ISP recommendations

[Jonathan Hutchins]

On Monday May 24 2004 01:35 pm, Garrett Goebel wrote:

> Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
> > What kind of bandwidth are you looking for?  Cable modem is the best
> > for the buck, a commercial account should give you what you need.

> YMMV: DSL usually has lower latencies...

The truth is that it's the local implementation that matters.  In the Kansas 
City area, Retail Domestic DSL from SBC is PPPoE, and at the same montly 
price as Time Warner's RoadRunner Cable Modem service only about 1/4 the 
speed - IF you're close enough to the local demark.

I saw an early SBC DSL set up that was very much on par with RoadRunner, same 
speed, same price, the only disadvantage was a two year mandatory contract 
(vs. month-to-month for RR).

Some guys on the list have had problems with RR service, mostly frequent (but 
brief) outages.  This may be in areas where they're doing a lot of build-out, 
or may be something else.  Mine's been solid for years, the only significant 
outage was the big ice storm.

So yeah, your milage varies, and it really matters what conditions are in your 
neighborhood, what services are offered at what price.  RoadRunner's a good 
bet because if they don't perform, you're not on a contract.  If you're into 
bundled services, that seems to be Everest's thing, but it looks like their 
same-speed service is a lot higher than RR.

I really don't think that from a consumer perspective, Cable Modem or DSL have 
any inherent deficiencies or superiorities.  I am fairly certain that PPPoE, 
as implemented by SBC in this area is a much better deal for SBC than for 
you.