Re: DSL versus cable

I have the same setup as Kirk.  I tried both DSL & Cable at the same time.
 Cable download was a bit faster than DSL, but DSL seemed to be more
consistent with the download speed (yes, the cable speed does bog down
occasionally, and there have been several interruptions in the Toronto
area with Rogers Cable, major lines cut sometimes so you're down for
several hours - which I would not expect with DSL as the phone companies
tend to take service outages more seriously - but it does seem to have
improved a lot in the last few months, probably since Rogers were
threatened with a class action suit for lousy performance/reliability).
What I didn't like about DSL was the annoying "dial-up" scenario with the
PPPoE, which would often "disconnect".  I was however about to return the
cable modem and keep DSL until I noticed that with DSL Windows Media
Player could not access CD information over the Internet, but it always
worked with the cable modem.  A minor problem maybe, but I called support,
explained the situation, and they said the "don't support Windows Media
Player".  (This was Bell Canada's Sympatico High Speed Edition).  I asked
what they meant by not supporting it - wasn't I just getting a pipe to the
Internet - I didn't ask for any "support" for it.  Got me wondering what
else wouldn't work.  That, plus the fact I had Cable TV anyway with the
same company (and Cellular service) and therefore could get a discounted
rate (I didn't have Bell Canada for long distance so couldn't get a
discount deal with them), swung the decision in favour of the cable modem.

Oh, one more thing I noticed with DSL.  Despite (or maybe because of) the
filters you need to install on all your phones, I found that when I had to
use a modem dial up occasionally (like direct dial into a PPP modem on my
400) tha tthe connection speed was lower than it was before I had DSL
installed.
No doubt the filters chop the bandwidth off for the "voice" connections,
and therefore limit the connection speed you can get for a dial-up modem
connection when DSL is installed on the same line.  Might also be a
problem for those using the same line for a fax machine.

...Neil





Kirk Yates <kirk.yates@usa.net>
Sent by: midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com
2002/02/25 11:41
Please respond to midrange-nontech


        To:     midrange-nontech@midrange.com
        cc:
        Subject:        DSL versus cable


Chuck Lewis wrote:

> What does this really mean - I'm hosed unless I go the cable route ?
>
> Thanks !
>
> Chuck

I use cable for my high speed access.  I haven't had any problems with it,
and I share the
connection with two computers in my house.  DSL is not available in my
area

A couple of friends of mine have DSL.  Initially they had a lot of
problems getting everything
working, but I think all the issues were resolved for them.

Speed wise, they seem to be about the same.  We've tested using
http://www.speedus.com/default.asp  Both solutions are a LOT better than a 
normal dial up line.