Thread: DSL vs. Cable
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Old 05-12-2003, 12:12 PM   #5 (permalink)
Lasereth
Knight of the Old Republic
 
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Location: Winston-Salem, NC
All I can tell about is my experiences; most people have different experiences with each type of Internet.

I currently have DSL, and there is mainly one huge advantage of DSL over Cable: it's ease of networking. I simply plug the DSL Modem/Router into my hub, and three PCs into the hub; there ya go, 3 computers instantly on the internet. DSL is usually capped at a certain speed in most areas; it's capped at around 150 kilobytes per second where I live. Well, for browser downloads anyway. P2P is a different story. I've downloaded at over 1 megabye per second on KaZaA with DSL, and even had a few "freak" browser downloads that have went up to 17 megabytes per second. I pay $50.00 per month for unlimited bandwidth and unlimited IPs (allowing as many computers as you need on a network, all sharing DSL).

My mother has Cable. The main advantage of Cable over DSL is that its usually capped higher than DSL. The Cable service at my mother's allows 500 kilobytes per second browser downloads. Networking is another issue with Cable, however. DSL was basically plug and play with networking; it took a TON of money and a LOT of time to get Cable shared simply over a 2-port network. I had to buy a router for it, and even after getting it installed correctly, the Cable provider was being bitchy about IP sharing and said it would not work. Well, after tweaking the router a lot, I finally got both computers on the network at my mother's on Cable Internet. MUCH more complicated and harder than DSL to configure. Cable also rarely has freak downloads and rarely goes over the allotted bandwidth on KaZaA and other P2P programs. My mother pays $50.00 per month for her Cable Internet.

If I had to choose between the two, it would be a very hard decision. If you're not into networking, then definitely go Cable. If you have any idea that you may set up a home network, I'd go DSL. If you are a big time P2P user, I'd also choose DSL. They both load webpages instantly; no differences there.

Either way, you gotta get one of them! Dial-Up is a thing of the past, and anyone who can afford DSL or Cable and happens to be in the range of a server should subscribe immediately.

-Lasereth
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