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How noticeable is the difference between a 768kb connection and a 1.5Mb one?

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Tipycol

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Thinking about getting DSL, and was wondering how the two speeds compare and if that $10 is worth it.
 
Hey, welcome to the club. I'm thinking of getting DSL too.

Luckily, the deluxe package here advertises speeds of "768-1.5 mbps" on the same connection :) What are the connection options of your local provider?
 
Well my options are AOL, Verizon, or DirecTV, which runs off Verizon ;) so I don't have a lot of options.
I'm not even sure if I can even get the 1.5Mb connection. AOL offers 768 at $40 and 1.5 at $50, but I'm not sure if I want AOL. Verizon offers the 768 for $50 and 1.5Mb for $60, but a DirecTV test told me I could only get a 768 one. Still either way, the Verizon hub (is that right?) is only a quarter mile from my house. I just plan to do a lot of downloading (good thing too since upload is only 128).
 
So it's that noticeable then? I guess I'll look into getting that connection, just not absolutely sure if I'm gonna get dsl yet :(
 
for surfing regular web pages - no noticable difference

for web pages with big flash graphics or similar - slightly noticable but not worth the $10 month.

for small downloads - 1-10MB AT FULL SPEED* - definately noticable but not worth $10 a month

for medium downloads - 10-60MB AT FULL SPEED* - definately noticable and POSSIBLY worth the $10 a month

for large downloads - 60MB and up AT FULL SPEED* - definately noticable and worth the $10 a month

* - by full speed I mean downloads that can saturate your connection to the fullest - like downloading a service pack from Microsoft.com or something. From some web sites downloads can be slow but most sites are good.

It all depends how much downloading you are going to do. If you will be surfing only with the ocasional 5MB download, it's not worth it in my opinion. If on the other hand if you will be downloading big files - like Linux CDs - spend the $10.
If you are a gamer and do a lot of gaming online (or plan to) there are some DSL companies that provide a special type of connection that is not so fast but provides faster responce and faser uploads, which should help gaming (that is what I have heard but it would be better to confirm that before ordering)

And lastly, from my persional experience:
At first I was on the slower connection. I had a lot of problems - interuption of sevice, slow speeds for extended period of time etc. Since I upgraded to the faster speed - no problrems.

I hope this helps.
 
I know to double it it's worth it, I just wanted to know if I would actually see a difference. I think I fall into petreza's large download category (even on 56k ;)), so I think I'll take the option, if I get dsl
 
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