Technology Fastest Internet Connection?

[vanelo]

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Hi:

I dont consider myself a total expert when it comes to computers, but I know that at least I am not completely ******ed in those matters.

I thought cable modem was one of the fastest connections but a friend of mine told me that was not true, that my 512mb connection is one of the slowest. I have cable modem and the download time for songs is ~4minutes depending on the amount of users etc.

Can someone enlighten me in the wonders of Internet connections?

Thanks

 

[southerndoc]

Cable modems generally are faster than DSL. Most DSL connections range from .5 Mbps to 1.5 Mbps (megabits, not megabytes). Cable modems usually range from 1.5 Mbps to 6 Mbps.

I have a Comcast cable modem and I get 4 Mbps.

 

[DDS2BE]

There are several factors that affect overall performance of cable. I won't go into much of details, but its bandwidth is divided among users currently connected to the same router. Now conceder this, you are in a building complex with 20 users having the same cable internet access. What happens is the bandwidth will be shared among those 20 users and if all 20 users are constantly downloading something, then your speed will be greatly affected.

The moral of this boring story is that with cable you won't get constant bandwidth as you get with DSL. Also, you can't run a server with a cable modem.

 

[palminator2003]

There are multiple grades of cable and dsl service.

Cable
usually 10mb/s downstream and 1mb/s upstream (megaBIT/sec)

DSL
varies from 128kb/s to 1mb/s for consumers. Can be symmetrical if you get SDSL. Most consumers get ADSL or some variant.

Cable is faster than DSL for most downloads but YMMV depending on your provider and a host of other factors.

T1- 1.5 mb/s. Very fast. Symmetric. Very expensive unless you are at a university or one of those cool new internet buildings with it built in.

T3- 45 mb/s Very Very Fast. Symmetric. You can't afford it. A major corporation or your university can afford it.

OC-### - You are the freaking telecom company or a large ISP.

Internet 2 - separate from the internet. You are a physicist or engineer running advanced simulations with huge data sets.

 

[vanelo]

There are multiple grades of cable and dsl service.

Cable
usually 10mb/s downstream and 1mb/s upstream (megaBIT/sec)

DSL
varies from 128kb/s to 1mb/s for consumers. Can be symmetrical if you get SDSL. Most consumers get ADSL or some variant.

Cable is faster than DSL for most downloads but YMMV depending on your provider and a host of other factors.

T1- 1.5 mb/s. Very fast. Symmetric. Very expensive unless you are at a university or one of those cool new internet buildings with it built in.

T3- 45 mb/s Very Very Fast. Symmetric. You can't afford it. A major corporation or your university can afford it.

OC-### - You are the freaking telecom company or a large ISP.

Internet 2 - separate from the internet. You are a physicist or engineer running advanced simulations with huge data sets.

Thanks all !!!

 

[flighterdoc]

Tuesday I took advantage of my cable companies special, and installed a cable modem. I already have DSL.

I ran my standard speed test (at lax.speakeasy.net) on each system, within minutes of each other. I ran the sequence several times, too.

My DSL speeds are about 1.5MB download, 680KB upload (I'm lucky, I get really good speeds).

With cable, I get about 3100 MB download, but only 220 KB upload.

Now, your mileage may vary, but the 2x faster download to me doesnt really make up for 1/3 the upload speed. Add to that the cable speeds are variable and DSL is more or less fixed (depending on your distance from the DSLAM) I think I'll return the cable after the 3 month honeymoon period is over.

 

[flighterdoc]

There are multiple grades of cable and dsl service.

Cable
usually 10mb/s downstream and 1mb/s upstream (megaBIT/sec)

DSL
varies from 128kb/s to 1mb/s for consumers. Can be symmetrical if you get SDSL. Most consumers get ADSL or some variant.

Cable is faster than DSL for most downloads but YMMV depending on your provider and a host of other factors.

T1- 1.5 mb/s. Very fast. Symmetric. Very expensive unless you are at a university or one of those cool new internet buildings with it built in.

T3- 45 mb/s Very Very Fast. Symmetric. You can't afford it. A major corporation or your university can afford it.

OC-### - You are the freaking telecom company or a large ISP.

Internet 2 - separate from the internet. You are a physicist or engineer running advanced simulations with huge data sets.

Oh, I'd get an OC-48 drop....as soon as I could find room for that big honking Cisco Router (about the size of a very large refrigerator) that I'd need for it 🙂

Why? So I never miss a bid on ebay again

 

[16846]

For most people Cable is the fastest, with speeds between 2-10 mb/s down, usually 256-512 kb/s up. Good if you are downloading a lot, but poor if you are sending large e-mail attachments or streaming files on P2P.

DSL has recently become a contender in some areas offering commercial speeds of between 6-15 mb/s down with 512 kb/s, 1-2 mb/s up. However DSL in most areas tops out at 2-4 mb/s down and 256-512 kb/s at the most, making it a poorer choice.

If you want really high speed, and don't want to pay triple digits for it every month/limit installation costs, go for very high bit-rate DSL (VDSL). VDSL offers speeds around 50 mb/s down and 8-10 mb/s up, but is only available in extremely limited geographical areas.

WiMAX has the potential to reach speeds as high as VDSL, and its wireless, but it won't get here for a couple of more years, if then.

Since offerings vary so greatly geographically, investigate DSL/cable offerings in your area and make an informed decision, simple as that.

 

[Sessamoid]

Another thing to consider is that Verizon is slowly introducing fiber optic connections to the home, but so far only in very few selected markets. It wouldn't hurt to check if you're in the early install sites.

 

[sunny123]

You guys are also forgetting that companies impose caps on the amount of things you can download and at a certain speed (Bell Sympatico and Rogers/Shaw Cable) during each month.

 

[ParisHilton]

I don't know how accurate this is, but you can test your speed using this:

http://reviews.cnet.com/7004-7254_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.dir

 

[flighterdoc]

Right now, I have both DSL and Cable (in the process of switching).

With DSL (SBC), I get about 1.4 MB download and 684 or so uploads. Pretty good for DSL, actually.

With cable (Comcast), I get 3MB or so download, but only 256 upload. Thats more or less what they promised but isn't great upload, as far as I'm concerned.

All in all, I'm not particularly impressed with cable, but I'm switching to it since my contract with SBC is up this month, and they are only willing to extend my current price if I sign up for another year. Since I'll be moving (somewhere) thats not a good deal. Plus, their tech support is terrible and suprisingly, Comcasts isnt much worse.

With Comcast, I signed up for a 3 month 19.95 deal, then it goes to 27/mo after that, no contract. So, I'll put up with slightly slower uploads and slightly faster downloads.

 

[DrTacoElf]

I'm on a OC line at Georgia Tech 😀