Cable vs DSL

[Mayhem]

Originally posted by Casinoman
Ok...I have DSL now, and am pretty happy with my connection.  I have a favor to ask...but ONLY  of those players who have used cable modem  AND DSL....

I will be moving soon, and the area may or may not have DSL.  My new house also has a satalite dish, and I 'm not sure if I want to go with cable tv or satallite tv..

But for playing AH...

Which is better?  Cable or DSL?  

Thanks!

Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen
Rittmeister


    ROX

I've worked in both fields and personally used both DSL and Cable.

I've worked for TCI, AT&T, Comcast, Surewest, Astound, Pabell and SBC.

I can give you a no non-sense answer.

Whatever can give you the best and most reliable connection where you live for the best price.

Where I live it's DSL. I have a 6mbps/608kbps connection. Cable in the area can only provide 3mb/208kbps.  

Find out what your neighbors have see if they can run bandwith test and send you the results. ask them how reliable the service is.

the reliabilaty of your connection will effect how it works with AH. So if every one swears by cable in your area use cable if it's dsl use dsl.

[Eagler]

formerly Time Warner Cable:


can some DSL'ers post a pingplot for comparison?

[jetb123]

I noticed with dsl when i did have it. I got discoed just as much as i did with dialup. Only benefit was it wasnt tieing up phone line. Went to cable have only been discoed once. Thats because i tripped over cable wire.

[Sikboy]

I've had both Cable and DSL in the DC 'burbs. I saw no discernable difference between the two so far as gameplay goes.

Also, porn downloads plenty fast with either.

-Sik

[Siaf__csf]

I had a cable connection when I played AH actively and it sucked major time.

The problem with cable is that if even one building connected to the same network has a problem with amps or whatever it will echo all over the network.

This means the system is very prone for disturbance and errors. That added to the fact that the bandwith is shared makes it look ugly for online gaming.

I had nothing but trouble with cable. Complained about 100 times to the provider - they knew me by first name in the end.

When I switched to DSL all problems were instantly gone, ping times were steady and no packet loss like I had with cable. Up speeds 10x higher, download speed 4x higher with marginally higher cost.

So if you ask me, keep the DSL don't even try cable. Chances are you'll regret it. Naturally you might end up with a better provider and better overall network - but this is my experience and you've been warned.

[JB73]

Originally posted by Siaf__csf
I had a cable connection when I played AH actively and it sucked major time....

from what i have heard, you fellas over in europe have not had good luck with cable in general, and it seems europe in general is geared towards DSL.

from what i have heard, you pay lower prices for much higher DSL than here in the US.

at least where i am cable rules. to get the same speed in DSL it would cost over $75/ month minium, and then only houses close enough to a box can get it (i live in a decent, not super rich suburab)

[HavocTM]

Another difference is that cable may be able to offer higher download speeds but NO cable provider will guarantee bandwidth.

A DSL line is yours only and the bandwidth will (generally) be pretty much the same all the time.

The MOST important factor in playing AH is latency.  This is how long it takes for a packet to travel between you and the server and back.

Sometimes even the fastest lines have slower latency at times than the slowest.  Latency and bandwidth are two different things.

I absolutely agree with the comment that you should get whatever works best for you at the time and price.  If you are coming off dialup then cable OR DSL will be a dramatic improvement in your internet experience.

[mora]

Originally posted by Eagler
formerly Time Warner Cable:


can some DSL'ers post a pingplot for comparison?

From Florida to Texas via Washington and Chicago???

[HavocTM]

OK Screw them both!  I have seen the light and it is Fiber!

Verizon Fios 30 Mb Broadband

[mora]

I personally prefer DSL for gaming.

Here's my PP chart:

[HavocTM]

Is this good?

[Mayhem]

Again it's all in where you live. Not only City and state but where in your city.  When I was working on the surewest contract we where talking Fiber one of the few places in the country that had it. 10mb/10mb and it can actually do 1gb/1gb. As some one mentioned earlier Vorizon has 30mb fiber. SBC already has Fiber to the curb and is working on fiber to the prem. SBC is also working on suber DSL.

just Between DSL and Cable.

DSL is harder to get working correctly but once it is it's usually solid. It's very range limited. The farther you are from the Central Office or RT the slower the speed. the fastest DSL you can get in most places is 6mb and is hard to get. There are also alot of conditions involved in getting 6mb as well such as being very close to the CO/RT and having high Quality inside and outside wiring. SUPER DSL will boot ranges and speeds up to 18mb/8mb according to the latest news.

Cable is Population limited. Gone are the days of shared bandwith where "when your neighbor downloads you loose bandwith" (Think Hayward/Fremont). However even with the new routers the more poeple in the node the less your bandwith weather they are using it or not. Cable is actually the slower of the to technoligies limited by most service providers at 3mbps with a true physical limitation maxing out around 4.5 mbps. Like DSL (Alot of people don't know this) Cable is range limited. The further down from the relay or trunk you are the slower it gets but this is rarely a factor with most cable systems (you have to be one the last persons on the chain and out in the booneys where cable ends to see this). Inside and outside wiring will effect reliabilaty speed.

All in all whats good where I live may not be good where you live. My wife installs DSL. I've worked support for 2 DSL providers a Bunch of Cable providers and a fiber provider (Sure West). My favorite is the one that works for me the best. Here in Ceres It's DSL. If I lived in Fair Oaks (sacramento) it would be Fiber. Concord it would most likely be Astound Cable.

Heres My ping plot
Target Name: N/A
         IP: 216.91.187.39
  Date/Time: 6/2/2005 8:41:47 AM

 1    9 ms  bras1-l0.skt2ca.sbcglobal.net [151.164.187.5]
 2    8 ms  dist2-vlan60.skt2ca.sbcglobal.net [68.120.211.131]
 3    8 ms  bb2-g1-0.skt2ca.sbcglobal.net [68.120.211.228]
 4   10 ms  bb1-p10-2.crscca.sbcglobal.net [151.164.191.241]
 5   11 ms  ex2-p14-0.eqsjca.sbcglobal.net [151.164.242.230]
 6   11 ms  ex1-p10-0.eqsjca.sbcglobal.net [151.164.191.66]
 7   11 ms  bpr2-ge-6-0-0.SanJoseEquinix.savvis.net [151.164.89.42]
 8   12 ms  dcr2-so-3-2-0.SanFranciscosfo.savvis.net [206.24.211.77]
 9   23 ms  dcr1-so-2-0-0.LosAngeles.savvis.net [204.70.192.89]
10   23 ms  dcr2-so-5-0-0.LosAngeles.savvis.net [204.70.192.118]
11   53 ms  acr1-so-4-0-0.Denver.savvis.net [204.70.193.85]
12   68 ms  scr1-at-2-2-0-950.stls1.savvis.net [208.172.163.134]
13   67 ms  [216.91.187.39]

I've got awsome speed and a real good conection to AH (when Savvis isn't porked) But again this is great news if you live in my neighborhood and have awsome inside wiring and want DSL.

Havoc up above has some of the best ping times I've ever seen. It looks like he is on comcast Cable (formerly at&t) or has an Old at&t t-1 to t-3 at work. Again this is awsome but it wount help you where you live unless you live next door to him.

I also Get DSL as a consession so we pay alot less and get a suped of version of the 6mb package wich SBC really doesn't offer alot any more.

[Siaf__csf]

Havoc overall ping is superb but you have a slight problem with hop 8 jamming slightly on you. Luckily no packet loss there.

That doesnt necessarily mean anything, ping is not the first on the priority list.

[HavocTM]

hee hee...

I did this one from work.  I am sure my boss would not go for playing from here but the connection would be good!

Except on Tuesday some dude tripped on the cable to our PDC and the whole network was down!