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I've never used DSL before & I'm curious from those who've had both which do you feel is better?
Michelle
Michelle
Which is better, Cable or DSL?
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I experienced both .. somewhat 
and starting to think that, for me anyhow, DSL is better
a. with DSL No limit on bandwidth (or, at the very least, they don't bug you about it) .. Cable has monthly badwidth limit .. and in most cases, if you go over, i understand they call you .. and bug you about it (to upgrade to more expensive plan, where they have somewhat larger bandwidth ... to limit your data transfer habits ... to pay for "extra used bandwidth" etc etc) .. - .. and they expect to see improvements..
If you don't change / improve etc .. - i've been told that eventually they ll just cut you off and get rid of you
b. common DSL service is static / dynamic IP (Cable is fixed IP technology)
and starting to think that, for me anyhow, DSL is better
a. with DSL No limit on bandwidth (or, at the very least, they don't bug you about it) .. Cable has monthly badwidth limit .. and in most cases, if you go over, i understand they call you .. and bug you about it (to upgrade to more expensive plan, where they have somewhat larger bandwidth ... to limit your data transfer habits ... to pay for "extra used bandwidth" etc etc) .. - .. and they expect to see improvements..
If you don't change / improve etc .. - i've been told that eventually they ll just cut you off and get rid of you
b. common DSL service is static / dynamic IP (Cable is fixed IP technology)
sensualspirit,
To answer your question, if you measure "better" by "higher network bandwidth and lower network latency" then the answer is that the current technology that has been implemented by cable ISPs (DOCSIS 3) allows them to provide 100+megabit/s services, where the best you can get from DSL providers is in the 15-25megabit/s range.
If you get a "package" deal, my understanding is that the IPTV services that telcos are offering today share the IPTV bandwidth with the your internet bandwidth, so if your PVR is recording a couple TV shows then the amount of bandwidth available to you is even less than the 15-25megabit/s. In the case of Telus, they are only offering a 15 megabit/s plan, no 25 megabit/s from them.
Darkman00's post is referencing data transfer limits that cable ISPs have and he suggests that DSL providers have no such limits. This is not correct. My local DSL provider (Telus) does indeed state that there are limits. Here is a quite from their "High Speed Turbo" page:
To answer your question, if you measure "better" by "higher network bandwidth and lower network latency" then the answer is that the current technology that has been implemented by cable ISPs (DOCSIS 3) allows them to provide 100+megabit/s services, where the best you can get from DSL providers is in the 15-25megabit/s range.
If you get a "package" deal, my understanding is that the IPTV services that telcos are offering today share the IPTV bandwidth with the your internet bandwidth, so if your PVR is recording a couple TV shows then the amount of bandwidth available to you is even less than the 15-25megabit/s. In the case of Telus, they are only offering a 15 megabit/s plan, no 25 megabit/s from them.
Darkman00's post is referencing data transfer limits that cable ISPs have and he suggests that DSL providers have no such limits. This is not correct. My local DSL provider (Telus) does indeed state that there are limits. Here is a quite from their "High Speed Turbo" page:
After which...
not sure what stated .. maybe it's stated for my DSL as well..
But they never implemented that to-date ... and maybe are doing the right thing.. - if want to keep more customers in their customer base
Currently with Cable.. - but more likely will switch back to DSL .. when my Special Introductory Cable Offer is done (if they won't get rid of me sooner of course, for "going above bandwidth limit)
Cable could be faster technology..
But speed is not everything..
Flexibility sometimes is more important..
Besides ... i also like DSL's static / dynamic IP
But they never implemented that to-date ... and maybe are doing the right thing.. - if want to keep more customers in their customer base
Currently with Cable.. - but more likely will switch back to DSL .. when my Special Introductory Cable Offer is done (if they won't get rid of me sooner of course, for "going above bandwidth limit)
Cable could be faster technology..
But speed is not everything..
Flexibility sometimes is more important..
Besides ... i also like DSL's static / dynamic IP
Tough question, Cable is a local area network, you can see other users on your subnet, this means you could be hacked easily being on Cable, DSL is a dedicated line to your house from the CO (Central Office)...I have been on DSL since 1998, very happy with the service and for a casual downloader, the service and speed is fine by me....The closer you are to the CO, the better is is, once you are 4.5 klm away, the more problems you may have...go DSL
By the way, I was an ISDN user in 1997, 3 phone lines to your house, 2 for internet, 1 for phone, very expensive, cost me 110 bucks a month to go 115 kb in speed but it was the fastest at the time in the modem era...
By the way, I was an ISDN user in 1997, 3 phone lines to your house, 2 for internet, 1 for phone, very expensive, cost me 110 bucks a month to go 115 kb in speed but it was the fastest at the time in the modem era...
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Both Cable and DSL providers have good and bad area's. Most DSL providers seem to be better and not enforcing data transfer limits.
My personal preference is ADSL, but I'm in a well serviced ADSL area, and Shaw seems to have too many people on a single node in my area.
I would suggest trying both services if possible, and then deciding from there.
My personal preference is ADSL, but I'm in a well serviced ADSL area, and Shaw seems to have too many people on a single node in my area.
I would suggest trying both services if possible, and then deciding from there.
Also depends what you use it for.
If you're in Bell land, they like to throttle a lot of things for 10/24 hours in the day on DSL. This includes some HTTP providers and I believe VPN/encrypted connections, not just torrents.
AFAIK rogers only throttles torrent upstream. Nothing else.
DSL only goes to 25mbps ("Fibe", though not being a fibre optic connection despite what the ads say)
Cable, currently up to 50mbps in a lot of areas, 100mbps in a select few.
Ridiculous extra fees are available for both, should you wish to use more than 1-3% of your bandwidth's monthly potential.
Though you can use third party providers for bandwidth/internet to reduce the costs on that front.
I have teksavvy DSL (5mbps) and am happy with it for my needs.
Not happy about bell throttling something that isn't theirs to throttle, but not much can be done about that. (Thanks, CRTC!)
If you're in Bell land, they like to throttle a lot of things for 10/24 hours in the day on DSL. This includes some HTTP providers and I believe VPN/encrypted connections, not just torrents.
AFAIK rogers only throttles torrent upstream. Nothing else.
DSL only goes to 25mbps ("Fibe", though not being a fibre optic connection despite what the ads say)
Cable, currently up to 50mbps in a lot of areas, 100mbps in a select few.
Ridiculous extra fees are available for both, should you wish to use more than 1-3% of your bandwidth's monthly potential.
Though you can use third party providers for bandwidth/internet to reduce the costs on that front.
I have teksavvy DSL (5mbps) and am happy with it for my needs.
Not happy about bell throttling something that isn't theirs to throttle, but not much can be done about that. (Thanks, CRTC!)
Could you please provide a source of your information that Bell is throttling anything other than P2P..I'd really like to see it.
And what exactly is a HTTP provider...a web site??
I can't provide a source because bell claims it doesn't throttle anything except peer to peer (P2P), nothing else. (which is incorrect.. but so is saying that fibe is a fibre optic internet connection.. no one's called them on that yet )
If you're on bell right now, go to hotfile and download any file.
it's not P2P, it's HTTP, yet I bet you'll see 30kb/s.
*assuming you're affected by throttle. Some areas are, some aren't. Hit and miss.
HTTP is standard web site connection.
i.e. any web page, youtube, direct file download.
P2P uses specific programs and protocols separate from HTTP in that it's an up/down pairing.
HTTP is a server->client direction only (aside from the occasional upstream data saying 'send me this page', etc.)
I'm not the only one who has noticed HTTP throttling. Other users on the teksavvy forum have also posted about this.
)If you're on bell right now, go to hotfile and download any file.
it's not P2P, it's HTTP, yet I bet you'll see 30kb/s.
*assuming you're affected by throttle. Some areas are, some aren't. Hit and miss.
HTTP is standard web site connection.
i.e. any web page, youtube, direct file download.
P2P uses specific programs and protocols separate from HTTP in that it's an up/down pairing.
HTTP is a server->client direction only (aside from the occasional upstream data saying 'send me this page', etc.)
I'm not the only one who has noticed HTTP throttling. Other users on the teksavvy forum have also posted about this.
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If you have a valid IP address, no matter what your connection, you can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Also, have you ever put a network analyzer on a cable modem? If so, you'd see only your own traffic. At least that's what I see on mine. Being on the same subnet has nothing to do with it it. You can normally only see your neighbours if you're on a hub or equivalent. Cable modems use separate frequencies for send and receive, so there's no way one could see transmissions from another, the way you would on an ethernet hub. It's closer in operation to the way a switch behaves in that you only see traffic that's intended for you. Further, even with ADSL, you still hit a switch at the CO or wherever your DSLAM is located. Also, DOCSIS modems support encryption, but I don't know that it's typically used.
This is wrong, and it makes no sense. How your IP address is assigned has nothing to do with whether or not the internet is delivered via DSL or Cable. You can have either a static (fixed) or dynamic IP with both technologies.
This is also wrong. JamesK is correct when he says "If you have a valid IP address, no matter what your connection, you can be accessed from anywhere in the world." If what BadLag says really is true, then someone at his ISP ought to be fired for allowing that to be the case.
In theory, both cable and DSL should perform equally well. In practice, this is not always the case. Here in Vancouver, my experience is that you're more likely to see a Telus internet connection not performing to its advertised speed than a Shaw one. For example, when I first moved in here, the speed of my DSL was terrible. I spent a couple of hours tinkering with the wiring in my house and improved things so that it was usable. Then one day my internet connection went down for about half an hour. When it came back up, I had a totally different IP address, my speed dramatically increased, and my ping time was 10ms better. I can only imagine that Telus upgraded some aging equipment in my area.
If you're concerned about latency and routing, you may want to do some tests. I use VoIP extensively so this is important to me. My VoIP provider has a server in Seattle. Shaw Cable would be a bad choice for me because traffic to Seattle is routed from here in Vancouver, to Calgary, to San Jose, and then back up to Seattle. This adds a great deal of latency and jitter and is hardly efficient. Telus on the other hand routes traffic from here directly to Seattle.
Neither of these two points however are specific to either technology. It's all about how the ISP is run and what the provider's priorities are. Shaw's priorities appear to be high speed; Telus's appear to be high quality bandwidth.
The short answer to the question is that the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies are not as important as the internet providers themselves. The real question is, which is better in your neighbourhood? I would ask some neighbours that use the internet if they experience downtime often. Depending on how well you know them, they might let you run a speed test. Or if you have the time to compare, get one of each and see which is best for you.
m.
Well... There are certainly some "experts" on this thread...
I would start off by reading the relative Wikipedia entries:
DSL
CABLE
Once you understand the technologies it comes down to a matter of personal preference... Do you download a lot? Do you favor speed or stability? How much are you willing to spend? Do you have other services (land line, TV, mobile etc.) with a certain provider? Is customer service important? etc. etc.
Have fun!
I would start off by reading the relative Wikipedia entries:
DSL
CABLE
Once you understand the technologies it comes down to a matter of personal preference... Do you download a lot? Do you favor speed or stability? How much are you willing to spend? Do you have other services (land line, TV, mobile etc.) with a certain provider? Is customer service important? etc. etc.
Have fun!
"Coke vs. Pepsi" basically then
Say i am downloading a file from (above mentioned already) Hotfile http site / file-storage site:
With DSL technology .. - i downloaded one file .. and want to download another file from that Hotfile place as well.
Because i don't have a Premium account with that Hotfile (that cost money to get) .. Hotfile tells me, say something like: "As a FREE user you can only download 1 file per 30 mins, .. per 1 hour, etc (those were the examples only)
So basically .. if your IP wasn't dynamic - you d have to wait that long .. (unless you using some Proxies etc... that mask your IP, which is a different story and business completely)..
So with DSL what you do in this case:
With your mouse ... click on Internet "connect/disconnect" icon .. and disconnect from internet .. then (EVEN right away.. say in a second after disconect) you click with your mouse on "connect to internet" (same icon) .. and you are connected.
Refresh the screen on that Hotfile page .. and you are "good to go" basically .. can download that second file RIGHT AWAY again.. (no need to wait an hour or so) ...
WHY it happened like that?? -------> because DSL modems / internet etc (regular one .. cuz i think if you have DSL internet with some DSL TV / MTS TV or something similar - the technology or modem change .. and it's not dynamic / static / or whatever it's called any longer) .. so (back to WHY) because DSL gives you Dynamic / Static or whatever its called IP.
That works basically like this - every time you disconnect from internet and re-connect back - your IP changes...
Go try do it with cable .. WILL NOT work .. - WHY?? ------> cuz Cable unlike reguular DSL modem / service .. doesn't give you Dynamic / Static / or whatever it's called IP.. - Cable's IP is FIXED ip basically..
And nothing really you can do about it.. - it's the technology itself...
The IP with Cable might change .. but every few days .. once a week or something like .. etc.. BUT not INSTANTLY (if / when needed)
with the above mentioned example ...
If you have CABLE and download one file at, say, Hotfile (lot's of "file" places work like that, so Hotfile is just one example.... and if you start to buy a Premium with each of them .. you ll be "broke in no time" ) ..
and then you want to download the second file at Hotfile.. and it tells you "You have to wait 1 hour before you can do it" .. - will be just that .. you ll HAVE to wait that hour.
Try pull power supply from Cable modem, .. try to reboot the computer.. shut computer off and turn it back on..
WILL NOT WORK .. - Hotfile page will still tell you - have to wait 1 hour (or by then it might be already "have to wait 52 minutes)
Try to call Cable's CSRs . and they will confirm this too.. that unilike DSL, Cable don't give you dynamic ip (or whatever it's called) .. Cable gives you "fixed" ip (that basically can not change any time you want it to change)
So it all depends on what you do and waht you need on internet...
If you don't d/l many files etc .. especially from the places similar to Hotfile ... - then for sure you are not concerned to be able or not be able to change your IP instantly if needed ..
Nor you will be concerned with going over the monthly badwidth limit .. cuz it won't apply to you .. cuz of little file transfer.
Then in this case.. it WILL BE kinda like "Coke vs. Pepsi" .. - cuz both services nowadays are pretty good, reliable and fast..
Then as hugh said above.. - for many people (such as him or me for example) the "differentiator" woudl become "the price" (how many dollars it will cost you at the end of the day .. or i should probably say here, as far as internet service is concerned, at the "end of your fiscal month", LOL)
OK.. NOT sure then.. maybe i used the wrong terminology .. but YOU tell me then:Mango said:
Say i am downloading a file from (above mentioned already) Hotfile http site / file-storage site:
With DSL technology .. - i downloaded one file .. and want to download another file from that Hotfile place as well.
Because i don't have a Premium account with that Hotfile (that cost money to get) .. Hotfile tells me, say something like: "As a FREE user you can only download 1 file per 30 mins, .. per 1 hour, etc (those were the examples only)
So basically .. if your IP wasn't dynamic - you d have to wait that long .. (unless you using some Proxies etc... that mask your IP, which is a different story and business completely)..
So with DSL what you do in this case:
With your mouse ... click on Internet "connect/disconnect" icon .. and disconnect from internet .. then (EVEN right away.. say in a second after disconect) you click with your mouse on "connect to internet" (same icon) .. and you are connected.
Refresh the screen on that Hotfile page .. and you are "good to go" basically .. can download that second file RIGHT AWAY again.. (no need to wait an hour or so) ...
WHY it happened like that?? -------> because DSL modems / internet etc (regular one .. cuz i think if you have DSL internet with some DSL TV / MTS TV or something similar - the technology or modem change .. and it's not dynamic / static / or whatever it's called any longer) .. so (back to WHY) because DSL gives you Dynamic / Static or whatever its called IP.
That works basically like this - every time you disconnect from internet and re-connect back - your IP changes...
Go try do it with cable .. WILL NOT work .. - WHY?? ------> cuz Cable unlike reguular DSL modem / service .. doesn't give you Dynamic / Static / or whatever it's called IP.. - Cable's IP is FIXED ip basically..
And nothing really you can do about it.. - it's the technology itself...
The IP with Cable might change .. but every few days .. once a week or something like .. etc.. BUT not INSTANTLY (if / when needed)
with the above mentioned example ...
If you have CABLE and download one file at, say, Hotfile (lot's of "file" places work like that, so Hotfile is just one example.... and if you start to buy a Premium with each of them .. you ll be "broke in no time"
) ..and then you want to download the second file at Hotfile.. and it tells you "You have to wait 1 hour before you can do it" .. - will be just that .. you ll HAVE to wait that hour.
Try pull power supply from Cable modem, .. try to reboot the computer.. shut computer off and turn it back on..
WILL NOT WORK .. - Hotfile page will still tell you - have to wait 1 hour (or by then it might be already "have to wait 52 minutes)
Try to call Cable's CSRs . and they will confirm this too.. that unilike DSL, Cable don't give you dynamic ip (or whatever it's called) .. Cable gives you "fixed" ip (that basically can not change any time you want it to change)
So it all depends on what you do and waht you need on internet...
If you don't d/l many files etc .. especially from the places similar to Hotfile ... - then for sure you are not concerned to be able or not be able to change your IP instantly if needed ..
Nor you will be concerned with going over the monthly badwidth limit .. cuz it won't apply to you .. cuz of little file transfer.
Then in this case.. it WILL BE kinda like "Coke vs. Pepsi" .. - cuz both services nowadays are pretty good, reliable and fast..
Then as hugh said above.. - for many people (such as him or me for example) the "differentiator" woudl become "the price" (how many dollars it will cost you at the end of the day .. or i should probably say here, as far as internet service is concerned, at the "end of your fiscal month", LOL)
I vote for DSL, I've had Telus since 2000 and have had very few problems.
Recently they doubled my connection speed since I have been a customer for a long time.
My cousin had DSL, then went to cable because he heard it was better/faster, and had nothing but trouble.
Sometimes it was fast, but sometimes it slowed to a crawl. He has a hot temper so those times were fairly humourous, and put a few extra holes in the wall.
He went back to DSL.
DSL will probably beat cable by a large margin once Telus gets all the fibre optic cable upgrades right to the house finished. Cable can't compare to fibre optic cable.
I am told it will be about two years before the line going by my house is upgraded to fibre optic.
Recently they doubled my connection speed since I have been a customer for a long time.
My cousin had DSL, then went to cable because he heard it was better/faster, and had nothing but trouble.
Sometimes it was fast, but sometimes it slowed to a crawl. He has a hot temper so those times were fairly humourous, and put a few extra holes in the wall.
He went back to DSL.
DSL will probably beat cable by a large margin once Telus gets all the fibre optic cable upgrades right to the house finished. Cable can't compare to fibre optic cable.
I am told it will be about two years before the line going by my house is upgraded to fibre optic.
darkman00, there are ways to change your IP address on cable. I won't get into them, because the vast majority of people don't care to force a new IP so they can get more stuff from Hotfile.
As previously stated by hugh and others, it really comes down to the individual ISP and what area you're in. Large ISPs can have a lot of variability in the quality of the service they provide. There is no clear answer to DSL or cable being better and really all the stories supporting one side or the other are pretty irrelevant, because it's really a YMMV situation.
kevindh, in that case it's not a DSL vs. cable discussion, it's a FTTH vs. cable discussion. With DOCSIS 3 there's a lot cable can do to compare to FTTH speeds. Ultimately, it may come down to two competing FTTH networks, in which case it's about price, features and support.
As previously stated by hugh and others, it really comes down to the individual ISP and what area you're in. Large ISPs can have a lot of variability in the quality of the service they provide. There is no clear answer to DSL or cable being better and really all the stories supporting one side or the other are pretty irrelevant, because it's really a YMMV situation.
kevindh, in that case it's not a DSL vs. cable discussion, it's a FTTH vs. cable discussion. With DOCSIS 3 there's a lot cable can do to compare to FTTH speeds. Ultimately, it may come down to two competing FTTH networks, in which case it's about price, features and support.
To be technically correct, DSL will be replaced by fibre, not upgraded to it. DSL is a tired technology with no legs left.
Fibre is comparable to cable, but it's up to the ISP to decide how much capacity up- and down-stream they will allocate to IP traffic.
Personally, I am excited for the current DSL operators to phase out the older technology and replace it with a modern fibre plant, as that should drive competition with the cable ISPs.
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