Review by bcfromfl 
UPDATED: 274 days ago
member for 2.2 years, 432 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Youngstown,Bay,FL
 $42 per month
 "Reliable service for surfing and e-mail"
 "lousy for internet gaming -- inexcusable latency & slow upload"
 "poor substitute for cable"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I've had Extreme 6.0 for several years. I'm changing my initial ratings, as I'm very disappointed with the quality of the DSL signal. Upload and download speeds are as they should be...although 437kbps upload is, by today's standards, archaic. What's more important to me, however, is latency and jitter readings. AT&T is far, far behind cable in this regard. I can identify an AT&T hop, where the network proper connects with the backbone, that is constantly pausing the signal beyond acceptable levels.
I'm fortunate in having some of the cleanest local lines the techs have ever tested, and have no issues with my equipment. I initially rated "Connection reliability" a "5," as the connection is extremely stable, and consistent. However, since there is not also a rating including quality of service, I'm reducing this rating.
Even considering the cheaper cost for AT&T, if Internet gaming is important to you (especially fast-paced, competitive shooters), then go with cable. I'm reducing my "Value for money" rating as well. Even though it is relatively inexpensive, for my requirements, I would gladly pay more for a better connection.
Followup comments:  
Pashune
Inhaling at 675 KB per sec.
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Gautier, MS
 ·CableOne
 ·AT&T Southeast
| Hm. Good luck with cable; I pretty much went the same route but it was because my DSL line had a horrible, inconsistent signal and my drops had a bad habit of being dug up by an idiot neighbor... but amazingly, the same cable tv drop that was buried 30 years ago wasn't affected. Go figure.
Though.. my ISP CableOne has highly similar upload speeds to DSL, which does suck a lot; especially the daytime caps; which is why I do all of my heavy uploading/downloading at midnight; it won't work for everyone, but it works for me.. plus it's much faster than the 1.5 meg DSL I once had.. not to mention more reliable..
A lot of it just depends on the area you live in. DSLAMs can also be near capacity to where it screws up gaming and what-not, but good luck with cable. Who is your ISP if you don't mind me asking?
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ISP: CableOne 3 mbit/300 kbit | |
| Canezoid
join:2001-02-16
Powder Springs, GA
·Comcast
| Lousy analogy I could say just the opposite here. How do you measure cable vs. DSL as far as gaming? Line 10 people up 1 wk they'll tell you 1 thing, do the same 2 wks later you'll have a different opion then.
We've been on XBL and PSN here almost 5 years and it's been fine. There are always blips, but as far as stability it's up and down for both services, some areas are better than others. My neighbor just switched to Comcast HSI Performance tier and I see no change between the old 3M DSL he had compared to the cable. Sure the speed tests w/ the powerboost make it look really neat, but that's not a true reading.
Latency is latency regardless of what network your on. Having good bandwidth headroom is fine but has nothing to do w/ speed as gaming is inherent to the servers and what kind of routing you have to them or a host, hence the latency. | |
|  | bcfromfl
join:2007-09-06
Youngstown, FL
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Lousy analogy I've had others subscribing to different ISPs test their pings and jitter for me, and without an exception, all outperform Extreme 6.0. I've even tested my wife's work line (Knology) which is only marginally faster in speed, but light-years ahead in quality of service.
When I first starting using 6.0 for gaming a couple of years ago, the P2P connections were good -- now they're so abysmal I just don't play any longer. Most other gamers with cable experience excessive lag so infrequently, they don't even realize they're not competing on a level playing field with others.
Perhaps the fact that I'm in the Florida panhandle means I route through a poorer system than someone in Georgia. Customer service is so ill-advised it would be impossible for me to get an answer to a question such as that.
There is so much headroom with cable over DSL, that I'd accept the occasional glitches to enjoy better gaming. As I said, DSL offers reliable upload/download for surfing and e-mail, but I really don't do that much with either. | |
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Pashune
Inhaling at 675 KB per sec.
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Gautier, MS
·CableOne
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: Lousy analogy Heh. I think I should know that hands down cable owns DSL in my neighborhood. Having to call 10 technicians, replace wiring, going through three modems, only to find out from the last tech that there will probably be zero upgrades scheduled for my upgrade in the next few years and that I'll have to tolerate crappy service. If a fly pooted, my DSL sync would be lost. Haha.
I ordered cable and my service was up and running in 2 days; this includes the cable installation and physical connection done by the tech himself. Superb service and zero downtime (so far); and I'm only on 3 mbit!
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ISP: CableOne 3 mbit/300 kbit | |
| | | Canezoid
join:2001-02-16
Powder Springs, GA
·Comcast
| Yeah, I'll give you that, cable headroom as far as DOCSIS 3 will roll right over DSL, no doubt. I'll admit I've got my name on the email list for when Comcast gets the upgrades done here in the ATL area, that'll definately be something to see.
Still goes back to the routing though. Good routing on a 6M DSL will perform the same as a 20/5 cable circuit. Sounds like that's more the issue than the DSL itself, but nothing is going to be perfect all the time.
As far as Pash's situation, sounds like your the oddity here cause I've never seen that much trouble not not being corrected somehow, someway and trust me I know guys who work in the "country", we've still got some of that here in Ga, so who knows. Sounds like it's good to go for you now so just stick w/ it.
Peace! | |
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