Digital cable--oh what fun!

ehume · Post by **ehume** » September 19th, 2003, 4:40 pm

I just moved from Verizon DSL to digital cable today. The increase in connection speed is not terribly dramatic--my cable connection averages 1000k vs nominal max of 1500k, where the DSL averaged 700k vs nominal max of 786k--but the connection lag is way down. FB is simply jumping into new pages (once there, page constitution time is about the same).

E-mail is quicker to start, and the e-mail upload/download is faster too. And upload is around 400k. This is fun!

Post by **shadytrees** » September 19th, 2003, 5:17 pm

Have you bothered to turn on your TV? :-)

Jack · Post by **Jack** » September 19th, 2003, 6:57 pm

Good for you. I had a cable modem from March through July of this year, and it was sheer unadulterated hell. I was off-line more than I was on. After four months of dealing with Comcast, I just gave up, and ordered Verizon DSL. It's been *smooth* sailing ever since, without one hiccup. Of course, it's slightly slower, but more importantly, I'm able to get on when I want to, and I'm able to stay on without being thrown off-line every five minutes.

Jack

sharkius · Post by **sharkius** » September 19th, 2003, 7:40 pm

I've had cable since about March. Except for the little incident this summer where I had too many splitters before the modem that just ragged on the signal strength, I didn't have any problems with Comcast. Would get 1.5Mbps usually.

ehume · Post by **ehume** » September 19th, 2003, 8:16 pm

Jack Comics wrote:Good for you. I had a cable modem from March through July of this year, and it was sheer unadulterated hell. I was off-line more than I was on.

Well, by waiting until Patriot Media bought the system in Princeton from RCN (who offered only 1-way cable), I benefitted from the transition from analog to digital cable. They've been going around swapping out everybody's TV boxes and cable modems--and doing installations of new digital cable service. The people at Patmedia told me that the digital cable customers won't suffer the problems that analog cable customers suffered. We'll see: the first month is free, and I haven't disconnected the DSL yet. OTOH, it sure is snappier than the DSL.

banjobacon! · Post by **banjobacon!** » September 19th, 2003, 9:54 pm

What's the cheapest cable internet acceess usually goes for? $50? $60?

Lost User 8002 · Post by **Lost User 8002** » September 20th, 2003, 4:49 am

banjobacon! wrote:What's the cheapest cable internet acceess usually goes for? $50? $60?

Around here I pay $30 Canadian...
About $22.25 USD...
Everyone can drool now...
It is VERY fast also...

September 20th, 2003, 5:51 am

ehume wrote: The people at Patmedia told me that the digital cable customers won't suffer the problems that analog cable customers suffered.

A digital based cable system is indeed more reliable than analog and you're benefiting with brand new lines and equipment. In the Roanoke area, most of my friends have had very reliable service with few issues. I hope it works well for you.

ehume · Post by **ehume** » September 20th, 2003, 6:54 am

DeltaGuy wrote:
banjobacon! wrote:What's the cheapest cable internet acceess usually goes for? $50? $60?

Around here I pay $30 Canadian...
About $22.25 USD...
Everyone can drool now...
It is VERY fast also...

I'm paying $55/month, and I'm drooling.

One thing I've noticed: the internet bandwidth meter sites differ in their ratings, and the differences change depending on who you're connected with. For example, when I was/am on DSL (not turned off, though not connected at present), the cnet bandwidth meter consistently gave me ratings in the mid- to high-300's. So then I discovered that PC Pitstop's bandwidth meter gave me ratings around 700. I figured that the cnet test just wasn't in the right spot to provide an accurate test for me. Now, however, on my new ISP, the PC Pitstop meter comes in at 850-1050, where the CNET meter is giving me a rating of 1000-1300. This time, it seems, the CNET meter is better positioned.

And thanks for the good wishes, harrywaldron. How's your connection, down there in Hurricane Land?

sharkius · Post by **sharkius** » September 20th, 2003, 7:13 am

ehume wrote:
DeltaGuy wrote:
banjobacon! wrote:What's the cheapest cable internet acceess usually goes for? $50? $60?

Around here I pay $30 Canadian...
About $22.25 USD...
Everyone can drool now...
It is VERY fast also...
I'm paying $55/month, and I'm drooling.

One thing I've noticed: the internet bandwidth meter sites differ in their ratings, and the differences change depending on who you're connected with. For example, when I was/am on DSL (not turned off, though not connected at present), the cnet bandwidth meter consistently gave me ratings in the mid- to high-300's. So then I discovered that PC Pitstop's bandwidth meter gave me ratings around 700. I figured that the cnet test just wasn't in the right spot to provide an accurate test for me. Now, however, on my new ISP, the PC Pitstop meter comes in at 850-1050, where the CNET meter is giving me a rating of 1000-1300. This time, it seems, the CNET meter is better positioned.

And thanks for the good wishes, harrywaldron. How's your connection, down there in Hurricane Land?

I only pay about $40/month for cable.

I never liked te CNet test. Always seemed low for me. Banwidthplace is much better.

Lost User 8002 · Post by **Lost User 8002** » September 20th, 2003, 9:55 am

$55/month USD...
$40/month USD...
That's like a Canadian Fortune...

ehume · Post by **ehume** » September 20th, 2003, 9:41 pm

DeltaGuy wrote:$55/month USD...
$40/month USD...
That's like a Canadian Fortune...

That's it. Rub it in. I already told you I was drooling over how little you pay . . .

BTW--I am enjoying myself thoroughly. It's just amazing to see Mozillazine forum pages appear like lightning. I'm even giving up tabbing them. No need . . .

MoNkaholic · Post by **MoNkaholic** » September 20th, 2003, 9:55 pm

I used to pay $34.99/month USD, now I think it's currently around $39.99/month USD.

CNET gave me a rating of 2250 kbps, whereas PC Pitstop gave me a rating of 4903 Kb/s. It was up and running within a week (roughly a year and a half ago), and I haven't had a problem since. Oh yeah, I use Optimum Online (Cablevision).

I have had nothing but good things to say about my cable modem provider, and have heard just about every foul word you could imagine from the friends of mine that use DSL (Most notably, Verizon).

Lost User 8002 · Post by **Lost User 8002** » September 22nd, 2003, 4:51 pm

ehume wrote:
DeltaGuy wrote:$55/month USD...
$40/month USD...
That's like a Canadian Fortune...
That's it. Rub it in. I already told you I was drooling over how little you pay . . .

BTW--I am enjoying myself thoroughly. It's just amazing to see Mozillazine forum pages appear like lightning. I'm even giving up tabbing them. No need . . .

Things appear like lightning for me too...
My lightening just costs 50% cheaper...

ehume · Post by **ehume** » September 22nd, 2003, 6:00 pm

DeltaGuy wrote:Things appear like lightening for me too...
My lightening just costs 50% cheaper...

Keep on rubbing it in. Oh yes. I thought you Canadians were supposed to be more polite than us inthe lower 48. At least we know how to spell lightning. ;-)