Cable vs. DSL

Well, I've made a huge change to my life. I now have Cable Internet compared to always having DSL. I've noticed some distinct pros and cons of each. I'm going to provide them here, for you.

Just a note: My DSL provider was AT&T and now my Cable provider is Charter. The facts provided here may differ if you have another DSL provider like Verizon or another cable internet provider like Comcast.

For years, AT&T was the only exclusive company here. They provided the phone and internet...you had NO OTHER OPTIONS in my little town in Northern California. Well, Charter came along and now they have Internet here. It's a start to unmonopolizing my city.

Anyway...here it is:

Main Differences:

• Cable connects to your cable outlet...no more phone jack connection like you had with DSL.
• The fastest DSL speed is considered slower than the slowest Cable speed available.
• Charter REQUIRED them to install it, while AT&T was a do it yourself project (installation was optional).
• DSL with AT&T forced you to purchase your modem, which was about $70. Charter makes you rent it from them. It's $3.99 per month without wireless...and $9.99 per month with wireless on top of your normal monthly plan. They may have a purchase your box option...but a cable internet box is at least $200.

Pros/cons of each:

• Cable is supposably faster. I haven't seen a huge speed jump. We're supposed to be getting 5MBPS with Cable while DSL was 1.5MBPS. We are able to get up to 20MBPS if we got the highest plan.
• DSL is much cheaper.
• DSL speeds are always constant while Cable can be faster or slower based on how many people have cable TV or internet.

Anything I missed?

• Cable is outrageously priced

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› See More: Cable vs. DSL

Looks like DSL is still the way to go. The price difference is enough to shy away most people from getting a cable especially most DSL connection now can be use for making voip calls or watching video clips online without waiting for it to buffer.

Cable doesn't require you to wait for it to buffer. And voip calls work perfectly (just tried one).

The price is the major thing to make someone shy away from DSL.

They fixed our speeds, so now it is blazing fast.

Originally Posted by Linem

Looks like DSL is still the way to go. The price difference is enough to shy away most people from getting a cable especially most DSL connection now can be use for making voip calls or watching video clips online without waiting for it to buffer.

I was on DSL (Earthlink thru Sprint) ... compared to the dial-up I was on, DSL was great (about 10 times the speed for about twice the price). Sprint provided the modem, which I had to install. It was free as long as you kept their service for at least one year; if you cancelled before the year was up, you had to pay about $200 (because we stayed with them for about three years, we didn't have to pay for the modem, and didn't even have to ship it back). Our TV cable company (Armstrong) started running ads for VoIP phone service, with an intro rate of unlimited calling for $19.95 /mo. for six mos. When I compared the price of our phone and Internet services, I figured we could save about $40 to $50 per mo. by going with our cable company. Ended up going with Armstrong for TV, Internet, and phone, and haven't looked back since. BTW, cable Internet is a lot faster than DSL was ...

I just moved and I use Cox, so I can see where you're coming from. However I just did a line test and I get 1.5MBPS as my speed. Is that normal? I mean I was expecting 5 MBPS at least.

According to an online speed test I ran:

Download Speed: 4977 kbps (622.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 487 kbps (60.9 KB/sec transfer rate)


I am on Armstrong cable.

You can run speed tests from a number of sites. There may be some variation, but all should be pretty close. Check out this link:

Speed Test - dslreports.com

Get Cable, Call your ISP ask for an exclusive line (so you don't have to share your bandwidth) and uncap it.

Wow Nick, didn't realize you had some problems with the Cable stuff. PM me if you have any more issues, or if you want some more behind the scene's info!

My house has Cable internet i will test my laptop.. lol for some reason i plugged my laptop into the router eventhough it has wireless xD
Slow for tonight xD
16Mbps Down / 3Mbps Upload
My Desktop steals the bandwith :\

My speed's been a bit wonky lately. Mainly, because I share my cable internet with 3 other guys in my apartment. But hey, as long as I can stream "The Internet is for Porn" then I'm happy.

I couldn't see ever going to DSL once you have had cable...

Originally Posted by nicknrm

Well, I've made a huge change to my life. I now have Cable Internet compared to always having DSL. I've noticed some distinct pros and cons of each. I'm going to provide them here, for you.

Just a note: My DSL provider was AT&T and now my Cable provider is Charter. The facts provided here may differ if you have another DSL provider like Verizon or another cable internet provider like Comcast.

For years, AT&T was the only exclusive company here. They provided the phone and internet...you had NO OTHER OPTIONS in my little town in Northern California. Well, Charter came along and now they have Internet here. It's a start to unmonopolizing my city.

Anyway...here it is:

Main Differences:

• Cable connects to your cable outlet...no more phone jack connection like you had with DSL.
• The fastest DSL speed is considered slower than the slowest Cable speed available.
• Charter REQUIRED them to install it, while AT&T was a do it yourself project (installation was optional).
• DSL with AT&T forced you to purchase your modem, which was about $70. Charter makes you rent it from them. It's $3.99 per month without wireless...and $9.99 per month with wireless on top of your normal monthly plan. They may have a purchase your box option...but a cable internet box is at least $200.

Pros/cons of each:

• Cable is supposably faster. I haven't seen a huge speed jump. We're supposed to be getting 5MBPS with Cable while DSL was 1.5MBPS. We are able to get up to 20MBPS if we got the highest plan.
• DSL is much cheaper.
• DSL speeds are always constant while Cable can be faster or slower based on how many people have cable TV or internet.

Anything I missed?

• Cable is outrageously priced

That pretty much sums it up....lol

I had Time Warner before i switched to Verizon DSL, yes cable was faster but it was $39.99 as opposed to my DSL for $15.99, now a days where we're trying to same some money i rather go with DSL and keep the change, and besides, i have a very fast connection at work.


BTW: here's a site where you can check your connection speed:Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test


Here's mine:


Second test:

r u sure AT&T force you to purchase one of their modems? can't you buy your own? anyway, you should read the wikipedia articles on "cable internet" and "DSL" and they have speed comparisons there.

Yes, you can buy your own...

What I mean was they require you BUY IT OUTRIGHT somehow.

With Charter, you rent it monthly OR can buy your own or one of theirs. They encourage renting (since Cable Internet boxes are over $220.)

Originally Posted by danielspencer2

r u sure AT&T force you to purchase one of their modems? can't you buy your own? anyway, you should read the wikipedia articles on "cable internet" and "DSL" and they have speed comparisons there.

WHAT IS DSL?
A DSL modem connects computer to a phone line in order to transmit digital data. If your computer already has an internal modem, you can “dial-in” through your telephone landline. Otherwise, you’d need to purchase an external modem. Provider companies sometimes offer these at no charge with your subscription. Those usually connect to your USB port.
The speed at which a DSL modem sends and receives data varies from hundreds of Kilobits per second to many Megabits. Examples of DSL technologies include Asymmetric DSL (ASDL) and ISDN Digital Subscriber Line (IDSL).
ADVANTAGE
You can access both the internet and your phone line at the same time
Faster speed than dial-up
Ability to choose between different connection speeds and pricing from various providers
DISADVANTAGE
Receives data faster than it sends it
Sometimes not available in remote areas
The farther you are from the provider’s central location, the slower the transmission

WHAT IS CABLE?
A cable modem transmits digital data over existing cable television lines. They can either be internal or external. The speed at which it sends and receives data varies from just a few Megabits per second to many Megabits.
ADVANTAGE
Performance isn’t based on distance from the provider’s central location
Faster speed than dial-up and most often DSL
DISADVANTAGE
You share the available bandwidth of a single cable line with others in your neighborhood. The more people using it at the same time, the slower the performance.
Could be more costly than DSL
Sometimes not available in remote areas