Internet connection: DSL vs. cable

Just wanting to get a bit of feedback from those of you with DSL and especially anyone who has used both DSL and cable.

I currently receive the net through my cable company. I have received an offer for DSL. It is slightly cheaper per month (5 bucks). Worth it to switch?

I have been thinking about the same thing too Deb - my hubby is studying computer networking at school at the moment and his teacher said that when you have DSL, you have your own bandwidth connecting to the server, and when you have cable, you share it with others, so that if you have a lot of people online at once, cable can slow down, but DSL always stays the same.

Hope that makes sense.

I have heard that part, too, Kellye. If the savings was significant, I think I would switch without thinking about it. But for $5/month, I am trying to decide if it's worth the hassle of getting a new email address and all of that stuff. I am currently pleased with my cable service. I have experienced a slight slowdown at times, but nothing as bad as dial-up.

I guess I am wondering if anyone with DSL experiences any problems with their service.

Ok gang, cancel the entire request. Went to the web site provided by Verizon. The price jumps to the same as I pay now after 3 months. The MSN 8 software is not compatible with Mac (which is me). Also I found in the fine print that I need to be running OS X on my desktop, which I don't.

Patting my cable modem on its little electronic head and returning to business as usual. Hope the darn thing doesn't break because I was considering switching.....

I had cable first and now DSL . I never would switch to cable again , only if it would be a money issue for us . DSL is so much faster and the site load faster too . I used to wait like ages to get from one site to the other . Also the pictures load much faster and don't take ages . I love DSL and would recoment it to every one . Gosh , you click on a link and you are there in a second . I think it was worth switching

Yahoo/SBC DSL service is $29.95 a month guaranteed for 1 year at that price. That's a great deal! After a year you have your choice of two different speeds of DSL, if you take the slower version you will keep the $29.95 price per month. If you choose the fastest version of DSL - the price goes up to more normal rates. However, during the first year, you get the fastest speed DSL for the $29.95 price.

Right now, I have Cable, which I DO NOT like. I had DSL from Earthlink for a long time, and everyone kept telling me to try Cable so I did. I think DSL is a lot better. At least in my situation it is.

I'm going against the norm and say if I had a choice I would go back to cable in a second! MSN sucks, we had more problems with down time and disconnections when we had them for 2 months than I could imagine. We've been fighting with my father's computer and his MSN connection for a month. And because Qwest holds all of the DSL cards here (they own all of the lines and have the agreement with MSN to provide service with them), in order for us to be with any other DSL ISP provider, we pay about double - it is $39.95 per month with MSN, but Qwest charges us $31.99 for use of their DSL line with another company (and we still have to pay $25/mo. to the ISP).

We never had any problems with cable, and while the download speeds are comparable, the upload speeds are a lot faster on Cable.

I used to work for SBC dsl out of Mn until they cut our jobs and sent them overseas for cheaper wages. For dsl service it really depended on were you lived to get faster dsl speeds. Even if the weather were to be raining the lines would build moisture and service would be dropped. The company would have to go out and change the lines. Number one fix for service being down is to power cycle(turn off) the modem. I guess as I worked there I only heard of the complaints of dsl services. I only hope that their services have only gotten better. I have cable and my area doesn't offer dsl.

Everyone says that Dial up is slow, well it must be different for you guys over there because my dial up is super fast, I love it and it's the cheapest.

I've had cable for about five or so years. I really like it.

interesting topic. I have had cable for five years and hubby says the speed is nowhere near what it should be. I think it is fine. I love cable. but we are ordering SBC DSL because we heard from a friend that DSL is much better, and slightly cheaper. I hope so!

Originally posted by Kiwideus
when you have DSL, you have your own bandwidth connecting to the server, and when you have cable, you share it with others, so that if you have a lot of people online at once, cable can slow down, but DSL always stays the same.

Click to expand...

I work for a telephone company, studied both and that is correct. Picture a big water pipe - if everyone in the neighborhood turns on their water at the same time, the water pressure can drop to the entire neighborhood - cable modem is like that. The cable modem is simply a big bandwidth pipe covering a lot of customers.

Cable modem is OK as long as a lot of your neighbors aren't on it as the same time as you. People that I know who live in the city where there were no options to cable modem complained about peak times during the week when everyone was on at the same time.

I have DSL and love it - no contention with anyone!

GREAT IDEA!!! DSL has been berry berry good to me...

Actually, I never had cable. Just slow, snail dial up. And the switch to DSL has been one of those 'ah HA!' type moments.

Like when you first got color tv. Or first smelled a cute guy wearing sexy cologne. Or tasted bananas foster. Or saw Vermont in October, after living in Texas all your life.... one of those moments.

A totally "organic" moment, to borrow a phrase from a tv commercial...

'cj'

I guess I am wondering if anyone with DSL experiences any problems with their service.

Click to expand...

I have DSL and have had it for years. I've never really experienced any problems (and Verizon is the provider.) My monthly rate has actually dropped three times since I started with them. On the other hand, if you're happy with your current service why take a chance of conversion problems? While DSL may be technically better, there's a good chance you'll never notice enough of a bandwidth issue to be an issue.

George

Thanks for all the input and replies. A couple of posts into this I did some further research, and it's not an option for me, nor is it any cheaper than my cable modem, which I am happy with.

I love my cable connection. And I don't have a phone line so I'd have to do that to go DSL. My wireless phone is my only phone and I like it that way! Anyway, my cable connection is always great and is much faster then the $29.99 DSL through Qwest (which I also had in the past).