posted on September 27, 2000 10:51:18 PM
Hi Guys & Gals: I'm going to be moving my equipment and since I sell on eBay, I don't want to make a mistake by changing my connection method and jeopardizing my eBay selling by poor connections, etc. Someone told me that connecting to the internet with cable will increase speed and cost less. Any pros or cons to changing over to a cable connection rather than telephone internet connection? Thanks!
posted on September 27, 2000 11:51:51 PM
In my area,a cable connection is cheap enough to -not- consider regular telephone connection.
Cable connection is way more reliable, you won't get disconnected because of bad telephone noise or someone picking up the phone etc.
In my opinion, the regular phone line modem is a thing of the past, especially in my city: Winnipeg Canada. Almost everyone here has a cable connection and we're not a very large city ~600,000 pop.
posted on September 28, 2000 12:06:57 AM
Cable Pros: Cheaper than installing a second telephone line and using AOL. Always ON: you are connected to the Internet from the instant you boot up until you shut down. Doesn't matter if your browser is open or not. You never get kicked off. I downloaded 32 Meg program the other day and it took about 20 seconds! (195 kps - compare that against your currect 2.5 to 5.0 kps modem connection)
Cable Cons: bored wannabe hackers sit all day long PINGing various computer connections like telephone marketers use an exchange number, such as 257- and then call all the numbers inbetween. The purpose is to see what other people have, see if they can cause you trouble. Solution: download a FREE copy of ZoneAlarm firewall http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10105-101-1862134.html.
posted on September 28, 2000 04:16:46 AM
Cable is great. The cost, $39.95 per month for Time Warner Road Runner, is a tad cheaper that what we paid for a second phone line and a dial up ISP. Speeds are generally very good, even when slow for cable, it is still much faster than a phone line connection. We average about 1000 kpbs, where a phone line connection using a 56k modem is around 50 kbps if you have good phone lines.
You are always "on" or connected, unless you physically unplug the cable, so you need some type of firewall. You can do this via software or hardware. We have a home network with 3 systems, and use a hardware Router which acts as a firewall for us.
You do need to see if cable internet is available in your area. It is becoming more wide spread, but is still not everywhere.
DSL is an option in some areas as well, but the complaints about it are huge. From what I understand it is expensive as well.
We would never go back to a normal phone dial up ISP.
posted on September 28, 2000 06:00:49 AM
Road Runner service very inconsistent in this area. Access depends on their server working properly or other "line problems". Sometimes, it will go out for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or 6 to 8 hours. Would not recommend.
Tried to use last night and could get no connection for 2 hours.
posted on September 28, 2000 06:59:54 AM
Wow, that's too bad that your RR service is so poor. We've had it for not quite 2 years, and overall the service has been good. We did have some trouble this summer with outages everyday for about 3 weeks, but it was due to RR adding routers and servers etc. It was a pain while it was going on.
I'd say overall our service has been about 95%. When we used a phone line ISP, we had constant dropped connections, busy signals, corrupted downloads, missing email, you name it.
The only thing I have a constant complaint about is their news server. It has lousy retention time, and posts have a habit of not showing up at all. RR says that only 1% of their customers use the newsgroups, so I guess that makes shoddy service ok.
I use a couple of other free news servers to fill in the gaps.
posted on September 28, 2000 07:00:39 AM
Boston Area Road Runner: The internet connection is fast & reliable! However, the Email POP server SUCKS! Very UNRELIABLE! Wadda gonna do?
posted on September 28, 2000 08:10:04 AM
I was a beta tester for our local road runner service for a full year before it was released for public use.
I called the cable tech back within 2 hours of initial installation and told him that I wanted to keep the service irregardless of whether they ever opened it to the public.
There is no comparison between cable modem hook-up and an regular telephone line ISP. No comparison. I would never pay for a regular ISP again.
I find outages are few and far between - usually if road runner goes down it is due to server outages in areas they cannot control i.e, where they have bought or leased broadband from someone else. It seems like it always happens on the East Coast.
I definitely use a firewall - ZoneAlarm has worked great for me for years.
DSL is offered in our area, but you have to be within certain milage distance to the phone company. It is still fraught with problems and a lot of complaints, at least in this area. (Major city in Midwest)
Suburbia: Where they tear out all the trees and then name the streets after them!
posted on September 28, 2000 08:36:23 AM
DSL - definitely. There is virtually no competition with cable so the customer has no leverage. The phone service providers are jumping all over themselves to get business. My DSL costs $30/month with no contract and it runs at 148K (I am a long way from the CO) but I couldn't run a second phone line for that. We are seeing rates that might even go below $30 as more competition comes in. Many providers have free modem and installation deals. Our cable company can't even keep the TV signals consistent - ergo satellite competition. Look at the long term and I believe that the choice is definitely DSL if is available in your area. IMHO
posted on September 28, 2000 07:44:52 PM
Thank You Guys & Gals for your wonderful answers. The people on these boards are great and never fail!
Borillar & NetProfits2: I installed ZoneAlarm this evening. Is there anything that I should know or be especially aware of with this program?
Looks like I'll be going with cable, since I don't have DSL in this area yet. When they connect up the cable, does it require anything to be done to the computer tower or are the connections all external? What about lighting, etc? With the telephone connection, I disconnect the telephone line and unplug the computer when it starts lightning. Is this necessary or a good idea with the cable also?
posted on September 28, 2000 08:11:13 PM
One other thing about DSL (even though the starter of this thread is going the cable route)- if you're currently running a second phone line for dial up, you can likely drop it when you go to DSL. One phone line will handle always on super fast DSL, and voice, at the same time. So figure the savings of dropping the xtra phone line (typically about $20 a month) in when you consider DSL.
I have NO idea how they manage this bit of magic, but it works! I've had not a bit of trouble with my DSL- I'm never going back.
posted on September 28, 2000 08:37:03 PM
"have NO idea how they manage this bit of magic, but it works"
The digital DSL signal is "piggybacked" onto the analog signal coming out of the Central Office where your dial tone is generated. The DSL signal rides in the upper bandwidth area of the spectrum while the dialtone stays down in the lower areas of the spectrum. A splitter at the house breaks the to signals apart and routes the dial tone to your phone and DSL signal to your PC. No magic really, just some pretty cool technology.
posted on September 28, 2000 11:42:32 PM
Hi, TheFed. You really need to call up your local Cable Internet service provider for a real answer of what to expect. I will give to you a general idea.
You pay an installation fee. That covers the installer to come out to your home, open up your PC, install a yucky 10-base T network card, and set up your pc to work over their network.
On top of that, they bring an external "cable modem". This is a cute box where your regular Cable TV cable attaches to the box in one jack and network cable that comes from your now-installed network card attaches to another jack on the box. Then you need a wall-outlet to plug it in. That was all included in the installation fee.
Like Meya said, I'd never go back to a telephone ISP ever again.
As far as there being competitors for DSL because of various telephone companies, AT&T bought out all of our different cable companies in the area, plus all of the telephone companies. Now it doesn't matter what medium you use. Ma Bell is back to saying: if you don't like our service, don't use it!
posted on September 29, 2000 10:36:32 AM
Installation was free here, Charter Comm. Great service and fast! No problems at all, would hate to have to go back to the standard phone lines. Downlaods are a ZIP, posting auctions go trough super fast. Geez, love it! No downside to it, except you will need to get the firewall protection as a precaution.
posted on September 29, 2000 11:12:40 AM
I have a firewall on my Mac. I downloaded it from Intego, and paid for it online. They have just released a virus software download, and I plan to get it very soon.
posted on September 29, 2000 11:17:20 AM
I've had em all and DSL is what I am staying with. Yes, cable is faster--for downloading but my service here made surfing a real chore--never saw it so slow. Email was completely unreliabe, jeopardizing my business. We had Charter's cable with @home. When I needed tech support I waited 48 minutes on hold. They are still billing me for service that was cancelled months ago. I could go on and on but basically no one would take responsibility for any problem so no problems were ever resolved.
My DSL is less expensive, and has been a dream since day one!! Instant tech support and consistent reliability.
Before you decide talk to customers in your area for references--its a pain to change again and again.
[ edited by jadejim on Sep 29, 2000 11:18 AM ]
posted on September 29, 2000 09:39:36 PM
I am a network administrator for my company. As to DSL being preferable because you get 148k for $30/mo and you have no "leverage" against the cable company, that's just silly.
Here in NJ I pay around $39/mo for what routinely is 3200k.
There is nothing on the horizon in DSL technology that even approaches the ability of a wire the size of your pinky. Cable is usually carried on an unused channel. If more and more people subscribe they can just add another channel. When a DSL DSLAM is oversubscribed, it's "sorry Charlie".
In short:
cable install and service and DSL install and service all are filled with horror stories, but cable is probably less and where offered is MUCH faster for the same bucks.
Anyone who says Cable or DSL is "More reliable" than a phone line is crazy. More reliable means outage and both of these services have 10 times the outages of a phone ISP (even a poor one). Your computer disconnecting is rarely caused by the phone line or the ISP. Usually the problem is software settings and or the "winmodem" in most loss-leader computers.
Both cable and DSL are constantly under attack by outside computers, so firewalls and or a router is a must. You would be amazed at how many times your computer gets pinged by other computers!
If you absolutely rely on connectivity, you also have to keep a dial-up ISP account. You have to add this to your total costs, because you'll need it every month or 2 when DSL or CABLE systems have "upgrades", outages, etc that last a day or 2. Still worth it and not easily justified unless you've experienced 3200k/sec.
posted on September 29, 2000 11:16:02 PM
I'm having a cable put in on Wednesday, so thanks everyone for your input. Could you explain a litte more about why I need a firewall? Also, I assume that if I buy a new computer, I'll need to have the network card installed on it too?
posted on September 29, 2000 11:47:28 PM
Firewalls, either as software or hardware (router) are needed with cable or dsl because your connection is live all the time and hence the nettwork address assigned to your computer stays the same and is accessible from the outside. If you install a router like the linksys cable router ($150.00) the router has as its' external address (the one the cable assigns) the "public" address, your computer on the other hand gets a "private" address which is not accessible from the outside because the router will not allow it. Another benefit is that you can hook up 3 other computers (or 7 if you get the 8 port model) and they will be networked together and ALL will have the same speed access to the internet. Your computers must have network cards installed.
DSL modems sometimes are offered as internal cards or USB connected models, but these are going bye-bye and most require a network card also.
Don't be afraid to add the Linksys router, an idiot could install it with the directions/software/techsupport they offer. Also cable companies want to charge you if you hook up add'l computers, and this allows you to do it yourself at no add'l fees.
Tony
posted on September 30, 2000 04:43:48 AM
The Linksys Cable/DSL 4 port router is great! We have a hardware firewall from it, each system gets it's own IP, and the whole sheebang runs great! We had our home network set up first, and adding the router took about 15-20 minutes, easy as pie. We are completely hidden on the web, which is the main reason we went with the router.
posted on September 30, 2000 08:47:31 AM
I went with Mindspring Max DSL (now Earthlink) after investigating all the options in my area. Besides the added benefit of being able to keep my old email address, I am not limited in speed like other DSL provider plans. For example, Verison offers DSL for $39 a month but the maximum speed you will recieve is 640Kbps. Mindspring is $49 a month and there is no forced limit.
DSL's speed varies based on how far you are from the phone company's CO switch. I'm lucky enough to live a block away from mine so I am usually getting 1.2 Mbps for just $10 more.
Another bonus for my $10 more is they provide me with unlimitted dialup access for roaming and as a backup if/when my DSL takes a nap.
A great source of cable and DSL information can be found at [link]http://www.dslreports.com[/link]
posted on September 30, 2000 07:36:28 PM
I just had cable hooked up a week ago. There's no way I'll ever go back to dial-up service. I was constantly loosing the connection and talk about S-L-O-W !
My phone line was always tied up and I'd fall asleep in my chair waiting for a page to download. Now I'm able to get some work done. The dial-up service was $20.00 a month plus the phone line tied up. The cable connection is $28.00 a month if you also subscribe to their cable TV service. Best deal I've seen in a while. I love not having to log on too, but I must get a firewall installed. If you have a choice, cable is the way to go, even if it costs more.
posted on September 30, 2000 09:07:50 PM
mentechy -- "the added benefit of being able to keep my old email address"
The METHOD you connect to the internet has nothing to do with a mail account. If you pay an ISP, you can get to an account on their mail server.
Also, I have never heard of "wide open" DSL. While the MAXIMUM speed offered is a factor of your distance from the DSLAM, all providers offer different rates for different "committed" speeds. A DSLAM that can have a 100 768K connections could have 200 384K connections. While the same wire is used the provider's software limits the throughput. If tomorrow you want to go to 768K from 384K you just make a phone call and 2 days later you are at 768K. This is the "committed" rate which can be slower that the occasional "burst rate". And unless Mindspring has invented something different (and Mindspring is just the ISP, the DSL provider is somebody else!) this is how it works.
If you download a 20K file the rate could be 1meg, but download a 20meg file and you have a better indication of the line average.
eastwest --- "?????????Don't be afraid to add the Linksys router?"
After the cable company/DSL provider hooks you up you buy and plug in the Linksys (or SMC or Netgear or ETC) cable/DSL Router and run the software. Now you can have 4 or 8 computers all use the same connection at the same speed, and all are safe from attack from people penetrating the Cable/DSL network (which is practically the whole planet, BELIEVE IT.)
Tony
posted on October 5, 2000 08:15:37 PM
Well, I got my cable hookup. It's not lightening fast, because a lot of sites serve up the files slowly. But it blazes for file downloads and is very fast uploading too. I transfer a lot of large files (mp3) and download a lot of shareware, so it's great. I can finally listen to streaming audio like www.winamp.com. Definitely worth the extra 50 cents a day, plus I get my phone back. Now I'll look into that firewall stuff. Thanks for the info.
posted on October 5, 2000 11:55:25 PM
I have to put my vote in for DSL service. I'm quite happy with it. In the last few days I've had a bonus. I pay for 768k speed but the transfer rates have continually increased every night for the last three nights.
Tonight I tested it and it was around 920k. I'm not complaining. Finally, I'm getting more for what I paid for.
