[Hidden-tech] DSL vs cable internet for office

[Robert Heller]

At Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:59:33 -0500 Val Nelson <val at valnelson.com> wrote:

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> Hi HT friends,
> Sorry to ask this age-old question but I feel overwhelmed by the tech talk
> when talking to Comcast and Verizon. Can you help give me some perspective
> on these options?
> 
> I need to set up Internet access in my office and these are the two choices
> in my price range:
> 
> Comcast cable internet $59.95/month
> 
>    - Downloads 6-12 mb, uploads 1-2 mb
> 
> 
>    - "Internet speeds up to 15 times faster than DSL"
> 
> 
> Verizon DSL $49.99/month
> 
>    - "Up to 5.0M"
> 
> It will mostly be for one user at a time, but occasionally up to 5 users at
> a time. I'm in a building that probably has no Comcast users yet because
> they just installed it here, but eventually might have more.
> 
> Will I notice a difference in speed between these two options? I'm not doing
> any major downloading or uploading but I give my browser a run for its
> money.

DSL Speeds depend mostly on the copper quality.  *In Town* it *might* be
good (or not).  Out in the woods it can be pretty bad.  Cable speeds
mostly depend on who else in your neighborhood is also using the
InterNet. 

(Technically [greatly simpified!] what is going on is this: with DSL
you have a dedicated 'wire' to the central office, but the wire can be
of poor quality.  With cable, you share a 'wire' with folks in your
neighborhood.)

One other gotcha: DSL depends on the *old* copper telephone system. 
Verizon wants to rid itself of this infrastructure.  The more rural
parts of it are in various states of decay.  If (When) Western Mass
Connect gets the fiber backbone and eventually the last mile gets
wired, it is likely that copper system may even vanish.  (The fiber
option system will effectively replace it.) 


> 
> Which option would you do?

If it was available where I live I'd go for Comcast, mostly because I
really, really want to stop sending money to Verizon (a black hole).

> 
> Thank you!!
> 
> Val
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Robert Heller             -- Get the Deepwoods Software FireFox Toolbar!
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