Comments on: DSL strikes a chord with frugal shoppers

Middle-income households and price-sensitive Internet users have been signing up for DSL service.

[lwvirden]

From the slow lane...

I'm part of that 40% who still use dial-up. It isn't that I don't WANT to upgrade. But there are two limiting factors - the most important of which is price. Right now, with dial-up, I get 56k ish internet for "free" from my employer. I'd like to upgrade - but going from free to $30-$75 a month is a tough jump. The second, and nearly as important issue, is availability. Each time i check, I'm told that DSL service isn't available for my phone number. There is cable internet available - if I want to quit driving my tv with my tivo and have tivo using the stupid infra-red link that tells the cable box to change channels. No thanks - having tivo directly changing channels via its built in tuner works so much nicer.

[lwvirden]

From the slow lane...

I'm part of that 40% who still use dial-up. It isn't that I don't WANT to upgrade. But there are two limiting factors - the most important of which is price. Right now, with dial-up, I get 56k ish internet for "free" from my employer. I'd like to upgrade - but going from free to $30-$75 a month is a tough jump. The second, and nearly as important issue, is availability. Each time i check, I'm told that DSL service isn't available for my phone number. There is cable internet available - if I want to quit driving my tv with my tivo and have tivo using the stupid infra-red link that tells the cable box to change channels. No thanks - having tivo directly changing channels via its built in tuner works so much nicer.

[adriaticnyc]

DSL Data Line only - No Voice line! Provider Info

some of us would rather use Voice over IP (VoIP) instead of the traditional phone service, yet, in order to have a static IP address DSL is helpful.

My home configuration consists of Speakeasy DSL with a dedicated data line (2nd physical line going into the dwelling) and I use broadband Vonage for my home phone service.

No traditional local phone company in this scenario!


A plug for Speakeasy DSL, yes! They are excellent!


http://www.speakeasy.net

Mary Winfield
Stamford CT
[e-mail]

[adriaticnyc]

DSL Data Line only - No Voice line! Provider Info

some of us would rather use Voice over IP (VoIP) instead of the traditional phone service, yet, in order to have a static IP address DSL is helpful.

My home configuration consists of Speakeasy DSL with a dedicated data line (2nd physical line going into the dwelling) and I use broadband Vonage for my home phone service.

No traditional local phone company in this scenario!


A plug for Speakeasy DSL, yes! They are excellent!


http://www.speakeasy.net

Mary Winfield
Stamford CT
[e-mail]

[Akiba]

Uploading is an issue with torrents.

I never said anything about downloading to ftp servers, I was talking about uploading files to them.

Torrent files are the only downloads I mentioned and their performance relies more on your upload speed than download speed. Even a well seeded torrent will use up as much upstream bandwith that you can provide but probably won't approach that downstream limits for cable or dsl. Thats means any decent DSL connection will download a file, get a 1 to 1 ratio and move on to another file long before a cable user.

My DSL service doesn't have a bandwidth cap so I don't see how you can call it low. As you mention you actually have a bandwidth cap and thats something I wouldn't pay for. Comcast on the other hand has stated that there is no specific number, just whatever they consider excessive.

[Akiba]

Uploading is an issue with torrents.

I never said anything about downloading to ftp servers, I was talking about uploading files to them.

Torrent files are the only downloads I mentioned and their performance relies more on your upload speed than download speed. Even a well seeded torrent will use up as much upstream bandwith that you can provide but probably won't approach that downstream limits for cable or dsl. Thats means any decent DSL connection will download a file, get a 1 to 1 ratio and move on to another file long before a cable user.

My DSL service doesn't have a bandwidth cap so I don't see how you can call it low. As you mention you actually have a bandwidth cap and thats something I wouldn't pay for. Comcast on the other hand has stated that there is no specific number, just whatever they consider excessive.

[IndioITMan]

$15/mo for 768k? Not here...

Verizon in the SoCal desert is $15 for 1.5M and $30 for 3MB d/l's (768/1.5 upload, respectively)on their DSL service. (note: $5 discount if you have Verizon lond distance)
And even though I've got no less than three computers online at any given time and six or more at time, I've never had an issue with downloads (and we just don't upload that much) so for us, it's a great bargain. (Verizon packages come with modem/router or modem/router/wireless all-in-one units at no charge with one year committment...note, no charge if you quit sooner, you just have to return the equipment)
Bottom line: I'm satisfied with 3 meg d/l's and my online MMORPG's run fine...even in PvP :)

[IndioITMan]

$15/mo for 768k? Not here...

Verizon in the SoCal desert is $15 for 1.5M and $30 for 3MB d/l's (768/1.5 upload, respectively)on their DSL service. (note: $5 discount if you have Verizon lond distance)
And even though I've got no less than three computers online at any given time and six or more at time, I've never had an issue with downloads (and we just don't upload that much) so for us, it's a great bargain. (Verizon packages come with modem/router or modem/router/wireless all-in-one units at no charge with one year committment...note, no charge if you quit sooner, you just have to return the equipment)
Bottom line: I'm satisfied with 3 meg d/l's and my online MMORPG's run fine...even in PvP :)

[rokkett77]

Whatever Works for You.

It always seems that there is going to a "mine is better than yours" arguement whenever any two things are compared.

I have had both cable and DSL service (both at the same time while switching services). For me, it was a matter of saving money. The cable company is locally owned and has no competition other that Ma Bell. As such, it seemed as though the cable rates went up almost on a monthly basis. My wife and I finally decided to get rid of cable and consolidate our phone service and internet service to one provider. We are not big TV junkies so not having cable television was not an issue for us. I now have my home phone, DSL, and cell phones through AT&T/Cingular.

The only real beef that I have with DSL is with the PPPoE Authentication. With cable, it is an always on connection, whereas DSL has to authenticate every so often. I have my router configured for PPPoE so the DSL is always connected. However, there times when it automatically reconnects, and can cause a momentary disconnection. I can usually tell when this happens because my wife tends to become irate when she gets disconnected connected from the WoW server.

As I see it, people should go with which ever service works best or is available to them. I do a lot of downloading of large files (Linux ISOs, files to my server, etc), and haven't had any problems with my DSL service.

Thats my two cents worth.

[rokkett77]

Whatever Works for You.

It always seems that there is going to a "mine is better than yours" arguement whenever any two things are compared.

I have had both cable and DSL service (both at the same time while switching services). For me, it was a matter of saving money. The cable company is locally owned and has no competition other that Ma Bell. As such, it seemed as though the cable rates went up almost on a monthly basis. My wife and I finally decided to get rid of cable and consolidate our phone service and internet service to one provider. We are not big TV junkies so not having cable television was not an issue for us. I now have my home phone, DSL, and cell phones through AT&T/Cingular.

The only real beef that I have with DSL is with the PPPoE Authentication. With cable, it is an always on connection, whereas DSL has to authenticate every so often. I have my router configured for PPPoE so the DSL is always connected. However, there times when it automatically reconnects, and can cause a momentary disconnection. I can usually tell when this happens because my wife tends to become irate when she gets disconnected connected from the WoW server.

As I see it, people should go with which ever service works best or is available to them. I do a lot of downloading of large files (Linux ISOs, files to my server, etc), and haven't had any problems with my DSL service.

Thats my two cents worth.