looking for opinions/advice on broadband/dsl connections

[radfringe]

We can "NOW" get broadband/dsl in my area -- through the phone company, cable and Direct-TV satellite

would like to hear from other DU'ers about their experience with these services, recommendations, things to watch-out for etc

thanks bunches

[ClintonTyree]

1. Watch out for....................

long term contracts for one thing. Consider what your needs are, don't go paying for huge amounts of bandwidth if you're not going to use it.

[Room101]

2. I have Comcast cable

On edit- I do not have a contract I can cancel with no penalty anytime.

I have had it for about one month now and I really love it. Ounce you go cable you never go back. I have yet to have any problems with it. I joined with the 19.99 per month for 6 months offer. Don't get Direct TV Rupert Murdoch owns it now. Wait until tomorrow more knowledgeable Duers can explain their high speed access better than I. There are allot of them here.

[lcordero]

3. go to dslreports.com

It'll give the scoop on dsl, cable and satellite in your area.

optimum online gives me a download that ranges from 600 kB/s to 1 MB/s
this is for a 7.5 Mb/s connection

when I used earthlink DSL I had downloads anywhere from 100 kB/s to 200 kB/s. This is what I get with a 1.5 Mb/s connection.

[radfringe]

4. thanks

:)

[mouse7]

5. If you hae Qwest phone service, they have some great deals

I got a combo deal on dsl broadband, local phone, and unlimited long distance that was real cheap.

[necso]

6. DSL or Cable

Satellite requires a modem connection for the outgoing connection. Don't bother.

If you have cable TV (I don't) cable can be a good option. It has better download speeds (generally) and much better upload speeds (generally).

(note: b = bit, B = byte which is 8 bits, K is roughly a 1000, M is roughly a million)

DSL typically has low upload speeds (128Kb is typical) and the download can be as low as 256Kb (bogus) or as high as 1.5Mb. I have .75Mb from Verizon and love it. I get 80KB downloads from highspeed sources, although my upload tends to max at 10KB or less. Cable download can range as high as 2Mb and upload maybe a quarter/half (or less) of that.

Cable however is a shared connection and DSL is not. So a lot of cable modem use in your area can slow downloads and uploads. But I can't say that I have ever actually seen this.

The biggest issue is your service provider's connection to the backbone (potentially there are also "concentrator" issues). This is hard to judge although DSLReports does have user opinions which can help.

In any case once you are highspeed you need to worry about security. A cheap router can provide pretty good protection (a wired one on sale can be had for $10 or $20 after rebate, wireless say $30). (They do way more than NAT these days.) I also run a free software firewall.

I would not sign up for a long term contract and you should expect a deal on equipment and installation. DSL is super easy to install since it uses the phone line (higher frequencies) but cable may take an installer.

DSL providers typically don't care about multiple computers on the link while cable providers do. (I have a wireless router on my DSL.) Cable providers are more likely to require special software and offer some weird interface.

In a lot of cases you will find that even .75Mb is more throughput than you can get from your download host (40KB seems common). I wouldn't settle for less, would like more, but wouldn't pay much of a premium. Of course a lot depends on how you plan to use it.

Best and enjoy!

[Gunit_Sangh]

7. re: dsl

I've had dsl thru Bellsouth for approx 18 months and absolutely love it! I find I use the internet a lot more with dsl for searches & surfing and you'll REALLY love the download speeds. The few times I've been at someone's house using dial-up, I cringe at the slowness.

I installed a wireless network and have two computers (plus my laptop even though I rarely use it :o) connected to the network sharing the dsl modem.

DSL's a bit more expensive. But I had two seperate phone lines when I was using dial-up and when I cancelled the second phone line it didn't really cost me much more.

When I got dsl, the modem (normally a few hundred bucks) was free if I agreed to stay with them for a year. That was no problem. A local ISP was also offering DSL, but I found out that they were just a reseller of Bellsouth's and you had to purchase the dsl modem from them. The only difference is that they would come out and intall it and I wasn't about to shell out $200 just to have them do the installation.

You will need a network connection in your computer. Most of the newer computers will have that already. If not, you can pick up a network card at your local computer store for $10-15. The DSL modem should come with an installation CD that will configure everything for you, or it you have XP, the Network Wizard can set everything up for you.

[Cheswick2.0]

8. cable

I have cable and it is so much faster.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. I had DSL for a month or so from MSN

and they were terrible. I lost e-mail messages, and when you're running a business, that's fatal.

Because of the difficulty of switching from one DSL provider to another, I switched to cable with a wireless hub, and I love it.

[scottcsmith]

10. Some basic comparisons

Cable modems are very fast, BUT, depending on how many other cable modem users are in the area, your d/l speed may get slower. Basically everyone shares from the same pipe.

DSL, while not as fast as a cable modem, does not have the problem with many users sharing the same pipe.

Having had both, I still prefer my cable modem.