[mactropolis]

Hello,
I currently have dial-up internet access with a 100hours/month plan that was initially economical for me. However, each and every month, I always end up going waaaaayy over my 100 hours and end up paying big for my "excess usage" time. I've been thinking about finally ditching dial-up and getting the cheapest low-end DSL service available from our local telecom monopoly company. The cheapest plan available includes the following features: unlimited internet usage, ADSL connection, 128 Kbps download speed, and one moth free rental. What I'd like to know is what kind of performance should I expect with 128 Kbps DSL connection in terms of actual download speeds given sufficient server bandwidth? For example, how long would i take for a 100 MB file to download if server bandwidth wasn't an issue?

I've also looked into alternatives to DSL since i'm basically a broke college student. Since our house currently has DirecTV, I inquired, but they said the company had no plans to offer satellite internet service. Our local cable company plans to launch a cable internet service in a Jan/Feb timeframe. Is it likely I might get a better package with cable? Is it true that cable internet providers can't enforce a min/max download rate (ala 128 Kbps) because it naturally goes up and down depending on neighborhood usage?

Thanks for any input!

[macaddict0001]

That dsl would probably be about twice as fast as dialup, maybe 3 times. About 15 k by my guess. Cable can be regulated, speed wise. You should tell us the price so we can decide if its a good deal or not.

[thesearcher]

The service I've tried was way faster than dial-up. Maybe up to 5 times as fast compared to real world dial-up speeds. Then there are the advantages of not tying up the phone line, or having to wait for the modem to dial up and connect. (Or the ISP hanging up and having to re-dial. ) It was almost exactly the same price as the dial-up service, so in that case, it would have been ridiculous not to switch.

How do the prices of your dial-up vs 128 DSL plans compare?

[mactropolis]

The price issue is tricky since the prices are not in USD and are highly likely to seem ridiculous when converted (which their are....but we basically have no choice...). My present package is TTD$150 (US$23.80) for 50 hours. However, I always end up going much over the 50 hours and the bill usually reaches TTD400-450 (US$64-71). The 128Kb ADSL service retails for TTD$460(US$73....yeah, I know..) monthly. As you can see, it's just a little over what I pay for a month when I really go over bad. I know it's not going to be especially fast, but i'm thinking its better I go for the consistently higher DSL service than pay for for 50 hours and then pay so much more for each hour over I use. The unlimited dial-up isn't a practical solution either cause that comes too close to the price for 128 Kb ADSL. Concerning the forth-coming cable internet service, I don't have any ballpark figures and I don't even know if their will be a cheaper, home-oriented service or if it's strictly for businesses.

So is 128 Kb DSL worth it (despite the horrible price)? Waiting 'till Jan/Feb to check out the Cable internet package seems like a long time to wait....50 hours are impossible for me : )

[Gankdawg]

Originally posted by mactropolis:
I always end up going waaaaayy over my 100 hours

So you spend in excess of 3 hours per day surfing the internet? Doesn't your school have internet access and couldn't you kill some of that 100 hours on campus?

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Gankdawg:

So you spend in excess of 3 hours per day surfing the internet?

He's the last leecher on dial-up.

-t

[mactropolis]

Originally posted by turtle777:


He's the last leecher on dial-up.

-t

:::Falling off chair laughing:::

No, actually, I don't spend 3 hours a day surfing..... : )

Concerning using the (very, very fast) internet connection at my college campus: off course i've thought about it & tested it, unfortunately the network connection is firewalled+proxified (I know the proxy though) and I haven't found a p2p file-sharing service (besides WinMX) that works from school. I've tried Limewire, bittorent, etc...nothing besides WinMX works behind the firewall & proxy. And you can guess how much DMG's I find on WinMX...

[tooki]

Originally posted by mactropolis:
1. What I'd like to know is what kind of performance should I expect with 128 Kbps DSL connection in terms of actual download speeds given sufficient server bandwidth? For example, how long would i take for a 100 MB file to download if server bandwidth wasn't an issue?

I've also looked into alternatives to DSL since i'm basically a broke college student. Since our house currently has DirecTV, I inquired,

2. but they said the company had no plans to offer satellite internet service. Our local cable company plans to launch a cable internet service in a Jan/Feb timeframe. Is it likely I might get a better package with cable?

3. Is it true that cable internet providers can't enforce a min/max download rate (ala 128 Kbps) because it naturally goes up and down depending on neighborhood usage?

1. A 128Kbps connection would take 1 hour 40 mins to download 100MB (best-case scenario). So assume 2 hours real-world.

2. DirecTV already sells satellite internet service. It's called DirecWay, and it's really a last-resort broadband, because satellite has extremely high latency, which means that while downloading large files is fast, things that need lots of interactivity (like web browsing or game play) are very slow. Web browsing on satellite is comparable to dialup. Web browsing on cable or DSL (even just 128KB DSL) is very noticeably faster than dialup or satellite.

3. Cable companies absolutely can and do enforce bandwidth caps. When the cable modem turns on, it communicates with the cable company and finds out what speeds it should allow. Cable companies do not offer speed guarantees, however, so the speeds are indeed dependent on how many people in the neighborhood are also using it, but you'll never go faster than the limit enforced by the cable company.

tooki

[TheBadgerHunter]

I have ADSL an I'm very happy with it. Mind you I get very good speed (download speeds in excess of 400k/s) and my ISP gives me unlimited bandwidth. To top it all off with my phone and cell service with them it comes out to under $30 a month (canadian).

[typoon]

ANYTHING is better than Dialup.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by typoon:
ANYTHING is better than Dialup.

You seem to forget mobile internet with GPRS...

-t

[typoon]

Originally posted by turtle777:
You seem to forget mobile internet with GPRS...

-t

true, but that that was not what we were talking about or comparing.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by typoon:
true, but that that was not what we were talking about or comparing.

You made a quite general statement.
And mactropolis was never talking about dialup either.

-t

[typoon]

Originally posted by turtle777:
You made a quite general statement.
And mactropolis was never talking about dialup either.

-t

Try re-reading it again. He opened with "Hello,
I currently have dial-up internet access..." So YES he was talking about dialup internet.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by typoon:
Try re-reading it again. He opened with "Hello,
I currently have dial-up internet access..." So YES he was talking about dialup internet.

Sorry, my bad. I was somehow under the impression that he already had the 128k DSL and was asking if he should upgrade...

-t

[typoon]

Originally posted by turtle777:
Sorry, my bad. I was somehow under the impression that he already had the 128k DSL and was asking if he should upgrade...

-t

np. In that case comparing Dialup then Yes Anything is better than dialup.

[tooki]

For many purposes*, dialup is better than satellite, since dialup has lower latency.

tooki

*Those being applications which are latency-sensitive but don't transmit much data, for example telnet/ssh, or some games. A one-second delay when typing in telnet is maddening -- and what you'd get with satellite. With a modem, the delay is about 1/10 of a second. With DSL, it's maybe 1/20 of a second.

[Amorya]

Can you not stretch for 512k broadband? I find that a solid minimum speed these days. Have 750k here, had 10Mbit last year (halls), but 512 is about as low as I'd go.


Amorya

[macaddict0001]

The price is high but if its your only choice what can you do. probably at least twice as high as it should be, surely you can get more economical dialup.

[mactropolis]

What I don't get is why in certain places DSL and Cable internet services cost soo much more or less than others? Isn't it the same internet that's being accessed. And I know it has allot to do with geographical location, but look at places like Singapore and Hong Kong, both islands states/territories that have some of the cheapest internet access rates and highest broadband penatration in the world. Ohter places, such as parts of Latin America and the Caribbean have low internet penetration period despite millions of potential and available users because of high access costs.

What do you guys pay for your broadband pipe?

[Trygve]

In Prague I get a 2mb/sec (2000kbps) which sometimes can float up closer to 3mb/sec for 1700 Crowns which is about $70/mo.

[ringo]

Try checking http://www.dslreports.com/ for a review of what the service is like for others in your area who signed with the provider you're considering.

[tooki]

Originally posted by mactropolis:
And I know it has allot to do with geographical location, but look at places like Singapore and Hong Kong, both islands states/territories that have some of the cheapest internet access rates and highest broadband penatration in the world.

Singapore and Hong Kong have very high population density, which has the effect of allowing higher speeds (because the distances to the COs are shorter) and of lowering price, because within the reach of one CO, there are FAR more customers.

Here in the U.S., in many areas, there are so few users in a given area that they have to pay high rates to defray the cost of bringing the broadband into their area at all.

tooki