High Speed Internet Questions

[Cliffio]

ok, got some questions


lemme give you some background first.

right now i live in an apartment, this apartment has high speed internet through the university here, so im limited on how much i can download and got a firewall and all that crappy stuff, anyways

ok im moving into a new place soon and they dont have university internet (which is good) however there are a few choices when it comes to internet.


how do i go about finding out who has the fastest?

i am wondering what kind of questions to ask, they have Verizon DSL along with SBC Yahoo DSL and some local high speed internet companies

i need to know how i can learn who is the fastest before i sign up for it

i just need to know what to ask.

thanks

Cliff

[Gitaroo Man]

I found out that SBC Yahoo DSL doesn't have a minimun speed that their DSL has to be set at so mine is either really slow or really fast sometimes.

I find that SBC has really bad DSL and mine seems to be REALLY slow for DSL a lot. I wouldn't recommend it.

[nippinout]

Check out www.dslreports.com

You can see what other people in your area have experienced with different ISP's.

Good luck!

[Cliffio]

well that helps a little


thanks
Cliff

[Ironmag]

I prefer cable internet. If you can find a place over where you live that offers cable internet, that would be great. I've been told that cable is better since there is always a pretty constant stream of information flowing through the lines. With DSL, since it uses a phone line, has it's peak times which can make it run pretty slow and sometimes the line that's built in is not up to the high input/output. I use cable and it's always really fast. Just my $0.02.

[Trench]

I ha cable, and it sucked compared to DSL

I have BellSouth FastAcess DSL and it is insane... If you want gaming, go no further... If you want downloads, same thing...

[Kevmag]

With DSL it matters how close you are to the central office (CO). Assuming you buy the same type of service (384kbps dnload speed, for example) from SBC or Verizon, the speed should be comparable. There are other factors, such as # of subscribers in the area and the CO connection out to the internet, but I would assume the setups would be similar with large telcos. www.dslreports.com should give you an idea of how close you are to the CO. If you are at the limit of ADSL (around 18,000ft), you might pay close attention to the feedback or ask your neighbors about the service.

I don't have any experience with cable, however it is a shared medium and you speed can be effected by how many users are in your area. You'll have to ask your neighbors about their cable experience.

Good luck.

[digitard]

Here's how I'd look at it ...

1) DSL: If your going with DSL, check DSL reports to find a provider that at least has "good standings", then check with them on what packages they have. I have a 1.5mb package so my ACTUAL download is 150Kbps ... which is pretty good for DSL.

2) Cable: One issue w/ apartments and cable is that if A LOT of people are using it you might get fluctuations because cable all filters into a pipe, and only so much data can go form the complex to the pipe. So I'd check and see if anyone else in yoru complex has cable and their performance to be safe.... but normally its okay.

Both will do you pretty well ... also make sure that the line in your apartment (phone) doesn't suck cause that could effect it too if its shoddy.

Sincerely,
Dave

[Cliffio]

good stuff


the apartments are brand new, in fact they are still finishing up, i cant move in till the 15 of may, so wiring shouldnt be a problem


also, i looked at that link and their is a company offering each computer its own isp with dsl, whats the deal there?

[Xen]

well each comp may have its own, but the gateway or modem only has one, I would get Earthlink, speakeasy, covad DSL over all others, but verizon would be better than yahoo... i never really liked ameritec (sbc) dsl...

[Restola]

Originally posted by Ironmag
With DSL, since it uses a phone line, has it's peak times which can make it run pretty slow

You got that backwards. DSL is always the same speed (except for when the whole internet is busy). If your on cable and all of your neighbors starts d/ling porn, you'll know it.

Anyways Cliffo. There is no sure way to know which ISP is going to be best at your house in your neighborhood (since it really does vary even under the same company).

I had Roadrunner cable and hated it. Sure cnet's bandwidth meter said I was d/ling at 1.5mbs and upload at 100kbs, but I couldnt get a FPS game ping under 150 (often spiking to 400+), and AC2 was always 300+. With SBC Yahoo DSL the same bandwidth meters say I'm only d/ling at 650kbs and uploading at 133kbs (its 1.5mbs down 256kbs up dsl) yet I ping in the 60s on the same servers (and its ultra stable) and under 100 on AC2.

Now before I lived in Kent I lived in Cleveland, and I had Adelhpia Powerlink cable. It was great. As fast as my DSL is now.

Moral of the story: Theres no way to know until you buy it and get it set up. The good thing about cable is they usually dont have contracts or early disconnect fees (SBC Yahoo DSL threatens a $200 fee for disconnecting before a year, though the customer service rep I spoke to said she'd never heard of someone getting charged for it). Half the people will say DSL sucks, half will say cable sucks. Whats really important is does it work at YOUR house, and is it fast/stable enough for what you do.

Good luck.

[Restola]

Originally posted by Cliffio
also, i looked at that link and their is a company offering each computer its own ip with dsl, whats the deal there?

I fixed that, I believe you meant IP address.

You dont need that, and companies will usually charge more for it. Some ISPs hate when you network computers and dont pay more. By offering each computer you connect its own static IP address, they can charge you extra. The only time you might be interested in that is if you want to host websites from your own computer, and even then its not nessisary. I technicly have a "dynamic" IP address also, but since the router keeps the connection live (or maybe some other reason), it hasnt changed in 4 months.

[covadsucks]

Cliffio,
What area do you live in? I work for a large ISP and partner with some of the biggest broadband suppliers in the nation. Give me the street address via PM and I can do a look up and see what ISP's are offering services in your area.

[Cliffio]

i dont know what the address is yet, ill see if i can find out tho


yeah IP not isp



thanks folks, this is pretty helpful, i just didnt want to be stuck with some crappy internet

[sneakyhacker420]

get a cable modem from your local service provider if it is avilable

^ MUCH faster than DSL