beth_lk
Staff
Joined: Jun 23, 2004
# Posts: 1136
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Posted: 08/19/2006 12:40 am
I am moving next month and will for the first time ever have a choice of DSL or cable for my Internet service - so far I have only ever had dial up and very slowwwwwwww dial up at that.
I have been asking around and some people say "go DSL" and some say "go cable" - I have a desktop PC and a lap top that I will be using ( not sure if that matters or not ). I am really looking forward to doing my web worker faster - a good day right now I work at 32 Kbps -  - so I am sure either cable or DSL will be better BUT I also want to make a choice with as much information as I can get.
I am not sure if my DSL/Cable server option are a nationwide service or just a local service - but any ways if I chose DSL it would be through Verizon Phone Co and if I chose cable it would be through Adelphia cable co These are the only choices in my new area other then the dial up companies which are a dime a dozen.
Please tell me your preference and WHY its your preference - I need more knowledge of both options before I decide.
Thanks ! 
Beth
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bhartzer
Staff
Joined: Jun 08, 2000
# Posts: 7036
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Posted: 08/19/2006 08:03 am
To be honest with you, to us "normal users" we cannot really tell the difference in the speed. If you're a heavy gamer or transferring a lot of data then it might make a difference.
Personally, I make my decisions based on how much it costs, the length of the commitment I must make, and whether I can get a 'deal' or not.
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JQ
Staff
Joined: Mar 11, 2001
# Posts: 2721
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Posted: 08/19/2006 10:18 am
Cable is faster. We went from dialup to ISDN to DSL and then cable when it finally became available in our area. My husband is a big gamer.
And FYI, Adelphia was just taken over by Time Warner and will be transitioning to the Road Runner brand for internet access.
Check out dslreports.com for info on your area.
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gamiziuk
Joined: Aug 23, 2000
# Posts: 630
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Posted: 08/19/2006 11:57 am
To me, speedwise they make no difference (although the "stats" may say that Cable is faster).
One issue I had with the Cable company caused me to switch to DSL though. I live in an apartment building. All of the cable TV connections are routed thru a common box. My Cable-internet was routed thru the same box as the Cable TV and whenever a cable TV tech came by to do something (for someone else's apartment) it would screw up my Cable internet! I would have to put in a service call to fix the screw up (wait a week or two for the tech to come by...)
It was a problem that reocurred so frequently that I finally switched to DSL (and Bellsouth actually gave me a nice deal on the price since I was switching from Cable).
Play the phone company against the cable company and see if one is willing to give you a better deal on the price. Make sure that price will be continual for the year, not just a "special" for 3 months or whatever.
[ Message was edited by: gamiziuk 08/19/2006 12:08 pm ]
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beth_lk
Staff
Joined: Jun 23, 2004
# Posts: 1136
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Posted: 08/19/2006 07:24 pm
I keep hearing about this "shared cable" thing and am not liking what I am hearing ---------- and I am moving into a apt complex.......
I don't even know what gaming is lol - so that is not a concern - I just do my web work and visit boards and such.
I thank each of you for your help.
Money is not my first thing to look at - good service is - and being down 1 to 2 WEEKS! God I would DIE!
I think I am going to go DSL.
Beth
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JQ
Staff
Joined: Mar 11, 2001
# Posts: 2721
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Posted: 08/20/2006 02:18 am
Beth, I have heard about the "shared cable" issue as well, but it has never been a problem here.
If your provider oversells their capacity, then yes, when a lot of users are on there is the possibility of a slowdown on the network.
I'd like to think gamiziuk's situation was unusual, but I don't know. If an entire apartment complex is served by one box, then there really is the potential for them to mess it up when they're trying to service another customer's connection.
With DSL, you have a dedicated line that isn't affected by others.
Coming off dialup, you'll find either DSL or cable to be like heaven.
But don't forget your roots. It is always best to design for fast loads on slow connections.
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Curt
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 3717
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Posted: 08/21/2006 03:07 pm
See about Wireless if you can find a provider with that option. My previous provider (before I moved) had a 10Mb download and 10Mb upload connection. Boy do I wish I could get that package. Alas, they don't provide service in my area. But, I did find a package with my current Wireless provider that has 3.5Mb download and 1Mb upload. Windows updates are a breeze. I swear every once in a while my connection is so fast that a new Mozilla update file download of 12MB takes just a few seconds to transfer to my computer from Mozilla.org. Other times a Mozilla file download takes less than 30 seconds or so depending on when I'm connecting.
Wireless might be a good option if you can find it.
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beth_lk
Staff
Joined: Jun 23, 2004
# Posts: 1136
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Posted: 08/21/2006 08:58 pm
Jerome - are you referring to my web sites loading? sorry not clear on this - "But don't forget your roots. It is always best to design for fast loads on slow connections."
Curt - wireless is an option here - BUT not a wise one in my opinion - we will be living VERY close to a University and the word on the streets are anyone with a wireless service is being "tapped" into by the college computer students. Even the school its self is always fighting to keep things secure from the students and are not very successful at it.
My friend who goes to school there - says her laptop ( wireless ) will all of a sudden start to load stuff or type and such - as someone in the next building/ room has accessed her PC - the students have been warned not to do online banking or anything with their wireless setup.
Nay think I will skip THAT nightmare - go figure lol 
Beth
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SportsGuy
Staff
Joined: Aug 30, 2002
# Posts: 3597
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Posted: 08/22/2006 07:13 am
Don't worry about the "shared cable" thing beth. I have cable at home and it's perfectly fine. Heck, even here at the office we use cable for the network internally and reserve the fibre optics for our product sites only.
Cable is fine - unless, as mentioned, you are big into online gaming and transfer massive amounts of data - and downloading a movie to burn to DVD is not "transfering massive amounts of data", IMO.
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JQ
Staff
Joined: Mar 11, 2001
# Posts: 2721
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Posted: 08/22/2006 12:24 pm
Jerome - are you referring to my web sites loading? sorry not clear on this - "But don't forget your roots. It is always best to design for fast loads on slow connections."
Beth, I wasn't referring to your site at all. I was just saying that sometimes a designer with a fast connection can get carried away. A page with several megs of graphics may load almost instantly on your (fast) connection, but could take literally minutes to load on dialup. If your potential audience includes dialup users (and for most commercial sites it does), then you have to take into consideration the fact that they might not wait 5-10 minutes for a page to load before they move on.
As far as wireless goes, security is a major issue a lot of people don't take seriously. It's not just wireless ISPs, but wireless networks, as more and more people are setting up home networks to share a broadband connection.
We have cable, my husband's comp is wired, and I pick up the signal via a wireless router. (My comp is in a different room, and running wires thru the house was not something we wanted to deal with.) I regularly pick up several unsecured wireless networks in the neighborhood. You can tell how much effort they put into their setup when their network is named something like "default" or "LinksysModel#123".
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g1smd
Staff
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10280
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Posted: 08/22/2006 12:57 pm
If you program the router to only allow connections from certain MAC addresses (that is the physical serial number of the wireless card) and implement 128-bit WEP protection (where the computer that wants to connect to your network has to supply a pre-assigned 26-digit number that the router already knows) then you can usually keep just about everyone else out of your system.
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crash
Staff
Joined: Dec 02, 2003
# Posts: 10626
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Posted: 08/23/2006 01:09 pm
I had cable (time warner road runner) in my apt building and my dad has DSL at home. They are pretty much equal in regards to up time and speed.
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beth_lk
Staff
Joined: Jun 23, 2004
# Posts: 1136
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Posted: 08/23/2006 11:26 pm
OK - cost factor aside and do please remember I am clueless - due to what has been explained to me about web site designs/load time and such - can I do my web work on DSL and check the load time on a dial up? In other words can I have both DSL and dial up on 1 computer?
I can get a cheap dial up for under 10.00 a month and if that means my sites will be "better" then well worth it.
Everyones help is greatly appreciated and I "Thank You"
Beth
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dudibob
Joined: Oct 13, 2005
# Posts: 1438
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Posted: 08/24/2006 12:39 am
you can have both the settings on a comp, but of course, use one or the other, a few people in the UK offer DSL with dial up backup in case the DSL goes down.
Just remember if you get just dial up, it can be painfully slow to upload stuff
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flyingrose
Staff
Joined: Oct 30, 2003
# Posts: 3361
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Posted: 08/24/2006 09:24 am
Yes you can have both. I use DSL full time with dial-up as a backup if the DSL is down.
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crash
Staff
Joined: Dec 02, 2003
# Posts: 10626
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Posted: 08/24/2006 12:48 pm
Do you really need to have dial up to check load time? I can see having it for back up (I did for a long time) but just to check load time? Not necesssary - there are sites on line that will give you estimated load times, and there are other factors to consider besides the internet connection when considering load time.
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beth_lk
Staff
Joined: Jun 23, 2004
# Posts: 1136
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Posted: 08/26/2006 06:31 am
Crash - can I have this information from you please? "there are sites on line that will give you estimated load times"
Again - I thank all of you very much - your help is greatly appreciated
I am going to go with DSL and keep my cheap ( slow lol ) dial up as a back up and as a way to check my sites - heck if they load "fast" at 32Kbps they should be fine for anyone else too
again thank you - i really understand all of this much better now......
Beth
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crash
Staff
Joined: Dec 02, 2003
# Posts: 10626
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Posted: 08/26/2006 09:37 am
a google search on the term 'check website load time' will provide you with more than a few options - try a couple and see which suits you best.
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Curt
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 3717
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Posted: 08/26/2006 08:42 pm
The problem isn't really the Wireless internet setup, it's the wireless network inside the home. There is a major difference there.
Many people with wireless networks inside their homes are unsecured and there are simple measures to take care of even this problem, but sadly many people are ignorant about their own wireless routers and wireless switches. I have wireless internet, but my router and switch are wired. I also set my router's firewall to stop certain activity. Also I run a personal firewall, antivirus, and spyware removers.
People who have DSL and cable are equally at risk of having their computers invaded if their internal wireless network is not secured.
Don't confuse “internal wireless networks” with “Wireless internet”. They are not the same thing.
You should be about as secured with Wireless internet as with cable or DSL as long as you secure your internal wireless network or simply avoid the problem with internal wireless networks by using a wired internal network like I do.
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g1smd
Staff
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10280
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Posted: 08/27/2006 03:25 pm
I set up a wireless router for a friend a few weeks back.
We used MAC-address filtering, so only the pre-named wireless adaptors can connect; and we used 128-bit WEP so the connecting computer needs to supply a specific big long number to connect at all.
Each laptop has ZoneAlarm, AdAware, Spybot Search & Destroy, and AVG on it.
Anything else need doing?
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