TBB works well with either DSL or Cable ISPs. In most cases, there should be no difference.
However, in certain situations, one can be better than the other. It all depends on each person's street address (physical location):
•Cable ISPs share the last "hop" with your neighbours. These lines can sometimes produce degraded calls, especially your outgoing voice; you most likely hear the other person well - but they hear your choppy voice.
•DSL originates from the Telco's Central Office (C.O.). This can sometimes be too far to your home to provide a good signal so you can have calls cut-off for either a few seconds or completely.
You can always try the TBB Pre-Qualifying Test from a neighbour's ISP connection. However, note that this may not always provide accurate results:
•Their Cable shared line may have fewer or more problems that what you might end up with.
•Their DSL connection may have a shorter or longer physical cable path to the CO than yours (amongst other issues like line coils, or the physical equipment at the CO which might be maxed-out or not).
In either case, the "network" to each home may be different, so although a neighbour may have a good connection, you may end up with a bad connection (or vice versa).
NOTE: Especially when having serious problems with Cable ISPs, you should consider getting DryLoopDSL (aka NakedDSL) service where you DO NOT have to pay for a phone line!
For further info, please see the Troubleshooting Sections (6.0, 6.1) in this FAQ
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by canoe 
last modified: 2006-04-11 00:34:32 |
