Michael,

I am going to agree with Russ on this. The value of cable decreases as the
number of users (your neighbors) on the same trunk increase. The limitations
on DSL then is primarily the distance from the central office (although
providers have placed devices along the route to increase the service area
beyond the initial 18,000 ft limitation). Cable that has been in place for
many years does have the problem of deterioration, which degrades the signal
strength for reduced bandwidth.

I don't understand the 2 IP addresses (sounds like a reason to charge more).
I have a router, and have had several users (college study group) connect
through the wireless portion. The router should act as a DHCP server. It
will connect users with private IP addresses (in the 192.168.x.x range -
normally). In other words, the router gets the IP address provided by the
ISP and handles the networking connections of PCs that are behind it. The
router will perform a Network Address Translation (NAT) for communication
going out of it to the Internet. This is transparent to the user - just
configure PC network settings for DHCP.

If a provider charged me for more than one connection with my single IP
address, or if the signal degrades to unacceptable levels (do to the sharing
of the bandwidth with others on the same trunk), I would be tempted to
switch to DSL because the bandwidth (although benchmarked lower than cable)
is a dedicated bandwidth. Frankly, depending on the situation - you could
feasibly achieve a higher throughput with DSL. I will say that I am in a
transition home - meaning, I am renting at the moment - with intentions of
making a (hopefully) final move to settle down in the next year or so. I
have not had to think in terms of a more permanent solution as of yet. If
you are considering a long term commitment - I would recommend that you look
at the total cost of ownership as part of your consideration on which to
choose as well your personal need for speed. For example, I still recommend
dial-up for people that are just getting started and only wish to take
advantage of e-mail.

You will probably get many differring opinions on which is better; however,
I wonder what the situation will be in the future (10 years - perhaps).
Since, newer homes may be completely networked (lights, alarms, locks,
appliances, etc.) - I wonder what type of ISP will handle the telephone,
cable, and Internet services then. If you could predict that - it might be a
good guide in deciding whether choose DSL or cable today.

HTH...John

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael C. Williams" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 7:28 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] DSL versus cable


> I am not sure if this venue is appropriate for my question on DSL versus
> cable, but I am looking for advice and/or recommendations.  Currently I
use
> Comcast cable at a total cost of about $46 per month for the connection
and
> modem rental.  I like the cable speed (is there a way to check download
> speed?) and the connection has been very reliable.  Because I have two
> computers connected thru a router and use two IP addresses, Comcast is
going
> to start charging me about $7 per month more.  I don't need 2 IP's, but
> don't know how to connect both computers using only one IP address.  DSL
is
> now being offered in my area by SBC and I can get service for about $27
per
> month.  There will be some startup cost, but only about $100 I think
because
> of promotional offers; also I will get 2 months free service.
>
> Now for my question:  Is cable more reliable and enough faster to justify
> this cost disparity which will be on the order of $26 per month?  For
> information I have one Northgate desktop computer (Windows XP pro) and one
> HP laptop (Win XP home) computer connected.  The SBC rep told me that a
> firewall and spam protection are provided, but these may be what many
ISP's
> provide.
>
> Thanks for any assistance provided.
>
> Mike Williams
>
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