 
AHBAC
join:2000-06-12
USA |  Re: Cable winning the speed race
| |
|  | 
twodaend
The Eye Of The Tiger
join:2000-08-05
Alsip, IL
|  Re: Cable winning the speed race
| |
| | | | | | Anon | Hearing that DSL was more consistent in speed was a good reason why i tried it.. First i tried earthlink dsl which was terrible since i discovered a protocol called PPPoE and sadly is becomming the unofficial standard. Switched to GTE which is a lot better but now in two weeks i'm switching to @Home Comcast for it's awesome d/l speed.. Although i won't be killing as many people in Half-Life i'll have a faster time doing my job.
I'd rather share a cable then be under that evil PPPoE protocol. | |
| 
wheelert$93
T L C
ExMod 2002
join:2000-06-01
Lynden, ON
| It's highly possible that the cable companies are more in tune with what's going on in the broadband world, and are quicker to fix possible problems before they get out of hand. I know our cable company here is far easier to deal with than the telco. Telco's take note..... If cable ever gets into the phone business, you're sunk! Of course, that could be the reason, too. Cable companies don't bite off more than they can chew......
"Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings. They did it by killing all those who opposed them." | |
| | jeffbrantley
join:2000-03-24
Ballwin, MO
| Re: Cable winning the speed race
1. The existing network of cable is generally of higher quality than the copper pairs which can be really really old. Though that is one thing that makes DSL innovators far superior to Cable, using technology that has been around for a lot longer to provide comparable service.
2. The cable modem drive started an internet lifetime before DSL. Once DSL settles down to standards (not lame ones like G.Lite, real standards) and you can go into Best Buy and see an Alcatel 1000 sitting next to the USRobotics Cable Modem, I believe DSL will have achieved a much more respectable standing. However, I also believe the technologists thinking up these broadband solutions need to have a pretty rapid plan for new technology to out-do the soon to be standards.
Things like VDSL and giving each cable user a channel of their own should only be the tip of the iceberg. Until browsing the web works as fast as we can click the broadband offerings must diversify and multiply. | |
| | | 
willardk
Mod 2000-03
join:1999-12-02
Jackson Heights, NY | G.lite is here to stay Its filterless, self installable and Covad and the Baby Bell's are in the middle to switching to it....almost done in many areas. Sooooo 1.5 max download for newer DSL is gonna be the furture....
aren't the telcos smart.
Will | |
| | | | jeffbrantley
join:2000-03-24
Ballwin, MO
| Re: G.lite is here to stay Like I said, to remain competitive, DSL companies must not limit themselves by considering something like G.lite ok as long as they can reach a few more people at less cost.
Phone companies will start placing fiber farther into the loop thus reducing the copper loop lengths for all. When the average user has a copper loop of less than 2000 feet, G.lite won't make any sense. Anything that puts that narrowminded a limit, no matter what the convenience, will not "be here to stay". | |
| | | | |
willardk
Mod 2000-03
join:1999-12-02
Jackson Heights, NY
| Re: G.lite is here to stay I guess only time will tell. But here's is another point to this argument. Supporters of DSL have always claimed the the Baby Bells having the resources that have could repsond to market better. Change equipment on a need basis. I disagree they are more like dinosours moving very slowly and once moving in a certain direction very apt to saty in that direction. I think G.lite is the defacto standard because of this....
The choice of comunnication is based on the equipment at the CO...and in case the only thing available is G.lite. | |
| | 
Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
| Not trying to be a nay sayer, but I will be curious to see if the edge holds 24/7 once there is a significant number of cable modem subscribers. This of couse a system to system, not necessarily network issue.
-Hayward
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West) | |
| marx1
join:2000-07-16
Fairfield, CA | I have 784/392K SDSL service with Phoenix/Northpoint. I get a steady 900k/s down and 700k/s up.... Either it's my 9,000 feet from the CO or I'm just lucky | |
| | 
djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA | Re: Cable winning the speed race Shhh! They probably didn't provision your line properly. Cable providers are notoriously bad about this, too. | |
| | jrn
join:2000-03-20
Milwaukee, WI
| No, you aren't just lucky. I have SDSL 784/784 through Megapath/Northpoint and get very consistent uploads and downloads near 80+ KBytes/second. Thats pretty darn close to reaching full bandwidth usage in both directions. I'm about 12,000 ft away from the CO.
Very good if you ask me. BTW, my roomate now has cable through Road Runner, and his download speeds are great, but the upload speed kinda sucks. | |
| | | 
jaykaykay
4 Ever Young
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-13
Scottsdale, AZ
 ·Speakeasy
| Re: Cable winning the speed race Hmmmmm. Something fishy here with my connection. I have 768/384 ADSL (which is really SDSL and was sold as such) with Speakeasy/Covad, and my download/upload speeds are nowhere near those that have been mentioned above. I am also 12,000 feet from the CO, and the best I can do is a little over 700Kbps for a download, and that's an ftp transfer to and from my ISP. My downloads quite often are in the 400 to 500Kbps range, tho on a good day, they can be in the 600's. That's with an ftp transfer tho. Regular downloads are nowhere near that good, especially after accounting for overhead, and my best speed test from DSLR took place today from the Eastcoast server of 656000 (down) / 568000 (up) bps. You guys are really getting some good connections and must be routed wonderfully. I have been looking into switching to cox@home due to my horrible DSL experience re: reliability and speed. I would be envious if I were that type of person.
JKK )
If I can't stay young, I can at least stay immature! | |
| | | | | Anon |  Re: Cable winning the speed race
"Just say NO to Digital Sucker Lines!!"
pRoxCee. | |
| | bgetchel
join:2000-07-05
Waterbury, CT
 ·Charter Pipeline
·Comcast
| As some may know, I'm VERY pleased with my SBC DSL service. I have 1.5/384 and get every bit of that, minus about 15% for the "overhead." My downloads are rock-solid consistent at 160kB/sec and uploads between 35-40kB/sec 24/7/365. All of this for $39.95 per month (plus tax).
I love it **SO** much that I ordered a SECOND, identical DSL line (just received the DSL modem yesterday) and plan on BINDING BOTH connections in a Win2000 or Linux router system to aggregate the bandwith into a single 3Mbps/768Kbps connection. If this works well, I have two more lines (SOHO) that I can add that will give me a total of 6Mbps/1.5Mbps for an el-cheapo $160 per month.
I LOVE this thing! | |
| | | Anon | Hopefully by 900k you mean 900 kilobits....*smile*
Either way it goes...you would be better off with cable....get out of the slow lane pal.
"Just say NO to Digital Sucker Lines!!!"
pRoxCee. | |
| | Anon | I am using ADSL in BC, Canada. I retired my cable modem
after one year to try ADSL, and believe I will be keeping
it. My provider uses the same backbone as Telus.net, so
speed is comparable to them.
On peak performance, cable is faster than ADSL, make no
mistake about that, both up and down. Trouble is, peak
performance is not consisitent.
ADSL, while a little slower than Cable at its peak, offers
a consistent connection with constant speed, up and down.
Cable would often go up over 320 KB/sec (3.0 Mbps) downstream, and hover around 50 KB/sec (400 Kbps) upstream.
ADSL gives a steady 240 KB/Sec (2.2 Mbps) down, and a very consistent 35 KB/sec (300 Kbps) upstream. I am located about 1.5 miles of telephone wire from the CO.
The drop in overall speed is more than compensated for by
the consistency of the connection, in my opinion.
Cost of ADSL is slightly higher, but should the Cable Co. ever start charging for cable modems, the price will be almost exactly the same.
I don't want to say cable was bad, because the opposite was
true, the service was very good. Not all users will agree,
but usage on my local loop was low, so speeds were high.
For my highspeed dollar, I have to say "ADSL". | |
| | | | | | Anon | Re: Cable winning the speed race Interesting.
I guess we've got it pretty good up here in the North.
Its 64.95/month (CDN $) including 5 IP's, 10 hours of
dialup access, and 10 gigs of transfer/month, which so
far has not been monitored.
Given that DSL service in the U.S is slower and also
charged in USD$, I could see why it would require some
thought before deciding.
-Doug | |
| 
jseymour8
join:2000-07-29
| My main problem with cable (besides the fact that my local cable company is
Comcast--more on that later) is that with cable you don't get to choose your
ISP. True, with xDSL I'm stuck with a TelCo for local-loop service. But
after that: I get to choose not only my ISP, but my CLEC as well.
Comcast@Home cable is a perfect example of the problem. As many here know:
Comcast@Home recently changed their service agreement to prohibit VPNing
between home and office. I wouldn't have a big problem with that if
they offered a "business-/professional-level" deal for a reasonable price.
But what they want you to do is sign up for @Work--a hideously
expensive proposition! And if you don't like their choices: tough.
So even though the only xDSL available in my area right now is IDSL--limiting
me to 144k up/down--I'll stick with xDSL, thank you very much. | |
| | | 
mayniac2
join:2000-04-27
Lehigh Acres, FL
clubs:
| I have 1.5Mb/384K DSL service now. Next year, sometime, my cable company, Adelphia, is going to start offering cable modem service. There are two problems though. Number one, I already have DSL that I am happy with. I get very good speed and the latency, while not great, is acceptable. Number two, the cable modem service is one-way, meaning I will still have to have a dial-up modem for uploads. Why should I even bother with cable when DSL in my area is much more advanced. There is cable modem service from another cable company, MediaOne, but that is spotty, worse than DSL here, and it is also only one-way. | |
| 
ronnieg56$
Premium
join:2000-03-22
Brooklyn, NY
| I am in Brooklyn, New York. I do not know if cable systems are run the same way across the country as they are here. The problem here is that the two or three cable companies in the NYC area own franchises to the areas they serve. I know that I will_never_be able to get RoadRunner from Time Warner, not that I actually want them, because they are not allowed to sell their services in my neighborhood. I have cable TV from Cablevision which has their largest customer base in Long Island. So, most all of Long Island now has Optimum Cable, their cable ISP trademark, but all other areas that they service, including Northern NJ, don't even have a due date when service would even be available. And if they do come to where I am, I would have to hope they install/invest in an adequate system because of the party-line vs. bandwidth operation of cable. I subscribe to Speakeasy/Covad here and I pay top dollar for a top dollar company. I am not that concerned with upload speed as I am with d/l speed so I have RADSL service 1.5/384. I am only 4400 ft. from my CO so I get most of what I pay for and I will most probably shun cable if it does ever get to where I am.
ronnieg56 * *
Speakeasy works 4 me! | |
| | | | 
Motorhead5
join:2000-06-05
Woodside, NY
| Other Providers? I have seen cable pullers in my neighborhood (Woodside, NY). I went up to one crew and asked them what they were doing. They said they were running fiber backbone cable for RCN. They also said it would be nearly a year before service comes in full swing (typical story here in NYC, eh?) The point is, eventually there may be other service providers - with their OWN infrastructures, after all. I used to have POTS service with RCN. They were excellent - I never had a problem with them except once when my line went down, and we had to deal with Bell Atlantic, who treated me like an asshole once they looked at who I was getting service from. But if RCN comes in, I'll go with them for everything - voice, data, cable, etc. I don't see a problem with some ACTUAL COMPETITION. | |
| | | Anon | Re: Cable winning the speed race I live in Forest Hills, Queens, and after a year of mailing promising brochures and stuff, RCN is still only one-way in my area. Seems to me that RCN is focused too much on phone services, and the cable modem access is the second priority with them. Time Warner though did their part in time as they were telling us and I already have two way RoadRunner here. In some areas of NY you can have few cable companies servicing the same neighborhood.
Adam | |
| 
digitalfutur
Sees More Than Shown
Premium
join:2000-07-15
BurlingtonON
·Cogeco Cable
| While cable may be faster, ADSL can be self-installed, takes less time from initial call to activation, and is growing faster in percentage terms than cable. For most users (surfers) who don't download 100mb files, the additional speed of cable is not perceptible. It's like using an 800mhz PC for a spreadsheet file, when 300-400mhz is plenty.
As more and more people network inside the home, the surprise of extra $ for additional Internet cable connections will make ADSL the preferred choice for home LANs.
Don't think the telcos will let cable cos win this battle, it's not over yet... | |
| |
Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
| Re: VHS vs Beta I would disagree with you on the install end of things ESPECIALLY where it is not self install and requiring a "dry line" and inside wiring, the 3 companies involved playing ping pong can take nearly FOREVER.
With cable you only have one ISP choice, but you also only have one "instituion" to deal with and installs can frequently be within a week.
(Note I am a DSL user)
-Hayward
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West) | |
| | |
willardk
Mod 2000-03
join:1999-12-02
Jackson Heights, NY | cable install 2 days for me Timewarner Roadrunner in NYC. Called them and two days later its installed....
One 1 hour outtage in 3 months so far. Slowest download about 1.3M upload consistantly 230K
Will | |
| | | | | Anon | Re: cable install 2 days for me
Can't get BA to install a DSL line for over
5 months.
Time Warner said it would be "really soon,
so just order your cable now." I waited
three months, and now it's sometime next
year. This is in the East Village in
Manhattan.
Plus I HATE their hold music.
Can't win.
C | |
| | | Anon | DSL takes weeks (or even months) to install. Cable takes few days and it's either free or under $100 to install and you lease the modem like your cable box. Most people have no idea have to use computers at all, so the extra CPU or connection speed is meaningless, but this is changing quickly. Generally speaking, PeterBrown, you're wrong: mp3, streaming video, real media, game demos, etc., require a lot of bandwith:)
Adam | |
| | | Anon | I'll I've got to say is always on STREAMING (i.e. TAP IS ALWAYS ON) connections ARE THE FUTURE. Anyone who is hoping to serve customers who won't "always be on" with broadband has another thing coming. My local cable company is finding out that nearly ALL its customers are ALL ONLINE every night until about 4 AM max'ing their backbone and have to get more Tx lines installed to support their current userbase.
It's not just evenings between 4pm -4am, many people leave their computers on 24 hours a day, 7 days a weak to recieve email/faxes/whatever from the internet or scheduled downloads of new files from the previous day and let it run all day when your away. If anything internet usage can only go in one direction proprotionately to the population and that is continually MORE and MORE. I believe there will be a time when there is *never enough* bandwidth, we'll always find new ways to use more and once you get used to a certain speed of service. It is damn hard to go back to that 'old 2Megabit cable connection. I've tried direct ethernet and let me tell you that even it's not going to be enough for what we want to do we have to *limit* what we do around the technology that is available (game developers anyone?). | |
| 
dg3274
join:1999-10-12
Lynnwood, WA
| Let's not forget about Sprint ION now. Up to 8Mbps downstream (1Mbps upstream) is some pretty fast DSL if you ask me! Yeah, it's in a limited number of areas right now but it can lay the smack down on most cable modems. 
Check it out! www.sprintion.com | |
| |
jaykaykay
4 Ever Young
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-13
Scottsdale, AZ
·Speakeasy
| Re: Don't forget ION! Have you tried it or are you just reporting what Sprint ION says they can do? I would love to hear from someone really using it.
JKK)
If I can't stay young, I can at least stay immature! | |
| | |
dg3274
join:1999-10-12
Lynnwood, WA |  Re: Don't forget ION!
~Dave | |
| | | |
jaykaykay
4 Ever Young
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-13
Scottsdale, AZ
·Speakeasy
| Re: Don't forget ION! I am just learning about it, so I really don't know that much about it. I believe that we can get it in Phx., AZ, but I am not sure. I am looking at different connections as future (maybe sooner than later) possibilities. Thanks for your response.
JKK)
If I can't stay young, I can at least stay immature! | |
| | | Anon | Yeah, I wonder what are the requirements and how much it will cost. It uses phone lines so it is as sensitive to distance/condition as regular DSL. You will probably need to use other Sprint services as well to get this service. Their website is useless...
Adam | |
|
Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
edited
| The speed test archive is somwhat arbitrary
In that it is dependent on voluntary testing AND those tests being registered. (guessing most are not.)
I know my (not on list provider) avrg speed of 1.2/210 is above most of the bottom half or more of the current list.
-Hayward
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
[text was edited by author 2000-08-23 16:34:37] | |
| 
ranger9
join:1999-08-03
Carlsbad, CA
| Cable in my area (Imperial Beach CA) has lost the race!
First the facts
New IBM Laptop; 733mhz, 256 meg of RAM, 10/100 3com NIC, 3D video, virgin install of Windoz SE, NO coxathome software installed, only IP, DNS, and gateway address's.
Here are results from the tweak site:
* Results
* Your public IP address is 24.9.xxx.xxx (I ain't stoopid)
Hops left before discard (TTL) is 114
TCPopts hex string is 020405b401010402
Max Segment Size is 1460
* Your MTU is set ok
SACK Permitted (RFC2018)
Ping stability - - - - - - - - - -
* You are not pingable
No packet loss test will be done
DefaultRcvWindow is 64240
Your RWIN limits you @200ms to 2569kbps
* Your RWIN is set ok at 64240
Your Path MTU Discovery is ON
Max sized data packet from you 1500
* Conclusion.. HEALTHY SETUP!
* End
And here are transfer rates from this site:
Test running..Downloaded 60900bytes in 380ms
Downloaded 696000bytes in 2700ms
First guess is 2062kbps
a FAST line - now test 3mb
Downloaded 1679100bytes in 28500ms
Upload got ok 1 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 1bytes in 270ms
Upload got ok 1 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 1bytes in 220ms
Upload got ok 1 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 1bytes in 220ms
Upload got ok 50000 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 50000bytes in 3350ms
Upload got ok 100000 bytes uploaded
Uploaded 100000bytes in 5110ms
** Speed 471(down)/163(up) kbps **
(At least 9 times faster than a 56k modem)
Finish.
So, is cable really gaining in speed? Mind you, these tests were taken at 11:30 PM, beyond "primetime".
IMHO, DSL will always be consistantly faster when considering duration of online exposure. | |
| | | Anon | Re: Cable winning the speed race
at least you have decent cable.
Everyone in my neighbourhood has the same problem as me.
High latency, packet collisions, and modems constantly timing out.. I had cogeco which was great which got bought over by Rogers and completely screwed us all up during the conversion. My upload is 10k/256k download. IS this worth the 42 $ i pay Canadian a month? I THINK NOT> i want to get DSL but i cannot get it because i am too far away from the switching facility. And this makes me mad because
a) rogers sucks because they screwed my entire summer or web page making and uploading up
b) they only give me 10K upload
c) they have incompetent technical support who thinks an Athlon700 is too slow to surf the web
i am angry, and they refuse.. REFUSE to help.. THis is an out rage.. just because my cable modem gives a good ping to YOU.. TRY doing something that requires constant connection like online gaming , or large file transfers. IT IS AN OUTRAGE how she refused to send a tech over to check it out.
2 words for you rogers
SUCK IT!
i'm leaving you for DSL when i can .. but for now i'm switching to god forbidden dialup *shudders*
-angry cable customer | |
| 
cbolon1
join:1999-11-30
Brookline, MA
| Speed isn't the whole story, as many messages make clear. What would the data look like if scaled by $ per month per Mbps? From the reviews, it looks like cable would win by a country mile, typically delivering 5-10 times the bandwidth per dollar. So far, most cable operators do not seem to offer static IPs, support for network connections, good bandwidth stability and the (marginal) security of a dedicated connection. Most of these are really interesting only to business customers. Will residential customers continue to pay high rates for these features?
Business DSL, servers and clients | |
| | Anon | I have Road Runner through Time Warner in Columbia, SC average D/L is 1.9mbps average U/L is 300kbps. Verry happy with the service, only problem was a 2 half day outages caused by a flakey splitter when it got hot. Cable co relpaced the splitter and everything has been great before and since. | |
| 
sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Budd Lake, NJ
·Optimum Online
| Is anyone aware of what type of caching is going on in your average cable plant? I understand the @Home setup involves a nice beefy cache to keep lots of content local to the cable co, and I'd guess RR does the same.
Can the DSLReports speed-o-meter be fooled by a cache?
I wasn't much of a cache believer until I saw a well-populated NetApp cache in action.
What would DSL'ers think about all their web access being run through a cache (assuming it performed well)?
C | |
| bgetchel
join:2000-07-05
Waterbury, CT
·Charter Pipeline
·Comcast
| OK, I admit it, that was antagonistic.
In one sense, it's the truth. My brother-in-law, in the neighboring town, has @HOME through Cox. His speeds aren't even HALF of what I get with my 1.5Mbps DSL service. He envies my download speeds. Conversely, I envy his upload speeds. He runs a private FTP server and I can consistently get ONE FULL Mbps from his server. It's interesting that his UPLOAD speed is TWICE that of his DOWNLOAD speed. Go figure.
Those in Fairfield country, who use Optimum Online, are VERY fast, averaging 2+ Mbps. I'd ditch DSL in a heartbeat if I had access to that. I get consistent 1.5/384 DSL 24/7/365 for $40 per month. I have SBC/SNET DSL and couldn't be happier. I get every bit of what I pay for and what was advertised. It's ROCK solid. The SBC/SNET news server is FAST (150+kB/sec. always) and has acceptable completion (85%+). Their binary retention is on the poor side at 2-3 days, but that's better than most.
All in all, I LOVE IT! Rock on SBC! | |
| | 
Hpower
Roflmao
join:2000-06-08
Burbank, CA | Re: DSL Whoops Cable!!! Great... | |
| | Anon | Well, I got my DSL installed late last year after six months of frustration. Too much to tell... I paid in excess of $500 for installation. The installation took several days (few visits from Bell and Northpoint). My plan was 160k/160k for $85/month. This year I tried to change the provider but the situation with NorthPoint and Bell didn't improve at all. I tried Phoenix, but gave up after few weeks of emails that reached no conclusion. I was desperate! I called Time Warner and they told me they have two way cable in my building since last month. I placed the order, it was Wednesday. They wanted to send someone next day, but I asked them for Saturday. No problem they said. Try to get Bell do anything on weekend:( The came a bit late but it took under 30 minutes to install, compared to half a day for DSL
I got a DigitalTV and cable modem deal for $99/month. Look at the value: satelite TV-like multiple premium channels (digital), digital radio and 300kbps/2Mbps net access for a little more than my old DSL. I've had it for a month and it never slowed down a bit, even on weekend nights! My DSL would crawl on weekends. So much for DSL superiority. Maybe there are few cable modems in my area, I live in Queens, NY, but for now I'm happy. The IP is assigned by DHCP, but I've had the same IP over and over the sincemodem was installed and I do restart every day.
I have friends who have DSL from Bell and they will be swicthing to RoadRunner as well.
DSL is a nice technology on paper but just like ISDN it is too complicated to install, too expensive and gets screwed by phone companies.
Adam | |
| radiance
join:2004-10-26
Victoria, BC
edit:
October 26th, @04:57PM
| Telus E-adsl
Without overhead
~2100kbps down ~270kBps
~640kbps up hits 750kbps often and ive seen it hit 1100kbps a couple times
the stock modem ( dlink dsl 300g ) gives 640kbps up as its max
i have prime location, only five short blocks, to the DHCP and i get 10ms ping avg in sis2004 sandra
39.95 canadian ~33US
service has been good, and about 6hrs down time in 1 yr | |
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