ADSL vs Cable

[Alpha-Code]

I'm thinking about upgrading my connection and i'd like to know the ups and downs of each ...
Also which speed would be enough to play smooth ...

* don't bother posting the names of the conn providers cause i'm in Brazil *

thx

[zymyo]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

CABLE, I always get 20-30 ping on servers that are even 1,000 miles away.

[WDA_Endless954]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

Ditto on the cable. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[Alpha-Code]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

I've read that cable connection is shared ... so if there's a lot of peaple using it at the same time my conn speed will be reduced ... is this true ?!?!

[elgean]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

My preference is by far DSL over Cable.

While you can get typically a little more bandwidth on Cable on the top end it is a shared medium. DSL is generally raw bandwidth and it is up to you to manage your connections and ports. The Cable companies tend to block a lot of ports and keep you from doing some things you can do on DSL connections. Not going to be an issue for just surfing, mail, gaming, etc. The security on Cable is a little more open between you and the people in your same area.

Your ping times are latency and not bandwidth. It has much more to do with how your ISP is interconnected with other ISPs than anything. A tier 1 provider with many peer to peer relationships with other ISPs will get you better latency results than someone who travel through the MAE Internet exchange points. Either way you will probably be fine but I would check more with people in your area.

[sackynut]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

hmm I have upgraded package DSL. Which means I pay craps of money a month, but I get a SUPER fast connection, which is great for gaming and things. At my other house (for my crappy laptop) I have cable.Here are my personal ups and down. Remember I am comparing not normal DSL, but my ultra fast DSL.
Super Fast DSL Pro's:
- Very very fast, my pings every where are very very good. SHort load times for webpages, and SUPER fast downloads.
-depending on the provider and router etc... you can do a lot of server stuff for games etc.
-always up, internet always works and its never down.

Super Fast DSL Cons:
-Small Bandwidth, I cant run a game server and do other Web stuff without lagging the server. Playing a game and downloading something off the net lags both things. Basically, the bandwidth sucks.
-Every now and then there is something wrong and the speed decreses but that goes away when the provider gets there act together.

Cable Pros:
-big bandwidth, if you have nice speed it comes with a lot of bandwidth so you can run servers and all that good crap.
- its fast, it may not be as fast as Ultra-Fast DSL, but it is still REALLY REALLY fast.

Cable Cons:
-Goes down sometimes (at least mine does).

As for security for each I am not sure, my cable computers seemed to get more crap on them, and my DSL computer dont seem to. But I cant prove anything, so listen to someone else about security matters.

[)-SiN-( Max666]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

Cable ftw

6553 Kbit/s - down
960 kbit/s - up

never get below 5600 kbit/s down

[Heavy552 AWG]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

DSL for me.

My DSL is not much at 512 up and 3 down but it is all mine and I dont share with anyone like a cable user might.

I am bypassing cable and going to Fiber to the Home when my area gets "Lit"

[<}US{>BlackHawkPilot73]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

Cable, I HATE DSL:wall:

[imported_goya]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

I've read that cable connection is shared ... so if there's a lot of peaple using it at the same time my conn speed will be reduced ... is this true ?!?!

the internet is shared... with dsl the cable from your house to the pop is not shared, but when you hit the pop it's all shared. dont worry about cable bing shared. cable technology has a lot more bandwith than copper wire, also cable is converted to fiber at the closest node and there is even more bandwidth there. finally for the price cable is much faster than dsl and is very reliable. ive had it for almost a decade and it's rock solid and extremely fast. i used the phone company before that and they were always down.

[jon3k]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

the internet is shared... with dsl the cable from your house to the pop is not shared, but when you hit the pop it's all shared. dont worry about cable bing shared.

All Correct.

cable technology has a lot more bandwith than copper wire, also cable is converted to fiber at the closest node and there is even more bandwidth there.

Ok, first of all, cable is also a copper wire. I'm not sure what you think its made out of by try cutting a coax cable open sometime.

Also, its not necessarily "converted to fiber" at the closest node, you're making assumptions about your providers network. It could easily be a copper T3, backhauled to a larger pop (typically referred to as a "MegaPOP"), and then hop on an ATM/Frame network, which would probably be fiber. I'm guessing here, but its based on the actual engineering of most provider networks.

DSL is just as likely, if not MORE likely to ride fiber from the DSLAM (DSL Access multiplier, the device your DSL circuit terminates in) into the provider network than cable. Every telco backbone on the planet is fiber, and they have to provision the core for a lot more traffic than cable providers typically do (one PRI = 24 B channels = 24 phone calls, do the math, one DS3 = 28 T1's).

finally for the price cable is much faster than dsl and is very reliable. ive had it for almost a decade and it's rock solid and extremely fast. i used the phone company before that and they were always down.

And I used to have a cable modem from medicom that was up about 3 days out of the week.

Personally - I have cable. $100/month (paid for by my employer) gets me 768kb/9mb, a static IP and no ports blocked inbound.

To determine which is faster, you have to break down "faster" which is a combination of to factors - bandwidth and latency. Think of a highway - bandwidth would be the number of lanes, and latency would be the speed limit. Thats great that you've got 10mb of bandwidth, but if you have 300ms of latency, you'll never see 10mb of actual traffic.

The single most limiting factor for most broadband customers, during most data transfers is LATENCY not BANDWIDTH.

I'll say it again - LATENCY NOT BANDWIDTH.

So, the question is which has better latency. And the answer is - *drumroll* - neither. It depends on the path that the data must take to get from source to destination, which is based on your provider's peering arrangements, and the service providers the data must traverse to reach the destination. You may try to download something from your neighbor next door, and it might have to make it through 3 different teir 1 carriers to get there.

I could keep going for another 10 pages but I think you get the point.

EDIT: And in case you didn't get the point, I'll spell it out: neither is better, latency is a toss up, no guarantees, so just go with the provider that will give you the most bandwidth for the least amount of money.

never get below 5600 kbit/s down

Yes you do.

[Widkidone]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

With DSL i get 21-30 pings in every server that i have played.

[sooty1977]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

I am on adsl and my mate is on cable and i allways have better pings than him on whatever server we go on.

[[GU]LIZARD{GEN}]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

My ISP is converting to Fiber Optic soon. I also get much better and stable speeds. I would suggest DSL though over Adelphia. If you can't get nothing but adelphia that is. Adelphia is ****. I moved within 2 miles where I use to live and got insight. With Adelphias 80-90 pings on all servers regardless, 50-400 kb depending on what server.

Insightbb I get 400-900kb off every server I choose. I get 10-30ms pings, and its never off. Adelphia would constantly have outages.

I use to work for cable, and fiber optic is like comparing a sports car to a bicycle. Its 100x faster. I can't wait for them to make the switch over.

[WDA_Endless954]

Re: ADSL vs Cable

Well, I have Comcast now, used to have Bellshouth DSL. Having used both I would never go with DSL again. But this may just be a matter of providers. So really all I can say is if you have a choice between Comcast and Bellsouth, use Comcast, lol.