~DSL vs. Cable~

I had the unfortunate luck of having my dsl at home go out for a few days and it got me thinking about changing services. I actually got on SL with a *gasp* dial up connection cuz I was geeking so bad lol. This was a scary thing to say the least. I had forgotten how ridiculously slow dial up was. I logged into a black screen and saw a few of my attachments floating. I have rocks that poof out some butterflies on random intervals and I saw the butterflies just spinning in the air. Some things rezzed eventually but moving was not a good thing. Some IM's were going through but not all. I tp'd my Partner and some friends because I couldn't move and didn't wanna be alone in dial-up-no-rezland by myself. All I could see was some attachments. It was kinda funny trying to chat with earrings and bracelets and a few wisps of hair. Unfortunately I couldn't see 80% of the chatting going on...I could every now and then see hand movements for typing...but no chat, and nothing I typed could be seen on my screen...funtimes. Then everything went black and I logged heh.

Back to the reason for my post. Since this has happened I have been thinking about switching to a cable system...in this area it is called RoadRunner. The main office is 2 blocks from my house if that factors into the speed. I am wondering if there really is a major difference in speed and if getting cable would improve SL performance. The feedback I have gotten from different people here is pretty broad. I have heard that it is way faster and I have heard that it's not much of a difference from dsl and not really worth the extra cost. So I am wanting to get feedback from people here. If you have any info please share. Thanks!


~Zsu~

DSL is distance dependant, cable is not. It's a funny decision, if you are close to the DSL "drop" and are in an area with few DSL customers, you will haul ass over cable...change the parameters and you are humming a wee bit faster than dialup...
Cable is the same speed (typically) regardless of distance (though "way too many users" will slow up the net.)

Personally, I use cable. IMHO it has less hassles and seems to be up more often (than my office which is on DSL). but this can change depending on providers....
And I use Roadrunner, and have no complaints at all.

Roadrunner has the best customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. The service rarely goes down, almost never. The one time I did have an issue, the tech on the phone was polite and smart and did all he could to figure out why I was not getting service. When we exhausted all efforts and did not find the issue, they sent a tech out to my house, the same night, to look and see what was wrong. He finally got to the bottom of it and it was good all around. I almost never need service from them, but when I did, they went above and beyond.

The other option is DSL with SBC, the most incompetent stupid jerks I have ever seen in the realm of customer service. I did have DSL with them and I am two blocks from the switching station, so I got a good speed, but when I did have troubles (more than a few times), it was a miserable experience getting transferred to a dozen different people who didnt know what to do. I finally quit them and happily use Roadrunner.

My only beef with Roadrunner is the price, it is the most expensive service in the area, but with the performance and customer service I have received from them, I think its worth it.

Didn’t they fix that? Because Cable was like DC, first on got the power (in this case speed) last on had none. (First on does not mean time but were in the line). I have Cable and have had only problems 2 times and both were from Cable outage problems. Cable outage sucks for me. No TV (pay per view porn), no internet (internet porn), no phone (Vonage) (phone sex). All I am left with is my wife and if it’s her time of the month…..Well I don’t do the red.

DSL
- Slower speeds
- Range dependant
- Old technologies to keep phone lines working will prevent you from getting service
- Speed is constant (you get 1.5M day one you get 1.5M unless there is a problem)

Cable
- Faster Speed
- No range
- (not sure about old technologies)
- Speed decreases as 1) More users get it 2) when others aer using it.

Personally I have had nothing but issues with cable from connection to speed issues and I switched companies and time zones. With tickets going over a year with no resolution. My DSL I have now is alot more stable.

I also work currently in DSL sales so I know the DSL info is correct.

Cable service rocks here at my location. I've never had more than a one evening outage, with a couple of little 1-3 hour outages over the past 4 years.

I can have three connections going though my one internet gateway router at the same time, with at least two of them in active online games/SL and the other browsing the web, with very little to no noticable slow down.

I have Road Runner and got much better service than I had on DSL. I have zero complaints and the speed is blazing fast. Noticeable difference from my prior connection!

I could be wrong but I believe I heard Road Runner was like one of the best cable providers around...

Thanks so much for your responses. I told SBC that I was looking to go with RoadRunner and they offered me my dsl for $10 less a month than what I spend now...so going to RR would then run almost $25 a month more than the dsl offer. I have some thinking to do...eek

I have DSL, it used to be Ameritech, then SBC bought Ameritech and ruined everything. I never had SPAM emails until SBC/Yahoo and now I get so much spam I dont even use pop mail anymore. I have had this DSL service for over 4 years. It has only had issues 3 times in for years and the outages have been short and SBC, has sent people out if needed right away. The phone company is currently one of the best bootlickers as far as customer service, they bend over backwards to keep my happy, maybe because there is so much competition. I like having everything on one bill so I also have Dish Network from SBC, so everything is all on one bill.


Comcast sucks. I would give up the internet and TV before I gave them a nickle. I had cable service back when it was new and it sucked. I live in a high tech area, full of engineers and the speeds were very slow because everyone had cable. It also went down, all of the time. I would never get cable again. I like my 3 down and 512 up that I dont have to share with my neighbor that is downloading full movies 24/7 or whatever. I have my own line, the speed is consistant, the line is up 99% of the time. My cable would drop constantly during the day, then there was almost a weekly outage.



You should have SBC come out and check your phone lines if you have linebacker, good phone lines can make a large difference. I would also ask people in your area that have cable what their service is like. Cable and DSL vary a lot on the area, what is great in one place will suck in another.

Not in all locations only major cities. One of the biggest misconceptions is that any telepone company can go anywhere. If you are in one of those markest it is the easy life. From what I heard though SBC sounds to do that period.

Feh. I used to have DSL, with SBC. Just down the street from the center, too, so the speed was excellent. However, like others have posted, the slightest problems were huge inconveniences when dealing with SBC's total lack of customer support. They would transfer me to another department, who would then claim that they were not in fact the department I needed to speak to. Sometimes they would transfer me to someone else, and sometimes they'd tell me to call a different number (after being on hold for 20 minutes on a long-distance call). Finally, I told them to transfer me to whoever the hell is in charge of cancellations, because I wanted out of their crappy service.

Signed up with Cox Communications that day, had cable up and running 2 days later. Its been smooth sailing ever since, even after moving twice. Liked it so much, I switched over my phone to cable as well, and now SBC doesn't get a dime outta me. I've only had to call for service twice, and the first time their recorded message had all the info I needed to fix the problem. The second time, the tech I talked to had everything fixed within minutes. I'll never deal with SBC again.

Comcast 4mb pipe sooo tasty.

$40 a month is a little pricey, but when you're running 2 sessions of SL, IM, Firefox, it's worth it.

I think in 16 months I've been without internet 2 days.

I dunno, I know they upped the speed a few weeks back...it was a real hard upgrade (they called me and told me to turn off my c-modem for a minute then power it back up!).
Man, you are a slave to cable like like my little brother...phone, tv, movies, internet...he forks over something like $120.00 a month...Strangely, its been over a year since I noticed an outage on Roadrunner (even just short network maintenance outs). I'm sure it has gone down, just never when I'm on ....I now need to buy my neighbor's fat daughter a new cordless phone since she keeps bunging my wireless connection (possibly blabbing with her equally rotund circle of friends...). There is nothing that will lock up a sphincter faster than bursting through a doorway in CoH and meeting a room full of Tsoo, then seeing that wonderful "Your wireless network is not connected" then "Your wireless network is connected" then "Your wireless network is not connected"...

I will have to agree with Hiro here. My Comcast 4mb download/384kb upload is quite tasty. I check my connection speeds routinely and I rarely go under 3mb even on peak hours, but I suppose that might depend on your location.

I remember when AT&T first came out with Cable Internet, it really sucked. More people got on the less you got. Then Comcast took over and they did some upgrades over the years I was told it was no longer true. I moved and now have Charter. I have not seen the old problem of to many people on.


Were I live Charter does not have phone yet so I have Vonage, only paying $27.23 a month after taxes. I have digital cable and DDR with one Digital box (none DDR) and pay $120.00 for all that. LOL. When Cable goes out I have nothing.


Mine went down 2 times.
1) They did a mid-night upgrade to there system. Next morning I called because I didn’t have internet (checking e-mail before work) and they said it should be up in 15 min, to late for me. I got home and still no net. Walked over to the pay phone (because of short cuts on foot it’s faster to walk) and was given the run around because I didn’t have the system in front of me, problem with VoIP. Well got a smart guy on and he said shut your modom off for 1 min then turn it on. All should be good. It was.
2) A drunk hit the pool and the Cable and phone lines went out for about 3 hr so I was told I was at work but came home to see 10 trucks there. 3 Charter, 2 Comcast (no idea way they are not out here), 5 SBC. Well I then lost every thing about 2 hr later when Charter upgraded to a new box, they had just put a temp in till they got the new upgrade box there. Well after that my speed is better. Oh and I was down only 10 min but lost my show I was watching. (


You know I got a wireless router and have my PC and Xbox hard wired in to it. I am getting a new PC in a week or two and I don’t know if I will go wireless or not. The problem you have is what I am scared of happening to me.

personally, i have Comcast and it's usually really good. i have 3 comps routed off the one line and routinely handles Wow on one, CoH or SL on the other, and the third is usually just regular internet browsing (slower comp). speeds are great for me.. lag is usually server side and has nothing to do with my connection.

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on the other hand, i'm waiting for FiOS to come around my neighborhood. then i won't be worrying about DSL vs. Cable.. they can both eat my dust (if it works as advertised). i can't help but dream of going from a 4mb cap to a 15mb cap (i think it has a 3mb u/l).. for a mere $10/mo more than my cable.

now that's tasty!

OMG....

I'm so there...Fios will be my little Summer present to myself (if I can get it, luckily I'm a homeowner so laying optic lines won't be too much of a hassle!