Cable or DSL?

[larva]

Larva, if Verizon is my phone company and AOL leases from Verizon, isn't having AOL DSL the same as having Verizon DSL? I mean, in terms of speed, latency, etc...?

Wouldn't the only difference be AOL's internet features over Verizon's? Like, how many e-mail adresses you get, what the home page looks like. Basically the cosmetic stuff, since both are using Verizon phone lines?

Third party DSL providers lease only the physical line from your house to the DSLAM from the phone company. From there it's their own network. AOL is just plain poor, I can't recomend you deal with them for any reason. It's time to make the break and go with a real ISP. If you wish to rely on luck, go with ATT. If you want a good stable connect, go with Verizon. As pointed out before ATT's residential package is capped at 1.5Mb, so the chances of it outperforming Verizon's 1.5Mb DSL are slim and none, and slim just left town.

 

[Nightingale]

well I have road runner and I just use a router and share the connection over my network and it works awsome even with three computeres downloading,surfing,etc.

 

[SLO]

Back in the Bay Area I used SBC DSL. In short, horrible, overpriced, but better than dialup. It always goes down, has frequent periods of slow speed, etc...

Down in San Luis Obispo I've been using Charter Cable. Much cheaper, much more reliable, and seems just as fast and sometimes faster. I haven't experienced any slow downs that are "ever so common" with high usage.

In short, I'm much happier with my cable service. Unfortunately it is not available in my area in Sunnyvale.

 

[EmTSea19]

I narrowed it down to AOL or Verizon. I know so many of you hate AOL, but I've not had one problem with them in 5 years of dial up service. Verizon is good since it's the more direct route. I am definitely not going to go with cable unless the DSL does not work.

I am thinking of getting the new Wireless G Router from Linksys. Might be a little overkill now, but good for future use.

 

[BigJk-47]

I have AOL HIGH SPEED by Verizon.For the $26 extra its well worth it .768/256 I beleive.
WARNING : IF YOU PLAN TO PLAY XBOX OR PS2 ONLINE WITH AOL IT IS NOT POSSIBLE.
Thats the only drawback.Most online games I ping in the 60's.
Downloads are usually 85-115K a sec and Uploads are a dysmal 12K a second.
Overall Its an excellent service,but If I had any say in it I would switch to verizon completely because the AOL software is just LAME. The total package with verizon is only 39.99 a month I think but with the AOL combo its like 48 dollars.

Verizon has 2 plans ...768/256 and a 1.5mb/768 .I

 

[dagamore]

if you go to cable, get a linksys 4 port switch cable/dsl router, it has a decent Firewall built in, and the setup is blindingly easy, i mean my dad could follow it and he is old, like in his 70's and got his house networked with verry little help from me . and with the cable dsl router you can plug right in 4 computers and use just one access id/ipaddres/computer name from at&t. hope this helps.

 

[Capt Fiero]

I am on Shaw Cable, Northwest Canada, my rated speeds are

5mbit download
1.5 mbit upload

I usually get 500-1000kB downloads from large servers
Uploads are pretty crappy 50-100kB are the norm.

It really depends on your neighberhood (SP) As little as 20km away makes a huge diffrence around here. Where I live Cable is tiwce as fast as dsl on average.

But if you go a few towns away the speed flip flops and the DSL is faster.

 

[bterry13]

Thanks everyone for your opinions, I really appreciate it.

After doing a little research:

* With cable, your neighbors can actually access your files. You are sharing the service with neighbors, and it is possible.

*Depending on how many users are in your area, speed is not a certainty with cable either.

* Cable wants a certain fee, I think it's $9.95 or so, for each computer you have on your network.

*No extra fee to have more computers on AOL. I think you can have as many computers as you have screen names for one account.

*Like I said, I hate my cable company. They are a pain. I already 'have to' deal with them about my cable, I don't want to add another hassle.

* DSL is more secure, even if by a little bit. Plus, no sharing your connection with your neighbors.

* AOL is only about $5.00 more than Verizon.

So, I am going to stick with AOL and upgrade to their DSL service.

People can't access your files on cable easier than any other connection. Your cable is shared, but it's not like there in your Network Places or something. Cable only charges that extra fee if you have them split the cable. Otherwise, you can just network the computers for free.

On a personal note, I never see speed changes during "peak" hours, and I live in Indianapolis suburbs.

Most likely you will have better download speeds with cable and better upload speeds with DSL.