Changing Internet Service Providers ???

Currently I have Comcast Cable for my broadband internet. When I started with them 1.5 years ago it was 6Mbps now I think it is something like 15Mbps. However I am unhappy with the rising prices and poor customer support and plan to swich.

Now I know cable broadband bandwidth is basicly shared between everyone using it at that time, and i'm assuming, is further limited by the host servers you are downloading from, and i usually start out downloading something at ~1.5Mbps but that is very short lived and end up around ~700kbps-200kbps.

Currently I cannot get Fios in my location and am considering DSL. I know the numbers say it is slower (I can get 1Mbps bandwidth currently where I live), but they say it is a line only you are using (bandwidth is not split between other households using it).

So considering this and when monitoring a download, I rarely see speeds higher than 1Mbps would I really notice a "slowdown" from the difference in bandwidth going from Cable (15Mbps) to DSL (1Mbps)?

Thanks in advance!

 

With a 1 Mbps DSL line, expect 100 kb or slower download speeds. It will barely be able to stream video.

 

Thanks! Do you know what would I be able to expect with 3Mbps or Fios?

 

fios and dsl are shared infrastructure services as well.

The ONLY difference between fios, dsl, and cable broadband is where the bandwidth aggregation occurs. This varies among providers and even within the same city/installation.

Remember that no matter who or what you buy for broadband, the speed you pay for is only 'guaranteed' as far as the closest demark point. After that, you are at the mercy of th ecomplexity of th eproviders network on the way to the internet.

 

I think ur last paragraph plays into what I was saying. If my download speeds rarely reach 1Mbps would having only a 1Mbps bandwidth be nearly the same as my current service or would it be the same "percent".

Example: if my bandwidth is 100 and I'm only getting 10, would having a bandwidth of 10 still yield 10 or would it only yield 1?

 

No provider is going to guarantee you any kind of bandwidth beyond what is called the 'local loop' or 'last mile' between you and the closest demark/aggregation point.

 

I know this... I'll change my question... Will my Internet connection be slower than crap if I switch to 1Mbps dsl considering I rarely breach that bandwidth while my current connection is much higher?

 

and the answer, unfortunately, remains the same.

without a competent network analysis, it's really impossible to say.

 

Ah. Thank u. I didn't know that's what u were getting at... Thanks!

 

Before Comcast or Verizon moved in my neighborhood, me and several neighbor checked on DSL. What all of was told, is that we were to far from the switch gear. One offered to use a line amp somewhere in between to boost the signal, but said it would not guarantee speeds >256k. This was 3mbps DSL. Old phone lines and DSL do not work very well.

So if you want high speed internet you only option is probably Comcast. The supplied comcast routers in the past had minimal ram for buffer. This causes lag if more than one user. I used my own hardware, at the time it was an option. My neighbors noticed the difference when they came over. Beside with my own router I closed all of the back doors (ports) they had open.

 

actually, old phone lines are better for dsl than new lines.

There is an upper limit to how far a customer premises (your house) can be from a DSL modem frame. But this distance is longer for older, thicker phone wires than for newer, thinner phone wires.

Why? Because older phone lines use thicker gauge wires which in turn helps out with frequency response and line loss. It is that simple. The phone companies though, absolutely hate to do real-world line tests to determine the actual frequency response of a phone line, this can take an hour or more of expensive technician time.

Because of labor costs they usually go with the stock answer of you're too far out, we need to install an amplifier. The amp would probably be an SLC, a subscriber line concentrator which doubles up on cable pairs to try and get some more frequency response and signal gain from those new, thin phone wires.

Cable and FIOS is so much simpler........