K&Rs Mom Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Our cable internet has been a problem lately, with random outages and slowness. DH wants to switch to DSL, because he says it's not a shared pipeline so will fix that, and their promised speed is faster while cost is about the same. Has anyone made this switch? How did it go? What should I know? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 We had more throttling with DSL and the occasional outage. Switching to cable, ironically, has been better for us. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 we've had both. we currently have cable. (which is faster than our dsl was. - and we live in a high tech area.) promised speed and actual speed are two different things. promised speed is "capable of" (supposedly). that doesn't mean that's what you'll get. and you certainly WON'T get that during peak times. I've been hearing rumors of fiber optic . . . . . . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 We can't switch to DSL. No more available DSL points in my area. From neighbors that have used DSL, both DSL and Cable have their fair share of outages and issues. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 We've had both and while cable going out regularly is a PITA DSL was much too slow for us. THe top DSL speed was not able to handle our needs but we do have 4-5 people online at a time (even on multiple devices) playing FPS games and watching movies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 If you have access to fiber optic, that's even better. I've had DSL and cable. I didn't notice much of a difference. There has been a considerable difference with fiber optic. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) We just switched from cable internet from Uverse so time will tell which is better. Our Uverse was running slower with time and would cut out in rainy or hot weather. It was an outside line issue with the main box going to our house that they refused to fix. They just kept trying different things and we got tired of calling them with a long hold time and starting at square A with the diagnostic process each time it needed looked at again. We had DSL before that with lots of issues. I don't like dealing with any of the companies over the phone. My husband said his friends reported that while the phone customer service with both the cable company and AT&T is terrible, the cable internet usually has less problems working than the AT&T Internet. Edited January 4, 2016 by TX native 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 In our area DSL is much slower and prone to outages than cable. We actually didn't put an offer on a house we loved because it only had DSL access for Internet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 DSL stinks where I live. We can't get cable. Satellite is worse. The actual speed that it says we get and what we really get out here via DSL are worlds apart. We can't have two people on at the same time right now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 ADSL is IMO THE BEST broadband internet service available. The bandwidth is dedicated to each account. With Cable Modem service, the available bandwidth is shared, so if your neighbors are also using it, the velocity decreases. That is why Cable Modem providers show a "maximum" bandwidth or "up to" in their advertisements and their contracts. That said, we live in a huge rural subdivision and the only broadband internet available to us is ADSL from the phone company. That was fine, until we signed up for their new TV service for 2 TVs and we then divorced Directv Colombia. As time went on, they discovered that each TV requires 9 Mbps of dedicated service. So, they had to reduce our Internet service to 2 Mbps. It is very expensive for them to improve their infrastructure here (lots of area but few homes) and it is more intelligent for them to spend that money in other areas, where there is high density and many more potential customers. So, for that reason, if another provider comes in here and spends big bucks (or Pesos in this case) to install the infrastructure for Cable, we would probably jump ship and suffer the occasional problems of Cable Modem service. If you can get ADSL, I'd select that under normal conditions. Also, it is very nice to have all of the ADSL service from one provider. I understand that many people in the USA have their services provided by different providers and then if something goes wrong, they frequently get into a finger pointing episode, where each provider claims that it is the fault of another provider. In our case, I just call the phone company or go to their local office. The phone company is the best ISP I have ever had. I cannot imagine that I would have considered them for my ISP, 20 years ago, or written that, but they have improved tremendously. It is obvious that they "pro actively" monitor their service and frequently when there are issues, I tell my wife and DD that "I will wait 15 or 20 minutes and if they don't fix it, then I will call Tech Support". Frequently, the problem clears without me calling Tech Support for help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 In general, cable internet is MUCH faster. Since you're having problems with your cable provider, I can see wanting to try DSL. Just be sure you can get out of your DSL contract easily enough if the speed kills you. (And, heck, switching back to cable will give you a chance to get in on the new customer discount deals!) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 We have had both and cable is faster. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamajag Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 It depends on your area and service providers, unfortunately. I have fantastic cable here, but AT&T is known to throttle. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 We have tried DSL twice, Both times we were very unhappy. We have cable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 We have both (one at our business, the other at our house), and cable is definitely faster. The cable feed is probably faster than your modem and your computer. Get a new computer and you'll probably solve the speed problem. Are you using an ipad or laptop or ?? Even on the ipads, you need to move to a newer one that has the better wifi wiring. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 We have both (one at our business, the other at our house), and cable is definitely faster. The cable feed is probably faster than your modem and your computer. Get a new computer and you'll probably solve the speed problem. Are you using an ipad or laptop or ?? Even on the ipads, you need to move to a newer one that has the better wifi wiring. It's all the devices, including the DVD player that we use for Netflix. My laptop is kinda old, but dh's is less than a year I think. It's not just speed, but unpredictable outages. I've sent dh a link to this thread - it sounds like DSL may not be as great as we're hoping. Thanks, everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 How old is your router & what speed is it capable of? We got quite a bump just by updating our router. We stream on three devices at once sometimes while downloading documents and uploading pictures. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Check your wifi router. We had outages before our last router died. We had uneven performance on our current router until we put the router to a fixed channel mode instead of switching channel mode. At our highest usage time, we have like 4 tablets, 2 phones, a wifi printer, fire tv using the wifi from our router simultaneously. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 We have both (one at our business, the other at our house), and cable is definitely faster. The cable feed is probably faster than your modem and your computer. Get a new computer and you'll probably solve the speed problem. Are you using an ipad or laptop or ?? Even on the ipads, you need to move to a newer one that has the better wifi wiring. I'm on wireless- and have the slowest speeds in the house. I do need a new laptop, (and now I can get back to looking for one. I ordered one in sept - and ended up canceling in in Nov. . . ) How old is your router & what speed is it capable of? We got quite a bump just by updating our router. We stream on three devices at once sometimes while downloading documents and uploading pictures. my son has told me I need a new router/something else. he said it would solve the problems I was having. thanks for the reminder. now christmas is over and I can think about computers again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 Hmm, yes router is kind of old, may be worth upgrading. If anyone has one they're totally thrilled with I'd appreciate a link. DSL company called dh yesterday: the 24-speed they offered is not currently available, they've sold too many in our area? So now they're offering us 3-speed, and didn't mention a price difference. No thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I would check with your neighbors. In our experience DSL was faster here, in Oklahoma, but cable was more reliable in Denver and Des Moines. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyS Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 We've had both. Which is best is totally dependent on local conditions. Previously, we had DSL and there were CONSTANT outages, especially in the summer. I'm sure there were line problems nearby. I could not get Verizon to fix them. Cable has been faster and more reliable. BUT, it could easily have been the other way around, if the local cables were crummy, or if we lived in a dense area and had to share the cable among a lot of people. The best bet it talk to your neighbors. Ask them what they use and what's most reliable. If it's evenly split on reliability: go with DSL if you live in a dense area...go with cable if you live rural. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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