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alligator · Aug 12, 2006, 09:25 AM

I currently have a 1.5 MB DSL connection to the internet. My phone company does not seem to want to upgrade the speed any higher, and offers nothing better in my area. My current ISP will let me host web sites on my own server (which I do not do currently).

I can get an 8 MB cable connection if I switch to cable, for nothing more. The only down side is that I'll have to change my e-mail address and go through the hassle of having them run a cable into my house. There would be no difference in cost.

What do you think? I'm a heavy internet user and currenly run 5 machines in my house. I do not host any web sites. Is it worth it to switch?

SVass · Aug 12, 2006, 09:31 AM

Using the internet is not the same as requiring high speed. If you do not download large files and your system currently works, then there is no reason to switch. Don't "fix" it if it ain't broke. sam

SirCastor · Aug 12, 2006, 10:07 AM

It depends largely on what you're using the speed for. Unless you're moving tons of data, you won't notice a difference. Most websites firt well within your 1.5Mb cap. The benefit you will is downloading updates for your computer, or if you download movies, large music files, large apps, etc.

I should note that most places DSL requires a contract, and Cable doesn't. That's been my experience. I would get out from under a contract if you have one.

imitchellg5 · Aug 12, 2006, 10:15 AM

I noticed a difference between cable and DSL. I used to have the fastest DSL available from Quest, and now I have Adelphia's fastest cable. It is waaaay faster for large content. 100mb downloads take a matter of seconds with cable, whereas they took a minute or more with DSL. Albums off of the music store download in as long as songs used to take with my DSL. However, on webpages such as this, the difference isn't as big. It may seem a bit faster, but you most likely won't be totally blown away. If you are happy with your DSL, I see no reason to switch, unless you download large files frequently.

ghporter · Aug 12, 2006, 10:42 AM

There are a couple of things to consider here. Will the cable company bill you for running the cable to your house? Sometimes they bill for "infrastructure improvement to reach subscriber" when they have to run more than a single cable from the nearest pole to your house, and it can be VERY expensive.

Are there a lot of other cable subscribers in your immediate area? If the cable ISP hasn't worked hard to properly configure the local system, you could see slowdowns caused by local traffic from your neighbors.

On the other hand, I had 1.5Mbps DSL service with three (sometimes heavily used) computers in the house, and never noticed a bit of trouble with speed. 1.5Mbps is about the same as a dedicated T1 line, and that's not bad at all. I have managed to upgrade several times since those days, but I could still exist quite comfortably with a 1.5Mbps connection.

imitchellg5's observation has a lot to do with configuration. A standard network configuration for a Mac doesn't fully take advantage of high bandwidth connections (the RWIN, for example is typically much too small, and that's a hard one for the typical user to adjust). But if you tweak the right settings you should still see somewhat better performance with a cable connection of the same speed as a DSL connection because DSL usually uses the PPPoE protocol, which eats up 8 bytes of every 1500-it's a small difference at all but the fastest speeds.

Apfhex · Aug 12, 2006, 05:00 PM

I had "1.5Mbps" ADSL for several years. Quotes because it never went above 650kbps downstream. Upstream was always limited to 128kbps on the plan I had.

Comcast took over cable in the area and started pushing their High Speed Internet. I was skeptical due to the non-guaranteed bandwidth and the fact that they have the monopoly on cable. When I finally did switch to them and got 4Mbps down/256kbps up (I think that's what it was) the difference was HUGE, just huge. True many websites aren't fast enough for this kind of speed, but many are. The biggest difference obviously was in downloads. Files that previously took 30 minutes now took 3 minutes! Large updates from Apple took longer to install than to download. At the beginning of the year Comcast upgraded the area to 6Mbps/384kbps and that was also a dramatic speed improvement. Downloads that took 3 minutes now take... well you get the idea.

So if I were to choose between 1.5Mbps DSL and 8Mbps cable, you could never convince me to go with the DSL, it's just "too slow".

Especially if the price is the same.

ghporter - what settings do you recommend get changed and to what parameters? Do those "internet optimizers" out there essentially do what you're talking about or is this a job for the Terminal?

alligator · Aug 13, 2006, 07:30 AM

What about if I want to eventually have a web site with my own domain name? Is this a moot point because I'd have it hosted elsewhere (dream something or other)?

The only thing I'd lose is my e-mail address, which in a way would help reduce spam. Oh, and running the cable might be a pain.

ghporter · Aug 13, 2006, 11:04 AM

The biggest variable in DSL service is the copper between you and the central office (or remote terminal). My experience at two different houses has been uniformly good, but a lot of that could be because they have decent phone cabling-I'm in a new house in a new neighborhood, so all the cables are new and service is good. A friend used to be in an area with ancient cables, so his DSL was sad, bordering on pathetic.

Typically, the best settings to mess with are in your ROUTER. This only applies if you're signing on with the PPPoE protocol, but the router's MTU (maximum transmission unit) should be set at 1492 or less. Experimenting with the value can help. And try this Tweak test then read this FAQ at BroadbandReports.com. The utility they mention works well. It's been helpful to me.

jersey · Aug 13, 2006, 11:19 AM

Yeah..... cable is all well and good until they cap your connection for uploading too much. I was capped for uploading files to my students for homework. As of now the fastest up I can get is 13k.

Stay with dsl. It's your connection to do with as you please.

SirCastor · Aug 13, 2006, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by alligator

What about if I want to eventually have a web site with my own domain name? Is this a moot point because I'd have it hosted elsewhere (dream something or other)?

The only thing I'd lose is my e-mail address, which in a way would help reduce spam. Oh, and running the cable might be a pain.

You can point your domain in your direction, but usually it's a violation of your TOS. You're not supposed to run any kind of server or anything on it. That said, many many people do and there aren't consequences. It's usually when you're moving a lot of data that someone starts to notice. Since upload rates are capped at much lower, people don't usually use them as real full time http servers...