ISP - cable vs. DSL

Posts: 30 · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:44 am Post subject: ISP - cable vs. DSL

My current ISP runs on cable internet, and not only do the speeds fluctuale, but my bandwidth is constantly extremely restricted. The support crew agreed, said they could do nothing, and gave me a big credit on my bill. Now I'm thinking of switching back to DSL, as that will allow for a consistent speed, with less packet loss, choppy audio, dropped calls, etc.
The cable ISP here uses DOCSYS 1.1 and as I understand it's not entirely compatible with streaming audio.

Has anyone else got any ideas or experiences regarding cable vs DSL ISPs?

Thanks.

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:39 pm Post subject: Re: ISP - cable vs. DSL

pickalow wrote:

The cable ISP here uses DOCSYS 1.1 and as I understand it's not entirely compatible with streaming audio.

That would not be entirely true.

DOCSIS - 2004 and Beyond (Cable Labs) wrote:

DOCSIS 1.0 (High-Speed Internet Access)

Specification first issued on March 26, 1997
30-million DOCSIS modems shipped worldwide as of Q3-2003

DOCSIS 1.1 (Telephony, Gaming, Streaming Media)

Specification first issued on March 11, 1999
Quality of Service (QoS), service security, operations tools
Backward compatible with DOCSIS 1.0

DOCSIS 2.0 (Capacity for Symmetric Services)

Specification first issued on December 31, 2001
More upstream capacity than DOCSIS 1.0 and 1.1
Improved robustness against interference (A-TDMA and S-CDMA)
Backward compatible with DOCSIS 1.0 and 1.1

pickalow wrote:

Has anyone else got any ideas or experiences regarding cable vs DSL ISPs?

It sounds to me that this is a problem with your ISP being oversubscribed for the infrastructure they have in place rather than a fundamental problem with Cable vs. DSL.

Cable typically has higher speeds but its implementations have been hampered by the existing cabling making it more difficult to provide the needed bandwidth out to the homes served.

DSL typically has lower speeds, it has a dedicated line from the user to the C.O. so it is easier for the ISP to accomodate growth but it is often only available bundled with POTS.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jun 15, 2004 Posts: 11

I have been using Cable modem for several years. Recently, Comcast upgraded their systems, which seems to have been a downgrade for me. I keep losing calls, which appears to be caused by fluctuating packet loss. So, I have called Verizon DSL and ordered DSL.

FWIW - Verizon is now offering a dry loop - DSL without POTS. The cost is pretty good compared to cable modem.

Posts: 30 · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:07 pm Post subject: thanks for the info

Thanks guys! That info helps a lot.
I'm going to get DSL in a month or so, when my credit for free Cable runs out. It may be free, but it doesn't matter if I can only use the phone rarely, and can't smothly surf the net ever. Man, This ISP sure let me down. They even took my DSL modem in exchange for a 'free' Terayon cable moden. Yipee. Now I have to go and buy another modem when I switch back to DSL.

Man, so far I haven't saved any money by going with Voip, and it certainly hasn't been less strees than life with my other landline/DSL provider, who I won't even name. I just hope I don't have to go back to them...None of this is Vonages' fault, although my wife is really sick of this whole mess, and is ready to blame anyone and everyone (including me)

Why is this offered here if it doesn't work? Both Vonage and the cable ISP I hooked up with said this would work fine, and although Vonage had no way of knowing that the ISP suckes and is over-subscribed, the ISP should have warned me at least. Well, gotta suck it up and move on with this whole mess...

Anyway, thanks for the info. I hope to stay with Vonage and just get a land line with ADSL service. then I'll have a more consistent Vonage phone line. But hey, what's the point of keeping my Voip if I need to get a landline for DSL anyways???

Seriously, this small town really ****. If I lived in the city I'd have w-a-y more options.

L8R

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:08 am Post subject:

It really is difficult to say when you will/will not have trouble with your cable connection. Depending on how it's set up, you might be sharing the same pipe between 2 of your neighbors or 200+ of them. Additionally, the cable co has no practical way of predicting what the users will be using it for. As an example, I'm currently on a barrier island, using a Comcast cable connection. By all accounts, the area is mostly retirees... who probably don't know what a computer is, let alone BitTorrent/eDonkey/Limewire/other bandwidth intensive applications. If they do have a computer, they probably e-mail friends and family and maybe a little bit of web surfing. Go a few miles inland to a new area where all of the houses are "starter houses" with newlyweds & new families moving in... Probably has the same # of subscribers per trunk line, but you'll find far heavier bandwidth requirements in those areas.

DSL does seem to provide very reliable, if not "slower" speeds. That said, I'm only getting about 360kbit/sec up here, 1mbit/sec up on my DSL connection.

As far as the DSL modem goes, usually the DSL providers hand those out like candy. I've never paid for one.

Posts: 30

Wow. They actually responded to my complaint, and they're actually fixing things for me!
Problem one discovered: the filter was faulty, so it was replaced and things are already a little better.
Problem two: their line WAS faulty - they just had to look really hard to see it I guess. It's a thing out in my back alley that needs to be replaced, so the tech said this should happen in the next few days, and then my service will be as it should be.

Hooray!

Well, shouldn't count my chickens untill they're hatched, so let's just see how it goes over the next week.

My speed test are already better, and my Voip calls are even better too.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 1:30 am Post subject:

Ultimately, the deciding factor for me on the cable vs. DSL issue was that my cable co's lines have amplifiers out along the street....which are powered by the utility power. Being in hurricane country, power (and power poles) tend to disappear. Even the regular thunderstorms here knock out power quite frequently. As I have backup batteries and generator power, this doesn't affect me, with the exception that my cable TV (and internet signal) go out whenever the utility power gets dropped. So... I went with DSL which does have backup power & generators. I'm walking distance to the CO here, so there aren't even concentrators between me & the CO, just nice pure copper. Might not be a factor for you, but it is for me.

I'm glad to hear that your cable co is responding to your complaints 'though. I only wish Bright House (fmr Time Warner) would do the same.