tschmidt
Premium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
 ·Hollis Hosting
 ·Verizon Online DSL
·Fairpoint Communic..
| reply to jadebangle
Re: DSL vs Cable
Both Cable DOCSIS and DSL are clever engineering designs that added data to network designed for a different purpose.
Cable is a shared medium so adding a customer to cable is much easier as DSL requires the Telco to modify Central Office wiring. It also means everyone on a given node shares the available bandwidth. Whereas DSL is not shared until it hits the DSLAM.
Customer satisfaction has more to do with ISP business practices then underlying technology.
If you are happy with Cable Internet access that is great. As for me I'll stick with DSL and hope to get Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) some day.
/tom |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
·Site5.com
·AT&T Midwest
 ·Comcast
| said by tschmidt  :Both Cable DOCSIS and DSL are clever engineering designs that added data to network designed for a different purpose. Cable is a shared medium so adding a customer to cable is much easier as DSL requires the Telco to modify Central Office wiring. It also means everyone on a given node shares the available bandwidth. Whereas DSL is not shared until it hits the DSLAM. Customer satisfaction has more to do with ISP business practices then underlying technology. If you are happy with Cable Internet access that is great. As for me I'll stick with DSL and hope to get Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) some day. /tom Excellent post tschmidt.
Lets be frank here, both of these technologies are in fact shared mediums. As you said, cable shares at the node whereas DSL is not shared until it hits the DSLAM. I have seen many DSL providers oversubscribe at the CO just as I have seen many nodes oversaturated on the cable side.
The common misconception around these forums is that cable is a shared medium while DSL is not. Some people think their DSL connection plugs right into the backbone of the internet or something which simply is not the case. Any broadband service you get is going to be shared.
The end result is the same, if you are happy with cable, thats awesome. I have Comcast cable in my area and AT&T DSL. I used Comcast at the beginning, moved to AT&T DSL after a year. Their DSL service was so unreliable that I moved back to Comcast for 2 more years. I tried AT&T DSL again back in 2004 and haven't looked back sense. I have subscribed to both lines for about a year and a half and that was quite cool to say the least. |
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Wolfie00
My dog is an elitist
Premium
join:2005-03-12
| reply to tschmidt
said by tschmidt :Customer satisfaction has more to do with ISP business practices then underlying technology. Give that man a cigar!  That's the issue in a nutshell.
Cable and DSL are most assuredly very different, but the performance of each is determined much more by the policies of the ISP and the infrastructure provider (if that happens to be someone else) than by the inherent technology.
For example, DSL can be plagued by distance to the CO or DSLAM but a reputable DSL ISP won't make promises that can't be met, or feeble excuses after the fact. Cable has no distance issues but a less-than-reputable operator might overload the PHUB in preference to spending any money on segmentation and equipment upgrades. Either one can shaft you with throttling and traffic shaping and bandwidth caps. And the quality of customer service can make a huge difference as well.
So it all depends, completely and unpredictably, on exactly where your house is located. If I were making a decision in a new unfamiliar neighborhood, I'd find some knowledgeable folks in the immediate area who actually care what speeds they're getting, and ask them what they prefer! There's no way to give generic advice. It's too bad that so many cable operators are such idiots because they do have the technological edge and the theoretical ability to provide the highest bandwidth, but if their engineers are incompetent and they hire drunken monkeys as customer service staff, it doesn't really help!
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"Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace" -- Dr. Albert Schweitzer
"A dog is like a child who never grows old ... always there to love and be loved" -- Aaron Katcher
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