DSL vs Cable Internet

[Holmes2468]

I'm leasing my first apartment and I was wondering if I should go with DSL or Cable internet. I mostly game online and stream a little.  I also stream 4k content from Amazon Prime video and Netflix. 

 

My local providers is CenturyLink DSL or Cox Communications cable internet. 

 

CenturyLink is promising 100 Mbps down and 10mbps up over DSL due to a Fiber node being outside of the bulding. They are priced at $55 per month for life. I never used DSL before and I was wondering if DSL actually can get 100 Mbps down or now? Where I'm currently living at, they offer a fiber connection to the side of my current home and I will greatly miss that service.

 

Cox offers speeds from 30 Mbps down and 3 up to 1000 down and 35 up. That last time I used their service, I was paying for 150 Mbps down and only receiving 3-7bps after 7pm until  8 or 9 am the following morning. I'm worried that that will be the issue at the apartment complex with everyone wanting to use the internet during the evenings. 

[IntMD]

5 minutes ago, Holmes2468 said:

I'm leasing my first apartment and I was wondering if I should go with DSL or Cable internet. I mostly game online and stream a little.  I also stream 4k content from Amazon Prime video and Netflix. 

 

My local providers is CenturyLink DSL or Cox Communications cable internet. 

 

CenturyLink is promising 100 Mbps down and 10mbps up over DSL due to a Fiber node being outside of the bulding. They are priced at $55 per month for life. I never used DSL before and I was wondering if DSL actually can get 100 Mbps down or now? Where I'm currently living at, they offer a fiber connection to the side of my current home and I will greatly miss that service.

 

Cox offers speeds from 30 Mbps down and 3 up to 1000 down and 35 up. That last time I used their service, I was paying for 150 Mbps down and only receiving 3-7bps after 7pm until  8 or 9 am the following morning. I'm worried that that will be the issue at the apartment complex with everyone wanting to use the internet during the evenings. 

It depends on the line length from the node to you, but in theory, yes. Below is what my ISP says about its various VDSL packages which is fairly accurate, although, for example the 200mbps down on the V-Plus one below @ 0.3/0.4 km may be less than 200 down as it is starting to get to the maximum length.

 

Broadband speed is the rate at which information is sent (upstream) and received (downstream) on your line and is measured in Megabits per second (Mb/s). The speed of all Broadband services is predominately determined by the length of your telephone line.

Ultima V-Plus Broadband provides download speeds of up to 200Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps.  It is available at a select number of locations around the Island, your line must be in the region of 0.4KM or less in length.

Ultima Plus Broadband delivers speeds up to 100Mbps downstream and up to 10Mbps upstream. Ultima Plus Broadband is available on lines less than 1KM in length.

Ultima Broadband offers speeds up to 40Mbps downstream and up to 2Mb/s upstream.  Ultima Broadband is available on lines less than 2.5KM in length.

[Holmes2468]

3 minutes ago, IntMD said:

It depends on the line length from the node to you, but in theory, yes. Below is what my ISP says about its various VDSL packages which is fairly accurate.

 

Broadband speed is the rate at which information is sent (upstream) and received (downstream) on your line and is measured in Megabits per second (Mb/s). The speed of all Broadband services is predominately determined by the length of your telephone line.

Ultima V-Plus Broadband provides download speeds of up to 200Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps.  It is available at a select number of locations around the Island, your line must be in the region of 0.4KM or less in length.

Ultima Plus Broadband delivers speeds up to 100Mbps downstream and up to 10Mbps upstream. Ultima Plus Broadband is available on lines less than 1KM in length.

Ultima Broadband offers speeds up to 40Mbps downstream and up to 2Mb/s upstream.  Ultima Broadband is available on lines less than 2.5KM in length.

CenturyLink did state that there is a fiber node outside of my building, so I guess that 100 Mbps would be true. Cox has really done a good job painting DSL is slow in the Omaha area

[yolosnail]

I'd guess if you're that close to the fibre node, then 100mbps is very possible over copper. I'm about 120m away from my nearest cabinet and I get 70-80mbps down and 20mbps up which is the highest speed offered over VDSL here. 

[IntMD]

1 minute ago, Holmes2468 said:

CenturyLink did state that there is a fiber node outside of my building, so I guess that 100 Mbps would be true. Cox has really done a good job painting DSL is slow in the Omaha area

I should add, it does also depend on the quality of your line from the node too, which can be shitty, so there is that to factor in also, but you should be able to get something relatively decent. Don't forget they may also throttle you too, like your Cox example.

[Holmes2468]

5 minutes ago, IntMD said:

I should add, it does also depend on the quality of your line from the node too, which can be shitty, so there is that to factor in also, but you should be able to get something relatively decent. Don't forget they may also throttle you too, like your Cox example.

I think Cox throttled me because of the traffic due to sharing the connection with my neighbors. I thought DSL would be a better guarantee over cable with speeds during high traffic times since I'm not sharing my connection like I would with Cox. Then again, Cox may of fixed that issue but I highly doubt it. 

[IntMD]

3 minutes ago, Holmes2468 said:

I think Cox throttled me because of the traffic due to sharing the connection with my neighbors. I thought DSL would be a better guarantee over cable with speeds during high traffic times since I'm not sharing my connection like I would with Cox. Then again, Cox may of fixed that issue but I highly doubt it. 

It honestly depends on your ISP & also whatever line contention is going on with your neighbours etc.

[AngryBeaver]

42 minutes ago, Holmes2468 said:

I'm leasing my first apartment and I was wondering if I should go with DSL or Cable internet. I mostly game online and stream a little.  I also stream 4k content from Amazon Prime video and Netflix. 

 

My local providers is CenturyLink DSL or Cox Communications cable internet. 

 

CenturyLink is promising 100 Mbps down and 10mbps up over DSL due to a Fiber node being outside of the bulding. They are priced at $55 per month for life. I never used DSL before and I was wondering if DSL actually can get 100 Mbps down or now? Where I'm currently living at, they offer a fiber connection to the side of my current home and I will greatly miss that service.

 

Cox offers speeds from 30 Mbps down and 3 up to 1000 down and 35 up. That last time I used their service, I was paying for 150 Mbps down and only receiving 3-7bps after 7pm until  8 or 9 am the following morning. I'm worried that that will be the issue at the apartment complex with everyone wanting to use the internet during the evenings. 

Well as much as I dislike comcast they're going to be your better option. CenturyLink pretty much never hits their advertised speeds and the service isn't consistent. Now there is one exception to that and that is their fiber connection which is very good.

 

On the whole though you will get a much faster connection with comcast. So I would pick them.

[Holmes2468]

1 hour ago, AngryBeaver said:

Well as much as I dislike comcast they're going to be your better option. CenturyLink pretty much never hits their advertised speeds and the service isn't consistent. Now there is one exception to that and that is their fiber connection which is very good.

 

On the whole though you will get a much faster connection with comcast. So I would pick them.

Comcast isn't available in my area. Just Cox Communications and CenturyLink

[Holmes2468]

1 hour ago, AngryBeaver said:

Well as much as I dislike comcast they're going to be your better option. CenturyLink pretty much never hits their advertised speeds and the service isn't consistent. Now there is one exception to that and that is their fiber connection which is very good.

 

On the whole though you will get a much faster connection with comcast. So I would pick them.

From what I understand is the Cox Communications in Omaha, NE is still relying on the old copper network that's been installed since the 60's and making no effort in upgrading it, according to their own technicians. While CenturyLink basically has fiber to all their nodes and phone line for the last leg instead of fiber

 

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, Holmes2468 said:

Comcast isn't available in my area. Just Cox Communications and CenturyLink

Check the fine print.  

 

In Atlanta, AT&T DSL states they guarantee 48Mb/s.  AT THEIR OFFICE.  Not your actual performance.  As long as they provide that speed from their hardware at their source, they meet their terms.

 

With cable (Comcast) I always saw a 20% boost over what I paid.  When I paid for 150Mb/s, I actually got 180Mb/s.  Bumped up to 300Mb/s and got 360.  Was pleasantly suprised, but of course Comcast isn't cheap.

 

I don;'t know your area, but read the print and do some research on actual speed usage.

 

and yes, complaining you don't get speeds at night and then adding later that you share with neighbors... come on. 

[Holmes2468]

1 minute ago, jstudrawa said:

Check the fine print.  

 

In Atlanta, AT&T DSL states they guarantee 48Mb/s.  AT THEIR OFFICE.  Not your actual performance.  As long as they provide that speed from their hardware at their source, they meet their terms.

 

With cable (Comcast) I always saw a 20% boost over what I paid.  When I paid for 150Mb/s, I actually got 180Mb/s.  Bumped up to 300Mb/s and got 360.  Was pleasantly suprised, but of course Comcast isn't cheap.

 

I don;'t know your area, but read the print and do some research on actual speed usage.

 

and yes, complaining you don't get speeds at night and then adding later that you share with neighbors... come on. 

I'm not complaining, Im stating that Cox Communications can't handle the bandwidth and they still can't. They refuse to upgrade

[Dedayog]

1 minute ago, Holmes2468 said:

I'm not complaining, Im stating that Cox Communications can't handle the bandwidth and they still can't. They refuse to upgrade

Then you have your answer.

 

Also, did you call Cox about the slowdown, and what did they do or say about it?  

[Holmes2468]

Just now, jstudrawa said:

Then you have your answer.

 

Also, did you call Cox about the slowdown, and what did they do or say about it?  

It's the modem, then it was the router. Then it was the brand new modem. After that I said it was their shitty ass network and not the modem. Then I switched to CenturyLink Fiber and never had any issues after that

[Holmes2468]

The issue I'm trying to debate is their DSL service actually any good or am I stick going back to the Cox Communications Monopoly

[Dedayog]

Just now, Holmes2468 said:

It's the modem, then it was the router. Then it was the brand new modem. After that I said it was their shitty ass network and not the modem. Then I switched to CenturyLink Fiber and never had any issues after that

Grab the DSL then, maybe they have a trial period.  Most you can cancel within 30 days.  Try it out and see.  I'm  curious as well, and I'll graciously let you be the guinea pig

[Holmes2468]

1 minute ago, jstudrawa said:

Grab the DSL then, maybe they have a trial period.  Most you can cancel within 30 days.  Try it out and see.  I'm  curious as well, and I'll graciously let you be the guinea pig

The salesman guarantees that I will get at least 100 down and 10 up.my co-worker has it and says he gets 146 down

[BuckGup]

CenturyLink is one of the worst ISPs in America. Never go with them. They throttle Youtube, Netflix, and VPN connections. You will never get your rated speed, customer support is terrible, they throw in hidden fees, have random outages, and pay through the ass if they know they are the only option. I had to pay $140/month for 1Mb/s and HAD to have a landline otherwise they wouldn't provide internet but a landline added like $60/month. Plus I was using my own modem and they still made me pay for leasing their hardware

[Holmes2468]

2 minutes ago, BuckGup said:

CenturyLink is one of the worst ISPs in America. Never go with them. They throttle Youtube, Netflix, and VPN connections. You will never get your rated speed, customer support is terrible, they throw in hidden fees, have random outages, and pay through the ass if they know they are the only option. I had to pay $140/month for 1Mb/s and HAD to have a landline otherwise they wouldn't provide internet but a landline added like $60/month. Plus I was using my own modem and they still made me pay for leasing their hardware

They said $55 flat. I have their fiber internet now and it's $60 flat for their gig speeds

[BuckGup]

38 minutes ago, Holmes2468 said:

They said $55 flat. I have their fiber internet now and it's $60 flat for their gig speeds

Yeah there's competition which is good

[Kisai]

4 hours ago, Holmes2468 said:

I'm leasing my first apartment and I was wondering if I should go with DSL or Cable internet. I mostly game online and stream a little.  I also stream 4k content from Amazon Prime video and Netflix. 

 

My local providers is CenturyLink DSL or Cox Communications cable internet. 

 

CenturyLink is promising 100 Mbps down and 10mbps up over DSL due to a Fiber node being outside of the bulding. They are priced at $55 per month for life. I never used DSL before and I was wondering if DSL actually can get 100 Mbps down or now? Where I'm currently living at, they offer a fiber connection to the side of my current home and I will greatly miss that service.

 

Cox offers speeds from 30 Mbps down and 3 up to 1000 down and 35 up. That last time I used their service, I was paying for 150 Mbps down and only receiving 3-7bps after 7pm until  8 or 9 am the following morning. I'm worried that that will be the issue at the apartment complex with everyone wanting to use the internet during the evenings. 

It's been true ever since DSL and Cable were run on much lower-quality equipment, that DSL is always the superior option.

 

With that said, the reasons are also very much diminished. In the early 2000's DSL was superior because you didn't share the bandwidth, and got exactly what you were provisioned and it slowly tapered off the farther you were from the CO. Cable could provision a fixed bandwidth, but it was always (and still is) shared with everyone on that cable node, this is why the cable modems would typically have asinine bandwidth ratios of 100:1 (eg 10Mbit down, 100K up) because they wanted to prevent file sharers from making themselves unprofitable back in the days of "unlimited internet". Since we've now looped back around to "unlimited" again, the bandwidths are higher, but the prices are also three times higher.

 

DSL however will still be the superior option, provided that it's not channel bonded. As a very simple example, eg Shaw (cable) vs Telus (DSL) would result in latencies of 100ms vs 20ms for the same connection path, or 20ms vs 6ms, for sites that are actually located within the metro area. So for DSL that means staying on the 75Mbps VDSL2 plan, and not selecting the 150Mbps channel bonded plan. For Cable that is a 38Mbit down /27Mbit up configuration before it hits channel bonding. Old DOCSIS 2.0 rates maxed out at 40Mbits (40 down, 30 up for 2.0 or 10 up for 1.0), period, so people who don't switch their hardware at some point, can't get more than that. 

 

Yet go read the price/bandwidth ratios. You will always find cable to be the worse deal since they can't offer anything near symmetric. Where cable might be able to do 10Gbit/10Gbit via DOCSIS 4.0, you can safely assume that they won't ever do this since it would cost them so much money to change the hardware and provide such bandwidth, and even then, still channel bonding. Current DOCSIS 3.1 max is 1216Mbit down / 216Mbit up for cable. For VDSL2+, the current max is 300Mbit down, 100Mbit up. g.fast is basically the last option for DSL implementations where it matters VERY MUCH how far away you are from the CO (or grey box on the street) with 1Gbit being possible (combined up and download) within 100m. 

 

Centurylink does offer g.fast in some locations.

 

If given the option of Fiber, DSL or Cable, pick Fiber. If only the option of DSL or cable, pick DSL. If the option between a wired line and a wireless line, pick the wired line every time. Latency kills online games and mangles video streaming, and is not typically a good trade off for more bandwidth. At present you need 25Mbits for 4K video, it can be assumed that 8K will be 100Mbits, but that's still a ways away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Holmes2468]

1 hour ago, Kisai said:

It's been true ever since DSL and Cable were run on much lower-quality equipment, that DSL is always the superior option.

 

With that said, the reasons are also very much diminished. In the early 2000's DSL was superior because you didn't share the bandwidth, and got exactly what you were provisioned and it slowly tapered off the farther you were from the CO. Cable could provision a fixed bandwidth, but it was always (and still is) shared with everyone on that cable node, this is why the cable modems would typically have asinine bandwidth ratios of 100:1 (eg 10Mbit down, 100K up) because they wanted to prevent file sharers from making themselves unprofitable back in the days of "unlimited internet". Since we've now looped back around to "unlimited" again, the bandwidths are higher, but the prices are also three times higher.

 

DSL however will still be the superior option, provided that it's not channel bonded. As a very simple example, eg Shaw (cable) vs Telus (DSL) would result in latencies of 100ms vs 20ms for the same connection path, or 20ms vs 6ms, for sites that are actually located within the metro area. So for DSL that means staying on the 75Mbps VDSL2 plan, and not selecting the 150Mbps channel bonded plan. For Cable that is a 38Mbit down /27Mbit up configuration before it hits channel bonding. Old DOCSIS 2.0 rates maxed out at 40Mbits (40 down, 30 up for 2.0 or 10 up for 1.0), period, so people who don't switch their hardware at some point, can't get more than that. 

 

Yet go read the price/bandwidth ratios. You will always find cable to be the worse deal since they can't offer anything near symmetric. Where cable might be able to do 10Gbit/10Gbit via DOCSIS 4.0, you can safely assume that they won't ever do this since it would cost them so much money to change the hardware and provide such bandwidth, and even then, still channel bonding. Current DOCSIS 3.1 max is 1216Mbit down / 216Mbit up for cable. For VDSL2+, the current max is 300Mbit down, 100Mbit up. g.fast is basically the last option for DSL implementations where it matters VERY MUCH how far away you are from the CO (or grey box on the street) with 1Gbit being possible (combined up and download) within 100m. 

 

Centurylink does offer g.fast in some locations.

 

If given the option of Fiber, DSL or Cable, pick Fiber. If only the option of DSL or cable, pick DSL. If the option between a wired line and a wireless line, pick the wired line every time. Latency kills online games and mangles video streaming, and is not typically a good trade off for more bandwidth. At present you need 25Mbits for 4K video, it can be assumed that 8K will be 100Mbits, but that's still a ways away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for the information. I think I'm going to give CenturyLink DSL a try

[kpluck]

3 hours ago, Holmes2468 said:

The salesman guarantees that I will get at least 100 down and 10 up.my co-worker has it and says he gets 146 down

Never trust what someone says. Ask to see the actual paperwork/agreement for the connection. I would be willing to bet it says "up to" 100 down and 10 up and doesn't guarantee those speeds at a minimum. Looking at their website, all their speed tiers say "up to".

 

-kp

[Majinhoju]

In my experience I've it typical to be Fiber > DSL > Cable.

Though in my area Cable now offers higher speeds than dsl but you are still subject to congestion in peak times.  Fiber is always best though if offered.

 

It's best to ask around in your area to see what people are experiencing.  I'm having nothing but awesome internet with Telus Fiber in my area yet one look onto their facebook page shows you tons of angry customers.  Everyone's experience will vary.

[Alex Atkin UK]

On 7/30/2019 at 12:07 PM, yolosnail said:

I'd guess if you're that close to the fibre node, then 100mbps is very possible over copper. I'm about 120m away from my nearest cabinet and I get 70-80mbps down and 20mbps up which is the highest speed offered over VDSL here. 

I used to get 99Mbit off VDSL from over 200m away.  That said crosstalk has reduced that to 63Mbit now.  All technologies are partially a lottery of how many other users are using it in the area.