cable or wireless internet. which would you choose and why?

okay, here's my story.

I've been w/ my local Comcast service since day one and I've seen many ups and downs with my service. but the problem is, lately I've been seeing more downs (as in downtown) than I'd like to see so I've been checking into other broadband alternatives.

so I recently talked to one of my buddies who has a local, wireless high-speed service through one of the local companies in our area. the company offers several packages depending on what kind of bandwidth is needed. the one that I have my eye on is their 3MB down/1MB up for $65/month. my local Comcast service is 6MB down/384K up for $42.95/month.

so my question is, do you guys think that I should tell Comcast where to go and go w/ the wireless service and enjoy the much nicer upload pipe w/ them vs the much slower upload w/ Comcast? my buddy who uses the wireless service said that their uptime has been right at 95% and he also said that his ping rates are as good, if not better than when he was using Comcast.

so what do you guys think? go with the wireless setup and enjoy the higher pipeline with very, very good uptime or should I stick w/ Comcast and put up with all of their BS?

Wireless, IMO, is definitely on its way to the top. Its just getting better and better. If it were me, I would definitely go wireless; especially, if you get better uptime and see less downtime.

There's a lot more to consider than what you see. First, I would call up comcast and complain... at worst, you'll get a decent explination of why you've been down so much, at best, you could end up getting a little bit of free service, or a technician out to check on your location, or if enough people complain, a revamp of your neighborhood's network (depending on what the issues that caused the downtime are).

Next, wireless usually requires quite a bit of extra equipment, and setup charges for it, along with installation of external antennas.

Also, I'm not sure where you are from, but in a few months it will be winter here.. in winter, it snows. Snow, like rain or fog, shatters RF signals. If you are not close to the AP, then during storms, you will probably lose service. Also, when the snow land on trees, that will also cause a degredation in service.

What kind of wireless is it? 2.4GHz, 5GHz, private band, microwave, optical, etc?
If it's 2.4GHz or 5GHz, then it's very possible that other things can and will interfere with it. If it's private band, then you may also have to pay fees for broadcasting on that channel. Microwave is usually decent, but requires a line of sight to a tower. Optical will reqiure line of site to a tower, will break easily in bad weather, and requires precise alignment.

Understand that wireless is a shared medium, everyone connected must share that channel.. you will get higher pings because of this (and the inherent CDMA/CA system it uses).

You will also be paying considerably more, and getting half the speed. I'd probably stick with your cable, or see what kinds of DSL packages are out there. Wireless is not to be considered a stable connection, even if it is more stable than your cable.

^ thanks for the above info, it was very helpfull.

the wireless service will be coming from this company which is a company thats in my local area.

I'm not sure what type of wireless service it is but I do know that it will be running from a local cell site tower that I can see from my back yard. I'd say the tower is probably 1/2 at most from my house.

the service has a mandatory $199 installation fee which I'm sure isnt refundable should I change my mind. I just dont know if I should tell Comcast to go to hell once and for all or if I should just take their frequent outtages like a man and suck it up.

Complain to comcast!

Also, there's a 2-year contract when you go wireless at the monthly prices you quoted. 2 Years is a long time, and they probably have fairly stiff penalties about breaking out of the contract. That link gives next to no information about it

I would talk to your friend.. bring over your computer, or take over his computer for a while, boot around on it, play games, etc. See what the lag is like, what the bandwidth is like, noticeable issues, etc. Ask him if there are slowdowns during peak hours, etc.

What kind of setup does your friend have? I imagine it's a dish mounted on the exterrior of his house pointed at the tower? If this is the case, it's probably microwave that they use. If you were to install it, you would need line of sight to the tower (doesn't sound like a problem).

I know some wireless up here can be a PITA... having to go and brush the snow off your dish (although, in Florida, I doubt you have that problem very often). Beware of any trees that, over the course of 2 years, may grow into your line of sight.

thanks again. unfortunately though, my friend who uses this type of connection wouldnt allow me to play games because this is his business that I am refering to.

the company placed some sort of antenna on the corner of his business' building. the antenna is like 18" tall if not much more than that.

as far as complaining to Comcast goes, thats next to useless because Comcast could care less if/when I am happy or not. they know that they are the 800 lb gorilla in our area so therefore they could care less.

I use Cablevision, which is another 800 pound gorilla however, I find them to be very responsive to complaints and rectifying them. If I ever get someone who is not responsive I just call back and get someone else. I would be very reluctant to spend considerably more for wireless from a company who's service could even be worse and has you locked in for 2 years.

Knowing friends who work at large ISP call centers around here, if you call up your ISP and complain, the tier1 techs don't usually have the ability to do too much, but they can certainly identify the problem and action a solution (it could be as easy as weak signals or faulty wiring), if they are unresponsive, you can get the call escelated to a supervisor just by asking (they may have a checklist of things to do before that happens though).

The supervisor should respond if you tell them that you have had an unacceptable amount of downtime, and demand an explination. They will likely be able to give you better reasons for it, aswell as more authority to look into it if it is abnormal. (If it's normal, then your ISP has a big problem).

After that there's usually a manager that you can get escelated to, but you probably won't get there, and if you do, it won't be for a technical problem.

Talk to your neighbors.. see if they are experiencing a similar problem. If not, then it's probably something to do with your wiring, modem, or network. If you get a repair tech sent out, have a chat with them about your problems... they've seen it all and will be able to tell you what your problem is, and probably help you fix it on the spot.

Have you thought to check and see if they have Fiberoptic in your area yet? Yeah Comcast sucks and it sucks everywhere they are.Fiber is the wave of the future until the can make wireless bulletproof from attack.

I was having the same trouble with charter for a few months and finally lost all connection for the whole month of october. I had massive down time everyday spoke to 12 techs and 4 supervisors to no avail. Filed a complaint with the BBB and within 7 days of the complaint the blade in my neighborhood was repaired an appology and a month of free internet. Keep calling and if your not satisfied keep bitching till you are! I almost cancelled but my only other option was a 1.5MBPS DSL connection, didn't want to go that route. So far so good, but i'll give it a little more time before i'm completely satisfied.

BigDan3131 said:

Have you thought to check and see if they have Fiberoptic in your area yet? Yeah Comcast sucks and it sucks everywhere they are.Fiber is the wave of the future until the can make wireless bulletproof from attack.

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Most US cable providers have fiber backbones and feeders, but not fiber to the premise. Europe is leading the way to have fiber to the premise, and there is small progress in the US market, mainly testing.

jajmon said:

Most US cable providers have fiber backbones and feeders, but not fiber to the premise. Europe is leading the way to have fiber to the premise, and there is small progress in the US market, mainly testing.

Click to expand...

Some new condos will do this, but the downside is that it's included in your condo fees, and you can't buy internet from anywhere else, meaning your stuck with potentially horrible internet, if everyone in your condo abuses it.