DSL or Cable Modem--which to get? (San Jose, CA)

BrerDan

BrerDan

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Hey all.

MY significant other and I will be moving from AL to San Jose in a couple of weeks and know I will want to get connected real quick once there.

I have a cable modem for internet access here, but that is mainly because DSL wasn't offered where I am until recently.

Also, for the first time, we are planning on getting a wireless router (we will both have laptops--plus my DS).

Given that, is DSL or Cable Modem better--or is there really not much of a difference? My SO is concerned that DSL might be too slow.....but I hate Comcast with a passion, and thus want to look at DSL.

Any tips??? (any tips on cable vs. Dish appreciated too!)

Thanks!!

Dan
 
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DSL. Cable is shared...and unless you live in Bum fuck idaho... you get speeds of 300-400kb when you could get a 1.5 meg for the same price.
 
Cable is shared, but with DSL it depends on how far you live from the station. I have DSL at work and I hate it. I live in townhouse community, in a fairly populated town. I have Cable at home and love it. I did get the faster speed package from Comcast though.
 
Most DSL in the Bay is pretty good, you should be able to get a 3.0/384(or higher) line without much difficulty. You'll need to look into the providers of DSL (of which there are many, but SBC seems like it's the big one) and what is available to the location. Also check and see what the cable company offers as well, because there has been significant improvements in bandwidth over the past year or so.

As for Television, I live by DirecTV (also why I'm a DSL guy ;)). However the bill has been escalating over the past 2 years. It's still cheaper than cable and I do get EPL games, which can't be done via cable, (It's all about Arsenal, really it is).

My advice is compare the combined plans Phone/DSL against Cable/Internet, and see what works for you. Compare the speeds and prices along with the discounts. A little research goes a long way.
 
Thanks for the info. It's hard to know about companies on the West Coast when you're in Alabama. :)

I have been *trying* to do research--but it is so hard to sort out who are the legitimate DSL providers in the area. When I do a search on google I get a bunch of junk! Unfortunately too, for me, I'm not a tech-head.....so when I read about connections it goes right over me. I was just checking out SBC (is this the same company as Pac Bell?) and they seem to charge only $15 for up to 1.5 Mbps or $25 for 1.5 Mbps-3.0 Mbps. Sounds good (especially compared to the $43 cost from Comcast)--but I have NO IDEA what those speeds mean!! :)

I also can't find a simple way to find out how much basic monthly phone service is (I assume that is needed for DISH/DIRECT tv).....nor which cell companies provide decent service. Oh well.

Anyhow--I *greatly* appreciate ALL of the replies!!!!

--Dan




[quote name='BigDirty']Most DSL in the Bay is pretty good, you should be able to get a 3.0/384(or higher) line without much difficulty. You'll need to look into the providers of DSL (of which there are many, but SBC seems like it's the big one) and what is available to the location. Also check and see what the cable company offers as well, because there has been significant improvements in bandwidth over the past year or so.

As for Television, I live by DirecTV (also why I'm a DSL guy ;)). However the bill has been escalating over the past 2 years. It's still cheaper than cable and I do get EPL games, which can't be done via cable, (It's all about Arsenal, really it is).

My advice is compare the combined plans Phone/DSL against Cable/Internet, and see what works for you. Compare the speeds and prices along with the discounts. A little research goes a long way.[/QUOTE]
 
Ok, out here, there are like 4 companies to get high speed internet from. Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and SBC. DSL you would have to decide on who you get phone service under as well. Cable internet for me is 4mb download (transfer speeds up to 510k) and 384k up. DSL is very slow compared to cable from what ive used. Also, dsl looks to be only 768k around here.

Well, thats as much as i know, hope you have fun moving out here to California
 
I think Cable is generally faster than DSL but I too hate Comcast with a passion. You have to factor in that if you get Xbox live, only certain internet companies can handle it.
 
cable is generally better.... but It is hard to justify it worth the price difference!!! As you can get dsl through SBC/yahoo for 15 a month cable at its cheapest is 30 a month then goes up to 40 or 50.
 
DSL is usually a waste of money. DSL's usually transfer packets in much smaller sizes than with a cable modem, and most DSL's require a contract when they're only about 10 bucks cheaper than a cable modem. I'm in Alabama too, and Bellsouth tries to sucker you into a one year contract. If you back out, they hit you with a cancellation fee. Get the cable modem.

Oh yeah.. being that I moved from California to Alabama, enjoy that culture shock coming your way. Two totally different worlds man. :)
 
I'm looking into cable & DSL in the Bay Area as well for when I go home, since we're still using dialup. This site seems to have some helpful reviews:
http://www.dslreports.com/
We've been hesitant about getting cable through Comcast since it's so expensive (and they already charge up the ass for cable television). At the moment, SBC Yahoo DSL through DSLextreme.com seems to look decent. But if you find a decent cable alternative, I'd like to know too.
 
Cable seems to be offering more bandwidth... sure it is shared but if your cable company isn't over subscribing it should be fine.

I'm getting 5Mbps download 384Kbps upload now! :)
 
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