Cable vs. DSL vs. Fiber Optic

[Viq]

I moved into a new place last weekend. For the first time, I've got several options for an internet connection. I've only had cable in the past, so I don't really know a whole lot about how well DSL or Fiber Optic connections function. I'm looking for opinions on all three. If you had the chose, which would you go for?

[Ryko]

Fiber without a doubt.

[Guyverarmor]

I don't know about fiber optic, DSL is good if you are close to the distribution node, other than that, if you are not, farther the signal has to travel. farther down the pipe= slower speed. Verizon FIOS i heard is good though, and for a decent price. Still, can't beat RR turbo for free as an Employee :nikkei:

[Creeps]

If you have fiber available and don't get it, I'll probably cry

[Shuemue]

If you have the option of fiber, you'd better be getting a fucking amazing deal for DSL or cable for you to not choose it.

Fiber is the future.

[Fhqwghads]

FIBER

[Xanthe]

If you have the option of fiber, you'd better be getting a fucking amazing deal for DSL or cable for you to not choose it.

Fiber is the future.

[Cephius]

Fiber, absolutely!

To break it down:

Cable = distance to the hub doesn't matter as much as DSL, but you share bandwidth with your community. Densely populated area + cable = not good.

DSL = if you live in the middle of nowhere and the signal has to travel 50 miles to the hub, your connection speeds will be crap. It isn't as bad as cable as far as sharing bandwidth goes, so it's better for crowded areas that are close to the hub.

Fiber = is going to probably replace the above two before all is said and done. It's fairly cheap, it's efficient, and signals travel much faster over fiber than they do over anything else. I got Verizon FiOS 10/2 a few months ago for 42.99 a month. The same speed for DSL (from the same company) would have cost me upwards of 100 probably. It's a pretty obvious choice

[wintersquall]

i'm moving soon too and will have to look into this, i've had cable forever.

fiber is faster, i get that - what's the price breakdown look like? (i'm in a major metro so it should be an option).



edit: ceph beat me, and i pay about 40 bucks for cable internet right now so yeah, looks like a no brainer.

[Quixon]

Fiber 100%.

Verizon gets a good chunk of their Fiber Optics from my company. So buy buy buy and get me a bigger commission check. :bagel:

[Creeps]

My area is one of the test areas for Verizon FiOs and you can bet your sweet ass I'm getting it the first day I can

[Dmitry]

Fiber helps keep me regular.

[Viq]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll be spending my lunch break talking to Verizon about setting up FiOS.

[Slott]

out of curiosity, what cable company? some are a shitload better than others (Optonline vs comcast for example)

[Cephius]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll be spending my lunch break talking to Verizon about setting up FiOS.

Just so you know, they're going to tell you that they need 6-8 hours for installation. This is NOT an exaggeration, they assign techs to one house per day and they have to do a ton of shit including running fiber to your house, running cables through your basement/attic, and setting everything up. My guy arrived around 9am and didn't leave til around 6 (though he did take a nice hefty 1.5 hour lunch break). Just saying don't expect him to be in and out.. you'll have to call off work or have someone 18+ in the house or they won't do it.

[Tyche]

Dismiss DSL, but if you have a choice between fiber and a 10mbit+ cable line, I'd choose based on carrier regulations. See what they allow you to upload per day. Upload speed caps, do they bust your ass for using bittorrent, etc. All that shit. Some providers have very strict rules that have to be adhered to or they'll cancel your line. Id call the cable and fiber providers and find out that sort of vital information before buying anything.

[Shuemue]

Dismiss DSL unless you live very near to your local telephone exchange, but if you have a choice between fiber and a 10mbit+ cable line, I'd choose based on carrier regulations. See what they allow you to upload per day. Upload speed caps, do they bust your ass for using bittorrent, etc. All that shit. Some providers have very strict rules that have to be adhered to or they'll cancel your line. Id call the cable and fiber providers and find out that sort of vital information before buying anything.

fixed the DSL part, you're spot on about the rest though, no point having a screaming fast connection without support for the apps you use.

[wintersquall]

out of curiosity, what cable company? some are a shitload better than others (Optonline vs comcast for example)

i have comcast, and afaik it's pretty slow but fairly dependable (i.e. only out for a day or so twice in 4-5 years). alas, my current home PC is like 7 years old... but my new laptop won't be so i'll be able to tell if it sucks. def going to look into fiber in the mpls area.

[Viq]

The cable option in my area is Cox.

[GraveRobberX]

FiOs is great tech wise, but the Customer Service from Verizon is motherfucking Horrible

Holy Shit!, it takes atleast 20+ minutes just to talk to someone (after you go through the 15min automated voice, who wants you to pronounce things so clearly, any background noise, it fucks it up)

I have RoadRunner from Time Warner, they have good speeds, good prices (if you take their triple play deal, cable/internet/phone)
Customer Service is decent and you can have an operator on the phone within 5-7 minutes, 24 hours a day

My cousin who has FiOs in Long Island, has good speeds overall, but my goodness, good luck trying to refute your bill, or make changes, it takes an eternity just to get to a f'n operator, + they arent even 24/7, I called @ 5pm in the evening, it took me till 5:45pm to speak to someone (no exageration), then they put me on hold, lost the call, recalled, automated voice said Office hours till 6pm WTF?

Just try to see what you want overall, cause sometime you may get a better speed, but also you might get the worst service possible