NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
| Re: [Speed] Comcast Cable vs. AT&T U-verse ? said by Tatar :
I am currently using Comcast cable, but I am planning to switch to AT&T due to horrible customer service I recieved from comcast.
From what I read online so far, there are advantages and disadvantages for both services. For example I read that cable connection is a shared connection while dsl isnt.
It is only the "Last Mile" of the POTS copper plant which is not shared. All services are aggregated somewhere in the line between the premises and the Internet. And DSL aggregation routers can become congested, just as a cable plant can become congested (I hate to say, "oversold node", because I don't really understand the HFC plant that well).
which makes it more steady for dsl in metropolitan areas.
I have personally experienced a congested aggregation router on DSL.
However that also depends on how far you are away from the actual service provider. Distance between your computer and the ISP makes a difference in your internet speed for dsl , and it doesnt effect cable on the other hand.
Distance between your computer and the Internet is irrelevant. Distance between your modem and the DSLAM is what affects your DSL speed. And, if you qualify for Uverse, you are close enough that distance won't affect your speed. AT&T doesn't sell Uverse to anybody beyond the distance over which they can deliver maximum speed.
I currently have 16mbps cable connection through comcast but I am planning on switching to AT&T because they just started offering 18 mbps fiber optic connection..
Two facts:
• Comcast delivers over FTTN ("Fiber To The Node").
• AT&T Uverse delivers over FTTN ("Fiber To The Node").
There is no practical difference between the fiber in the AT&T Uverse network and the fiber in the Comcast network (unless you are in a "Greenfield" community; a newly build housing tract, where AT&T might have deployed FTTP ("Fiber To The Premises")).
Do you guys think it would be a wise idea to switch?
I don't; but it is your call.
The price is similar as well..
What I am worried about is the download speed.
With comcast cable, I am able to download movies at around 600-800 kbps right now...
Would this performance drop if I switch to AT&T even though they offer 18 mbps?
It is a wash ... maybe.
Speed should be close to advertised; AT&T VDSL (what you get with Uverse) is a bit different than the ADSL they sell to the rest of us.
Otherwise, they are no different than cable, in that they are a "hybrid" plant. Cable HFC ("Hybrid Fiber-Coax") is "Fiber To The Node" (FTTN). So is Uverse (except that the "Last Mile" is the copper pair of telephone service, not coax).
AT&T customer service is not, necessarily better than Comcast customer service.
Comcast has a 250 GB per month bandwidth cap. AT&T will begin 150 GB per month bandwidth caps on Uverse; probably by April next year (the last time they rolled out a test in Sept./Nov., they fully implemented by April the following year).
Two cliches come to mind:
"The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence."
"From the frying pan into the fire."
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
