I don't know where to post this, so I'll just leave it here...

[Iamghey]

I'm currently using a cable connection and I'm think about switching to adsl or satellite. My questions are, would an adsl/sat. connection be worse than cable? Which is more stable and has low steady pings? I think my connection right now is great, I'm always connected, and I have pretty low pings in games.

[AntiHeiss]

In that situation, personally I'd keep the cable over a sat. and definately over adsl.

You'll probably be moved to the Internet and Networking section, seeing as you may get some better responces over there.

[XprincoX]

Wellz if ur satisfied with ur connection why change it? :D Tho for cable, the connection latency does fluctuate greatly based upon the number of users on the network at the time... And sat definitely cost more than cable. :burn:

[Diggrr]

Ping times for gaming sucks on a satelite. (fortunately, I don't game)

I have a DirecPC system. The signal goes out through the 56K modem, to the game server, then to the satelite center (mines in Chicago) 26 miles into space, then back down to me.
My buddy has the same system, and he gets killed alot before he even see's someone else in the room. (Quake 3 arena)

A dipstick using a cheat is even more troublesome, cause you can never strafe 'em...they're just too fast.

Stick to cable, love your cable. Be glad you don't live in the sticks.:D

[Yodums]

Diggrr has it.

Sat takes alot longer to process and it is usually only necessary when your isolated somewhere in the country :D

How good is your cable doing? Cable rules!

Yodums

[Iamghey]

My connection's great. But the problem is I'm getting a dish and gonna watch sat. tv, that means no more cable (tv).. and if I want to keep my cable connection, it'll cost me 10 bucks more. It's either 10 bucks more or adsl... is adsl really that bad??? It's not a shared line, shouldn't it be faster?

[mbigna]

Originally posted by Iamghey
My connection's great. But the problem is I'm getting a dish and gonna watch sat. tv, that means no more cable (tv).. and if I want to keep my cable connection, it'll cost me 10 bucks more. It's either 10 bucks more or adsl... is adsl really that bad??? It's not a shared line, shouldn't it be faster? Ahhh, now we see your dilemma! Actually xDSL usually gives you the benefit of 'owning' all the bandwidth you pay for. There shouldn't be any slowdowns because too many people are on your line. Your ping times should be better as well. HOWEVER, DSL service can vary GREATLY from provider to provider. AND you must live within approx. 2 miles of a central office (or CO--from where the phone company's phone lines originate). The further away your lines are, the slower your maximum service will be. It is also (usually) easier to get a fixed IP (if you want to set up your own server) with DSL than it is with cable--though if you leave your router on all the time, your IP should not change for either service.

[Iamghey]

hmm.... I live pretty close to the fone company, maybe I'll go with adsl... What does the A in adsl stand for? And how many Mbs is a cable connection?

[mbigna]

Originally posted by Iamghey
hmm.... I live pretty close to the fone company, maybe I'll go with adsl... What does the A in adsl stand for? And how many Mbs is a cable connection? The 'A' stands for Asymmetric as opposed to 'S' which stands for Symmetric. Asymmetric would be something like 384K downstream/128K upstream (different speeds) whereas symmetric would be 768K up/downstream (same speeds). For general surfing, 128K upstream is usually sufficient, but if you are serving or uploading large files often, you may want to opt for more.

If you live close with clean lines, you can achieve near T1 speeds (1.5M/sec), but you will pay for it! I will be getting SDSL 768/768 soon for $45/month through TDS Metrocom. My line is already live, but they have yet to ship my modem (waiting....waiting....waiting....)

Cable connections can vary greatly from provider to provider. Sometimes speeds are intentionally capped at a certain speed, sometimes not. When uncapped, cable speeds can be humongous. But cable speed tends to vary throughout the day depending on the current load (number of concurrent users).