Well I finally ordered DSL. Found it on sale for just under $62 a month with unlimited long distance, call waiting and MSN as my ISP. Customer service is in india. I will miss the service I got from Icehouse.
Found out the DSL wireless Modem is sold only by the phone company. ($99.00)
I was told there is a house bill in the making requiring the phone company to give out the code to break their DSL Modem monoply. I hope it passes.
What is required when changing from the phone line to a DSL line?
DSL proprietary modem required
In fact, they may not know... There's a salesguy from AT&T who's frantically trying to get me to go DSL again, and doesn't seem to accept that the phone lines in this building were installed in the '50s by someone who thought wrapping the wires around eyebolts every yard or so was pretty. Doesn't matter that I can SEE the darn central office from here - they've tried, and the best rate they can provide is something like 160-192Kbps - but this doof is convinced he can get me rates faster than cable. For some reason he won't put money on it, though. 
I had DSL through Verizon for a while...it was pretty mediocre. The speed was acceptable, but the connectivity was unreliable.
I switched to Fiberoptic a few months back and couldn't be happier. Same price, MUCH faster, and very reliable.
I really wouldn't recommend DSL unless it's the only broadband option you have.
I switched to Fiberoptic a few months back and couldn't be happier. Same price, MUCH faster, and very reliable.
I really wouldn't recommend DSL unless it's the only broadband option you have.
Cable Modem is generally about 10 times faster than DSL, on download anyway. For upload speeds, DSL is faster.
DSL upload and download speeds are the same but with cable modem the upload speeds are about 10 to 15 times slower than download speeds, depending on your cable company and their connection allow-ability.
For instance, my cable connection gives me about 8000 KB download but only about 357 KB upload.
Cable is also affected by line usage. The more folks that have their TV on and/or are using the internet, the slower your connection.
DSL is supposed to be unaffected by usage.
DSL upload and download speeds are the same but with cable modem the upload speeds are about 10 to 15 times slower than download speeds, depending on your cable company and their connection allow-ability.
For instance, my cable connection gives me about 8000 KB download but only about 357 KB upload.
Cable is also affected by line usage. The more folks that have their TV on and/or are using the internet, the slower your connection.
DSL is supposed to be unaffected by usage.
Hawk
Thanks all Still learning
I contacted the phone companies Cust. Support (India) The Third fellow seemed to know his stuff. He said they preferred to sell me the phone companys Modem.
I asked why I can't just connect the DSL line to my Router and the router to my NIC port. He said it would probably work if I used cat5. But they might have to send me drivers that matched my modems.
Well heck, I will just have to wait to find out for my self what will work.
Question: For a wireless modem, doesn't each extra computer I add to the system need something to read the wireless signal.
The first India tech said NO.
I contacted the phone companies Cust. Support (India) The Third fellow seemed to know his stuff. He said they preferred to sell me the phone companys Modem.
I asked why I can't just connect the DSL line to my Router and the router to my NIC port. He said it would probably work if I used cat5. But they might have to send me drivers that matched my modems.
Well heck, I will just have to wait to find out for my self what will work.
Question: For a wireless modem, doesn't each extra computer I add to the system need something to read the wireless signal.
The first India tech said NO.
Gwizz, not really.
If you're connectiong multiple computers to your DSL, the proper line-up is : phone line (DSL) -> Modem -> router =>>computer(s).
This setup will allow all computers access to the net (and each other) at the same time. The only glitch might be your OS. Windows needs (i think) Win98 or higher to talk to each other.
Now, there are also wireless routers available which would require additional hardware at each computer.
BE AWARE: if you use both a wireless modem and wireless routers, be sure they use different frequencies/encoding.
If you're connectiong multiple computers to your DSL, the proper line-up is : phone line (DSL) -> Modem -> router =>>computer(s).
This setup will allow all computers access to the net (and each other) at the same time. The only glitch might be your OS. Windows needs (i think) Win98 or higher to talk to each other.
Now, there are also wireless routers available which would require additional hardware at each computer.
BE AWARE: if you use both a wireless modem and wireless routers, be sure they use different frequencies/encoding.
Thanks Davey
That what I thought.
Some of the techs in India are a bit hard to understand.
But I'm changing my mind and now I think I will hard wire the DSL.
One last question. They are offering me a 1.5 MB or I can get a 7.0 MB DSL line for a little more each month.
Will 1.5 be enough to watch online TV or movies?
That what I thought.
Some of the techs in India are a bit hard to understand.
But I'm changing my mind and now I think I will hard wire the DSL.
One last question. They are offering me a 1.5 MB or I can get a 7.0 MB DSL line for a little more each month.
Will 1.5 be enough to watch online TV or movies?
Well the tech in India said I could have 7.0 Mb but the locals say not yet. The line is not ready. I have a major software company service tech next door who works out of his home. There is a healthy looking blue box in our common right-of-way. He has been updating his equipment lately. I wonder how close that connection really is?????? :D
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Braindead6
- Brakeman
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:45 pm
- Location: Northern Middle Tennessee (within spittin' distance of Kentucky)
I'm one of those people that can't get cable or a conventional DSL. I went with Starband. You don't need a phone line because you download and upload through it's own satellite dish. It's not for the faint at heart to pay for the set-up, but when your only other choice is dial-up it was worth it.
The only problem I had when I first started was that they would not support networking, and the software took up it's share of ram.
I just upgraded my modem and now I don't have any software installed, although I do have to have a network card (which I had by the way).
The modem also supports networking, which is a big plus.
Although it doesn't compare to cable, I still get 512Kbps download and 128Kbps upload speeds.
Maybe one day they'll run cable by here.
Jim
The only problem I had when I first started was that they would not support networking, and the software took up it's share of ram.
I just upgraded my modem and now I don't have any software installed, although I do have to have a network card (which I had by the way).
The modem also supports networking, which is a big plus.
Although it doesn't compare to cable, I still get 512Kbps download and 128Kbps upload speeds.
Maybe one day they'll run cable by here.
Jim
I never worry about what other people do. I have enough trouble remembering what I already did