ISP recommendations

[Leo J Mauler]

On Mon, 24 May 2004 19:48:11 -0500 Jonathan Hutchins
<hutchins at tarcanfel.org> writes:
> 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).

This was a big factor in my decision to choose cable over DSL.  Another
problem with DSL is that it is rather difficult to share it over a
router.  YMMV, but a friend of mine chose to break his contract with SBC
DSL rather than put up with only one computer at a time connected to
broadband Internet.  I've never had problems sharing my cable modem
connection over my home network.

> 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.

I had a brief outage of two hours yesterday, but it worked fine for
months before that.  Reconnection of Internet service is very fast, and
my BitTorrent connections resumed automagically.

> 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.

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