Cable or DSL?

[Beev]

I'm going to be moving to the Kansas City area in June and I've been thinking of getting DSL when I get there.

I've used Cox cable pretty much exclusively over the last 5 years (since I moved out of my parents dialup ridden house ) and have been extremely, EXTREMELY dissatisfied. I'm convinced they are the worst internet company in existence. No "one" thing has ever pissed me off for 5 years straight, other than Cox of course.

When I move I will definitely not be using them, but should I jump over from cable altogether and go with DSL? I know cable can have faster speeds. But the damn companies put a cap on your bandwidth so you never even get to see those speeds. I use torrents a lot, if that makes a difference.

Edit: Added pohwl

 

[f4phantom2500]

I say stick with cable, different company. DSL is an acceptable alternative, but I have found cable to be faster in general than DSL. Get FTTP if you can; my parents have FiOS, 15 Mbps down/2 up for like $50 a month or something, and I've seen it hit 2MBps down (even though that's slightly higher than the rated speed) more than once on empty servers. Speaking of which, I've seen my cable connection hit the rated speed a few times, too.

 

[IntrinsicValue]

I agree - get FIOS if you're able to.

But assuming you're like most of us, and it's not available in your area, then I'd say go with the lowest price package available. As you've pointed out, because cable caps their speeds, the differences between cable and DSL are not that significant.

I've had good and bad experiences with both cable and DSL. In Cable, Adelphia was OK, but Time Warner is terrible. In DSL, Mindspring was pretty decent, but Earthlink and SBC Yahoo were horrendous.

So, if you have to have a house-phone, then go with a DSL+phone package. If you have to have cable TV, then go with a cable package. If you have to have both a house phone and cable TV, then go with whoever offers the lower price.

 

[dug777]

we get something called ADSL 2+ here, which is kinda fast (24/1). I have no idea what it is tho.

 

[DivideBYZero]

'Cox sucks ass'

 

[Eeezee]

If your only option is Cox, please don't use them. They are a horrible company and I wish I had an alternative in my area, but for some reason they're allowed to form trusts with other companies so that we all get screwed. I thought this was illegal and was in general a bad deal for the consumer, but I guess no one cares.

Between DSL and Cable, check comparable download rates and find the maximum value for your dollar. I guess if upload is important to you then check that too. Ask around, see which company imposes caps on bandwidth and how high these caps are set. Personally I've never used DSL, but there's really not much difference between the two when it comes down to ease of use and price.

 

[Praetor]

What areas do you guys live in that you are having such a horrid time with Cox?

 

[Beev]

Manhattan, Kansas currently.

Such atrocious service... Also, what's FiOS and FTTP?

Edit: Never mind, wikipedia ftw. FiOS isn't available in Kansas at all, though. So that's out =/

 

[Praetor]

Originally posted by: Sraaz
Manhattan, Kansas currently.

Ahh. I work in the Omaha network, I'd be more than a little pissed if you were having issues here.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Sraaz
Manhattan, Kansas currently.

Such atrocious service... Also, what's FiOS and FTTP?

Edit: Never mind, wikipedia ftw. FiOS isn't available in Kansas at all, though. So that's out =/

Im in abilene and was aggravated to find out cox *wasnt* here, but i had great service back where im from in north carolina.

i went with AT&T here, though it was a bitch to get DSL from them.

 

[Oscar1613]

Originally posted by: Praetor
What areas do you guys live in that you are having such a horrid time with Cox?

absolute crap in new orleans, altho i have problems with the tv service not the internet

 

[meltdown75]

how can this post not have a poll?

DSL

 

[JRock]

FiOS Here. 50/5 Teh epenis is growing...

 

[Praetor]

Originally posted by: Oscar1613

Originally posted by: Praetor
What areas do you guys live in that you are having such a horrid time with Cox?

absolute crap in new orleans, altho i have problems with the tv service not the internet

From what I heard second/third hand from techs from other systems that went down there, I'm not surprised.

 

[spidey07]

Cable is faster, take your pick.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Verizon FiOS, 5280 kb/s down, 1892 kb/s up. $29 a month for 6, then $35 a month.
FiOS is to DSL what DSL is to dial-up.

 

[fallensight]

I have had both. Cable is faster, but DSL will get you by unless you download a ton of files, the cable has a serious lead. Online games and general web browsing both work just fine.

I have had Cox for the last several years, and have no complaints, but then I am not in kansas either.

 

[Fritzo]

It depends. DSL is only good in areas where you're close enough to a telco central office. 15000 ft or less, you can get 1.5Mb, 11000 or less and you can get 3.0Mb, and 8000 or less and you can get 6.0Mb service. If you don't have any phone line issues, DSL is the best bang for the buck.

Cable doesn't have much of a distance limit, but it's performance is pretty inconsistant and customer service from just about any cable company is terrible. It also tends to be higher priced than DSL. However, the max speeds can be a lot higher (some places have 10Mb!).

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Verizon FiOS, 5280 kb/s down, 1892 kb/s up. $29 a month for 6, then $35 a month.
FiOS is to DSL what DSL is to dial-up.

FiOS is available in like 5% of the country. Besides, DSL from ATT is up to 6000kb/s for $34.95. Don't get your DSL/Dialup comparison.

http://www22.verizon.com/content/ConsumerFios

 

[bobdelt]

Can cox be any worse than comcast?

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: IntrinsicValue
I agree - get FIOS if you're able to.

But assuming you're like most of us, and it's not available in your area, then I'd say go with the lowest price package available. As you've pointed out, because cable caps their speeds, the differences between cable and DSL are not that significant.

I've had good and bad experiences with both cable and DSL. In Cable, Adelphia was OK, but Time Warner is terrible. In DSL, Mindspring was pretty decent, but Earthlink and SBC Yahoo were horrendous.

So, if you have to have a house-phone, then go with a DSL+phone package. If you have to have cable TV, then go with a cable package. If you have to have both a house phone and cable TV, then go with whoever offers the lower price.

Cable and DSL are VERY significant in differences. Yes, cable does cap their speed but so does DSL. IMO, it's FIOS > Cable > DSL > Dialup. Cable uses much better technology than DSL does, it can go much farther distances, etc, etc. Honestly, I'd avoid DSL if you can.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: kevnich2

Originally posted by: IntrinsicValue
I agree - get FIOS if you're able to.

But assuming you're like most of us, and it's not available in your area, then I'd say go with the lowest price package available. As you've pointed out, because cable caps their speeds, the differences between cable and DSL are not that significant.

I've had good and bad experiences with both cable and DSL. In Cable, Adelphia was OK, but Time Warner is terrible. In DSL, Mindspring was pretty decent, but Earthlink and SBC Yahoo were horrendous.

So, if you have to have a house-phone, then go with a DSL+phone package. If you have to have cable TV, then go with a cable package. If you have to have both a house phone and cable TV, then go with whoever offers the lower price.

Cable and DSL are VERY significant in differences. Yes, cable does cap their speed but so does DSL. IMO, it's FIOS > Cable > DSL > Dialup. Cable uses much better technology than DSL does, it can go much farther distances, etc, etc. Honestly, I'd avoid DSL if you can.

hmm, seems you know something about network communications?

FTTH > HFC > FTTC > fargin twisted pair

 

[Beev]

Update for today plus a question:

First off, my glorious Cox internet was down for 3 hours this evening, which is fantastic. Also, does anyone here live in the Kansas City area and use cable internet? I think what I'll probably do is just switch to a different company and stick with cable. I don't use cable tv and I don't use a landline phone (just my cell).

 

[erub]

Originally posted by: Sraaz
Update for today plus a question:

First off, my glorious Cox internet was down for 3 hours this evening, which is fantastic. Also, does anyone here live in the Kansas City area and use cable internet? I think what I'll probably do is just switch to a different company and stick with cable. I don't use cable tv and I don't use a landline phone (just my cell).

If KC is like most areas of the country, you only have one choice of cable provider. Check dslreports for information. Compare with AT&T's DSL, because I know that they are big in KC. We have pretty reliable DSL service, but then again that currently requires getting a phone line (I think, not sure if the 'naked' options are available yet). Best bet is to just call in and talk to customer service for prices and information..

 

[Anteater2]

Originally posted by: Praetor
What areas do you guys live in that you are having such a horrid time with Cox?

Wow, I was just thinking the same thing.

I've had Cox Cable here in Phoenix for over 5 years and have generally been pretty satisfied. They have their occasional outages, but they are pretty few and far between. Speed has consistently been good. Definitely nothing as terrible as what the OP has experienced in Kansas. Customer service is a mixed bag; but typically not too bad. Their digital television service, on the other hand, is fairly pathetic. :roll: