Thinking of going from Cable to DSL

Vard

Vard

Looking for progress
Hey everyone....

I have a couple of items I am hoping someone can shed some light on.

First, right now I have cable internet running at about 512K down for $50 US and change a month. The DSL provider in this area is offering 1.5M down for $35 US a month...this really seems like a no brainer to me, but I was wondering if anyone had opinions about cable/dsl?

Here's my bigger concern. Right now I have my cable come into the cable modem, then out to a switch (which is the one that doesn't do anything, right?--unlike a router--this crap confuses me) then into my computer. I have internet sharing on and I think this is sending a DHCP address to my other mac back out through the switch in another room.

Let me know if what I am saying is not right...but I think it is.

Anyway, would this setup change with DSL? Right now I have an IP address that doesn't change, but I was told that my IP address would change every 12 hours with the DSL. I don't mind right now as I am not hosting anything off of my computer. But will this change mess up DHCP settings? Will I need to get a router instead of using the switch? Also, while I don't do a lot of restarting, I sometimes need to for various reasons. With cable the startup sequence just moves on through establishing a network and everything is happy. Does this work the same with DSL?

Any help would be great. Thanks in advance and please set me straight if I have things confused about routers/switches and other network things.

Later,
Eddie
 
i'm kinda wowed by the dsl vs cable speeds. here in the boston area my experience with dsl sucked and the cable was much faster. more power to the dsl though!

the hardware setup is fine. the only thing that will change is the cable modem. with dsl you get a dsl modem and that will plug into your "switch" in the same fashion. when i did the dsl thing i had to set up my router to handle the PPoE connection stuff. You may want to check into that. i'd go into more detail but i'm not real sure of them myself.

also your IP will change every 12 via DHCP. by my knowledge, the switch you have is assigning ip addresses to your computers independently of the ip from the cable/dsl. in other words, you wont have to make any changes there. just know that hosting web sites/ftp/etc will be a trick because of it.

i hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the reply...

I get a modem for free if I go for this deal before the end of Feb. About the DHCP. I am pretty sure the switch isn't doing anything...the DHCP address is coming from the Mac--at least I think. I think this because I need to turn on Internet sharing to get the other computer on the internet. They are both plugged into the same switch. If the switch were doing the DHCP addressing I don't think I would need to turn on internet sharing, would I?

I am also going to try to get some kind of confirmation in my phone line actual speed....even though the DSL is offering 1.5M, I know that is theoretical. If they can ensure at least 768 or more, I think I might go for it.

Later,
Eddie
 
cable vs dsl:
I went from cable to dsl recently (I work for a telco offering dsl, so it's cheap for me). The cable was consistently about 1mbps up/down. VERY NICE. Then I've got the 1.5 mbps dsl now. Problem is, dsl depends very heavily on how far from the CO ( central office ) your home is. I'm on the 'outskirts' of that area, so I'm happy when I'm sticking at 700mbps. so it really depends where you are. cable for me, was consistently faster, tho the service was up and down, and it was also $52/month. My dsl is a bit slower, up all the time, and about $30/month.

switch vs router:
I personally use a router, and it seems easier, as it's got its own setup and does its own thing. but the way you're doing it works, so might as well stick with it.

hope my $.02 helps ya out a little.
 
you are right about the dhcp thing coming from the mac. that should still work as you have it set up though. i'm with quiksan than i have a router and it seems to make it all pretty easy for me. good luck!
 
Thanks all for your help and advice. I might look into a router....the only thing I had going for me on this with the wife was that it was faster and would save money. If I tell her I gotta spend money, she might punch me. But I'll look anyway. I am sure it can be setup from my Mac to handles everything correctly...maybe not as easy as a router, but it's probably time I learn how to do something the hard way anyway.

Thanks again,
Eddie
 
I'd say go with the DSL, especially if you live close to your local metropolitan area. You'll get faster speeds, it sounds like, at a lower price. And you should probably get a simple 2-port router, like our $26 Siemens; routers are built for distributing the Internet and all that's involved with it while switches merely split network traffic. And you'll save money in the long run. (Check www.pricewatch.com for good prices.)
 
Just for reference my DSL Modem includes four ethernet ports so you would not need a router if you get one like mine.
 
Cable and DSL have both become very attractive for an average user. In some cases you have to check if the cable is one way or two way, which means great download speed but you have to still use a phone line and slow upload. Most cable carriers are upgrading this.

Check the service records of the companies. Traditionally my experiece with Cable Co is they are usually are lazy with poor response and outages may be more frequent than DSL. If cable goes out during during a storm the phone lines and DSL are better managed and probably will work through a storm.

When both are working the speeds are good for an average user. although I had cable and found it much faster- my new area cable company is nothing like Media one so I was forced to DSL which when youv'e tasted the speed you always want it back. Based it on price and service.
 
Hey Vard

Haven't heard of any cable company that has only down and must use a phone line for up. DSL can go out just as cable. I have Comcast, 2 1/2 years now, it's been out three times in that period. Twice were less than 5 minutes, once for almost an hour. If lines go down in a storm, phone lines can also and DSL will be out. Comcast upped their service to 3Mbps

Get a Router, it will save you any headaches in using the connection with more than one machine.

Amazon.com offers the Netgear MR814 802.11b Wireless 4-port Cable/DSL Router for $46.84. A $20 mail-in rebate yields a net price of $26.84 and shipping is free. It's the lowest total price we know to be available. Rebate ends February 29.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006HYKM/dealnewscom/104-3521165-8562343

I just bought this router. Simple setup and works well, and if you ever decide to go wireless with a machine, you'll already have the base station.
 
You guys are blessed with good prices for both DSL and Cable. I jealous! Make sure that there not just incentives that end after 3 months. Right now the pricing in my area is exactly the same in NJ. I had to go with DSL at the start because the cable provider was quoting download speeds only. The uploads were through the phone. Now it just seems a hassle to switch, even through my cable provider has since upgraded and bumped better download speed than my current DSL.

Has anyone experienced using a modem to a dish? Just interest because my options here are weak.
 
Router saves you money because you pay a little more now to pay less later, letting you share the faster DSL connection instead of sticking with cable.

I don't think I've ever had the DSL go out. Actually, there are times I can't connect, so I guess it does happen... but it's not that often, really.
 
Arden said:
Router saves you money because you pay a little more now to pay less later, letting you share the faster DSL connection instead of sticking with cable.
Click to expand...

You feeling alright Arden? That makes absolutely no sense what so ever.

Back to the original question, the router is a nice thing to have if you're gonna setup a home network. Otherwise, it's not required. If all you're gonna do is connect one machine, it won't save you money. If you connect more than one, it won't save you money. Unless it saves you from buying alot of Advil (for headaches), but heck...a bottle of that is only what...$5?

Most DSL modems I've seen are already setup with a router feature, requiring you to only need a hub for the connection of additional computers.

DSL usually is "set" speed and dedicated to you, where cable is "shared" with other users. As long as your lines are in good condition, DSL is usually a better way to go. ON AVERAGE, DSL has a better UL/DL ratio than cable, not to mention it's constant.

I know many a person with cable service who see massive fluctuations in speed depending on the time of day. They very rarely see thei peak numbers at all, usually staying around 3/4 of peak performance at off-times and they're lucky to get 1/4 at prime times. This is on 1500k advertised down, and a sad 128k up!

DSL is only limited by the distance from the TELCO, but generally within the area they define as the coverage area you get 80-120% of the speed they say.

We're around 1.5 miles by line from the TELCO here, and see 750down and 350up on average from a 768(d)/384(u) ADSL line. The fire dept. I worked at is next door to the same TELCO station, so we were may 100 feet of line away, We saw 900 to 1200K down and around 500 up from the same 758/384 line. We also pay 15$ less a month for the DSL over a cable provider, and for $18 more a month can get a 1500k/768k line.
 
Has anyone experienced using a modem to a dish? Just interest because my options here are weak.
Click to expand...

The Direcway service through the dish is OK as a last resort. The D/L speeds are incredible. Regularly over 1500k. However upload is terrible. Latency is terrible. Takes at least a second befor you get the first bit back after a request. Secure websites are a nightmare. If you can get cable and dsl stick with that.
 
Router saves you money because you pay a little more now to pay less later, letting you share the faster DSL connection instead of sticking with cable.

Where I live in PA, Cable is three times as fast as DSL, 3Mbps. Comcast doubled it's speed in all it's locations and it's extremely dependable. Cost is $42.00 a month.
Cable is shared, but my speed seems to always be the same. My IP hasn't changed in months.

A router just makes it easier to share a connection between multiple machines, and very easy to setup.
 
Come on, people! It's simple mathematics. To get the same functionality with $35/month DSL as he has with his $50/month cable, which is to share the connection over two computers, Vard would pay oh, maybe $30 for a router to split the connection. He then saves $15 every month by using the DSL instead of the cable, so in 2 months he's saved the cost of the router. Over the long run, he'll save much more than this.

And that's how spending a little now can save you money in the long run without losing any of your current functionality.
 
It is simple math, he won't get the same results for less money. Cable is much faster than DSL. He'll get less than what he's paying for if you compare speeds. $15.00 a month more for more than double the speed.
 
I didn't see that everyone was still posting to this. Bobw: Silly big city dude. Comcast isn't available in my neck of woods. I wish it were for what you're getting. Here in Podunk we only have GMP. I called them the other day and asked WTF regarding whether they were going to do anything about the Verizon package, or just wait for all their customers to leave.

They told me that if I waited just 4 to 5 weeks (the Verizon deal ends at the end of Feb...not looking good so far) they would be upping everyone capped at 512 to 768...OK, what about the price...Well, they're going to see if they can do anything about that, but if they up my speed that should be more than enough for me to stick around. Yeah right. I can get 3 x's my current speed for less right now.

I still haven't completely decided...but I think I am going to go with it. A guy that I work with just got his hooked up last night and he was very impressed with how it went. Plus, it's got a a month trial...if I cancel during that time I'm only out the $12.95 to send all the crap back...I can deal with that.

Thanks to all for posting your thoughts. Bobw, I wish I had 3Mb, but I don't and the company I currently have is only making a half-assed attempt to keep their customers. I think I am moving on.

Later,
Eddie
 
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