned, SDMB is still slow. I guess the bottleneck is probably the server, and the same is likely true for many web sites.
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Some downloads are faster, but not all. Sometimes I got a quite nice speed of 160kbs, but that’s rare.
I’ve become an MP3 pirate with Napster and Gnutella, I must admit. When dloading from cable modem and DSL users, I often get dload speeds in the teens and twenties, which is nice. Sometimes, the suckers come down at over 100bps, and it’s down in a few seconds. That’s also rare.
- Lately, the usenet newsfeed is slow as shit, MUCH slower than I was getting with my 56k provider. There must be a problem, it was quick when I first signed on.
Well Horse, I do not want to beat this into the ground, and thank you for enlightening me about DSLAM, I was not familiar with that term. However, now that I know what a DSLAM is I still stand by my comments. There are simply fewer factors that will contribute to a slower connection if you use DSL. And I know that what my GF gets is not typical of cable modems everywhere but they are typical of them where I live. A lot of my friends have gotten cable and wish they could get DSL, but they are out of the service area. The bottomline for me is, Do I want a guarentee of the speeds that I will get? And in my area where the cable connections get REALLY shitty, the answer is a yes. In fact I would want a guarentee no matter where I lived. I would hate to pay $30 a month for an ISP that two years down the line gets really slow because everyone is starting to use it and there is nothing I can do about it, except cancel my service. But that is a bitch in itself, what with trying to notify everyone on the planet about your new email address and setting up a new service…
So Satan, have you made your choice?
-N
Strider, you can get a satellite modem. 400k. Whoa. Thats coming down, not up.
Check out DSL modems on ebay.com, there are a lot & lots of types, internals, PCIs, externals. $50+
HorseLoverFat-I disagree completely. The only time I get slow is when all of my computers are busy downloading(which is rare). I’m guaranteed 384, and I frequently over 1mB.
Hope that helps Brian.
-Sam
I have a cable modem and it is up 99% + of the time. The speed is good. I work at a large high tech firm and our mail lists devoted to cable and dsl services people don’t complain too much about the two cable modem services in our area. The complaints mostly have to do with the dingbats that install the modem. The DSL options are more confusing with distance from phone company, various speeds you can buy etc. The prices are similar now.
DSLAM: is the device that converts the Analog signal to digital to be transmitted to back to the Home Office, who is usually on to the backbone of the net.
HorseloverFat’s correct in some cases, just like cable, you may not be guaranteed your subscriber rate, though you probably are, depends on if the ISP has any morals. Check your contract. They may decide to over-subscribe their line, betting that all users will not be on all the time. I went through a decent ISP and was guaranteed 384 up/384 down anytime all the time.
Cable cannot make that guaruntee.
Cable providers almost ALWAYS have a stipulation that prohibits you from setting up a server or firewall. Firewall software run from your desktop may and is probably permitted.
Cable has the possibilities of being faster and is usually cheaper. If you are in a small neighborhood, or you’re the only “techie” around (I’d hate to make that bet) go for cable.
I’d bet on cable getting saturated within the next 3-5 years. There’s no way they can divide the bandwidth easily. They’d have to re-wire the neighborhood. The signal you get is likely the signal your entire neighborhood gets. (All the homes that were build up at the time).
DSL’s limitation is your phone companies limitation (or possibly the ISP’s) The signal goes directly to the phone company, who has no real limitation. They’re likely on the national backbone of the net, or within 2 steps.
If you choose a separate ISP, it then goes at full speed to the ISP, who will be an additional step.
With DSL you can set up a Web Server, an FTP server, or host it at your ISP. You can run a Proxy/Firewall server, if you have the know-how.
From what I’ve heard, cable has stability problems and their customer service is nearly non-existent. After all, what have they got to lose? They’re cheaper, therefore have a wider customer base.
I had DSL for 13 months with 1 major outage. A Router at the Phone Co blew up. We were out for 3 or 4 hours.
If you have the option, I’d say check out cable for a little while. With the free setup’s that are common you have little to loose. Then if you’re dissatisfied with cable, go for DSL.
And that’s my $.03
Morkster
Actually there is, cable ISPs work by dividing neighborhoods into segments and guaranteeing X amount of bandwidth per segment, each segment holding X amount of users. A decent cable ISP will list these things on their webpage or advertising. They’re also obligated to open more channels to increase bandwidth, an ISP that doesn’t do this doesn’t deserve your business. @home is a shining example on how not to run a cable ISP.
As to installing firewalls, I can’t imagine why an ISP wouldn’t want you to put up a firewall.
I believe the objection to firewalls is an objection to hardware firewalls. Cable lines do not allow you(so I’m told), to build a LAN, install a router, a switch, or a server. I was told also that in order to network a few PCs, you’d have to use “Special wiring”(this was off of @Home’s website). Special wiring could mean anything from coax to twisted pair line, I’ve no clue.
-Sam