I currently have DSL that is not as fast as they advertise. Cable modem promises speeds of up to 5Mbps for downloads but is that consistent? Will I find slower speeds during peak times because there's too many people on it or is that an old wives tale? Thanks!
2007-01-27 03:53:20 · 6 answers · asked by Bobbie 4 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
Cable first is under a Neighborhood hub, which means that if everyone in your neighbourhood uses the internet at the same time, then you will get slow speeds. PEAK means that the fastest speed you'll get is when there is minimal people using the internet in your neighnourhood. 5mbps is different from 5MBps (mbps is MEGA BITS PER SECOND and MBps is MEGA BYTES PER SECOND, they are two completly different rates.) at 5mbps is around 500KBps+ (less than 600), which is very good speed but only will reach there at peak times. DSL on the other hand can be good or bad. Some DSL ISP's use a direct connection and some a hub, I have a direct DSL connection, thus no slowdowns from my ISP. But speeds also depend on internet traffic, server bandwith, and data flow (both on cable and DSL. Even if you have if you have an OC-3 connection (a extremly fast connection) and everyone in the world uses the net at the same time (which is not possible) then even that connection will be as fast as Dial-up. But if you want general highspeeds all the time, I suggest you go and get a DSL connection that is NOT shared by your neighbourhood. (If you live in Canada, take Bell Symaptico High Speed, its never slow except, unless the server is slow. My connection is 3mbps and I most of the time get around 320KBps.)
2007-01-27 04:08:04 · answer #1 · answered by shamx 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have used both DSL and Cable. Mostly cable, I tried DSL for a few weeks when ATT/Yahoo was making deals. They offered several levels some with very good speeds.
DSL requires that you have a land line phone ..added cost
Cable no land line required - you can use VoIP for phone (less than regular phone lines) or like many are doing now just have cell phone.
I get good download speeds up to 4.4 Mbs with cable, usually in the 2.0-2.8 range, which is good enough for me.
One problem I had with DSL (ATT/yahoo) was that I use ATT VoIP service and the ATT DSL modem/router would not work together. I tried for over two weeks to get the two services to work together. ATT DSL service support was terrible in this area.
With Cable Internet and VoIP phone service and cell phones there is no need for a land line phone service.
2007-01-27 04:16:57 · answer #2 · answered by J C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most cable modems aren't fast but some like Optimum Online are better than DSL. Maybe your modem could be a little slower since lots of people are on that website.
2007-01-27 04:01:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When it comes to Internet speed on average you should use 2/3 of the rated speed. With any service cable or dsl. No one service can guarantee speed to be constant at all times. To Many things can effect speed that they cant control.
2007-01-27 04:11:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most cable broadband isn't quite that fast, depending on the provider, but in my experience it's usually faster and more reliable than DSL. It can be slower during peak hours, but it's not as sensitive to load as DSL is.
2007-01-27 03:59:21 · answer #5 · answered by Fix My PC Mike 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ahhi have cable and in my area its runs off fiber optic insted of coper lines but from my experance cable is faster where as dsl can oly promice 1.5 megs vs 5 or say 15 mbs and the price is much better for the speed i was doing a study on this and dsl really sucks butwhen they intall it at you home they put a band with limitor on it so you have to pay more for a ster service up to 15 megs vs dsl stays around 1.5 megs
2007-01-27 04:01:31 · answer #6 · answered by art200216 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋