Broadband: cable or adsl?

Question

I know this has been asked before, but it would be good to get some replies from people who have changed from one to another.

I've been with Telewest, now taken over by Virgin, for 6 years. When it works, which is most of the time, it's great. When there are problems, the customer service is lousy. A call to support will take at least half an hour and the chances are they won't fix the problem first time, or it will be a temporary fix. Recently, it took a month before they admitted that a problem wasn't at my end. Are all broadband providers the same in this respect?
I also don't appreciate Virgin charging me 50% more than new customers for the same service.

So I'm now considering changing to ADSL. Be seem to have quite a good package with a free wireless modem, something not provided by Telewest, and free connection if I sign up before the end of this month. Orange are another possibility with a free 30-day trial.

So has anyone changed, either from cable to adsl or the other way?

Answer 1

dont go orange or telewest bad customer support.Bt pretty good

Answer 2

I've had both DSL and Cable services. I have to say, once I switched to cable, I never went back to DSL. DSL uses your phone line which runs on copper wires. Cable uses fiber optics which translates to higher max speeds. Now, the problem is that you'll never see the max speed from either DSL or Cable. In either case, companies put a cap on the max speed so that they can charge you for higher speed plans. Here is the reason I prefer cable over DSL... overall it is faster. I say "overall" because cable speeds depend greatly on how many people in your area are using that bandwidth. During peak hours, you might experience some lag, but this is quite rare as it takes a lot of simultaneous users to lag the line. Also, cable connections are less stable than DSL. This is especially noticeable if you are a gamer. Your ping will jump around quite a bit more than your DSL connection. The reason I dislike DSL is that while your web browsing experience is fast, your downloading experience will be slow. The bigger the file, the longer it will take. With cable, downloads are much faster than that of DSL. Another problem is that your DSL speed depends greatly on the distance from the hub to your home. This means, the person who is closer to that hub is experiencing a much faster connection than you even though they are paying the same price. Bottom line: You will more closely obtain the advertised speed with cable than you will with DSL.

Answer 3

I've been with Ntl/telewest for years, now called Virgin Media, and i can honestly say that i think the customer care is great! You should phone them and threaten to go elsewhere and they will cut your broadband price to the same as a new customer.

Answer 4

I have to say, I have had NTL (Now Virgin) for many years, and I am very happy. Problems have been taken care of quickly, and only once did I get a condescending, patronising guy from Customer Service. He took care of the problem pretty quick though. Having said that, I know people who have had difficulties with them.

Answer 5

My choices were both local providers. Cable worked intermittently when I had it a few years ago. I've been on DSL for several years now. Support is mediocre when I need it, but I'm literate enough to figure things out on my own too. Price-wise, at least for me, it's a toss up. I'd suggest talking to folks in your neighborhood to see if they have other services, and see if they're satisfied.

Answer 6

You should sign up to Comcast for your computer. It's really cheap and the pages load fast. (unlike ADSL.) ADSL loads slow, cuts off the connection to your phone when you go on the internet, and is basically a really lousy program to have. DON'T GET IT!

Answer 7

Hi there

We have not had many problems with virgin media, I've been with them for around 3 years. We are now moving to sky for our tv phone and broadband as they can offer us a cheaper deal than virgin. We also get wireless broadband I believe.

Scott

Answer 8

A friend of mine has had both NTL (cable) and BT (adsl) and both have crap customer service when anything goes wrong.

Half the time when you phone them to complain you get a numpty who knows fook all.

Answer 9

Can recommend Sky broadband- full package, cheap and very fast, customer service is good once you can get through to them, they tend to keep you hanging on though.

Answer 10

I can only tell you that I've never heard of customer service reports that are better than what you've gotten. My cable experience (with Comcast) matches yours, or worse. I wouldn't expect DSL to be any better.