Cable Speed Vs. $$$

I currently am subscribing to a Cable ISP in my area that is their "Gold" package which is supposed to connect at 1.5Mbps. They also have a silver package that connects at 750Kbps. I pay like an extra 30 some odd dollars for my Gold package but am thinking of downgrading. My buddy has the silver and don't notice any difference between his connect/DL time and mine. Is the extra bandwidth worth the 30?? I just want the best performance for the best dollar.

BTW i don't play any online games, i just do a lot of movie DL's and want to start burning some VCD's.

thx

Probably you wouldn't really notice much difference in download speed unless you download about 10 movies at a time. When you're downloading alot of stuff that extra bandwidth makes a difference, but for the most part you wouldn't be really needing it. Not to say it isn't nice though.... but $30 is $30.

TheMan1891 has a point. There may also be folks that may limit the uploading bandwidth as well so no matter what type of connection you have, if you download from one of them and they have limits set you will not gain from it. Reconsider that Gold package. :unsure:

<_< So, the 750Kbps should be more then plenty to do everything I would need to on the internet??

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Originally posted by nizers@12 February 2003 - 07:49
<_<&nbsp; So, the 750Kbps should be more then plenty to do everything I would need to on the internet??

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In my opinion...yes. If your downloads are no where near the 1.5Mbps and closer to the 750Kps, I would definitely change plans.


Besides just think of all the other things you could do with the xtra &#036;30 bucks??? Like buy more cdrs :lol: B) :lol:

You also have to consider how much UPLOAD speed you&#39;re getting.

The GOLD package might give you ~256kbps while the Silver only gives ~128kbps.

This is how &#39;friendly&#39; you can be by sharing with others.
256kbps goes a LOT further -- you can upload up to about 30KB/sec, so that&#39;s like 3 10KB/sec uploads in Kazaa.

128kbps can actually prove a problem -- as not only do you have less, but the overhead remains the same for stuff like Kazaa, web surfing, video &#39;telephone&#39; conferencing, and realtime online games (a REALLY big upload bandwidth eater&#33;) and can make the whole connection seem like a 56k modem if you don&#39;t limit them to what your connection can sustain.
With 128kbps, you&#39;ll be lucky to have 3 uploads in Kazaa running at 4KB/sec each.

If the Gold and Silver packages are BOTH the same upload speed -- DEFINITELY take the silver one&#33;

id say go with the cheaper service the main problem with cable is that its a shared connect with every one in the nabor hood so if u got a lot of peps(more then about 7 peps as most cable systems can only handel 10Mbps for each naborhood) in ur naborhood on line at the same time ur not gona get ur 1.5Mbps anyway
btw im on a dsl plan with earthlink now that gives me 1.5Mps down and 128 up for 49.95 a month and dsl bandwith is not shared its all mine all the time they got a spechal going now to get the 1st 3mo for 21.95 a mo this is the price of most dial up services but it gos up to 49.95 after 3 mo and u got to sign a 1 year agreement

Is your cable modem tweaked? If not, go to Speedguide and get the appropriate patches you need. Then go to bandwidthplace and check your speed. If you&#39;re not getting your money&#39;s worth, then it&#39;s only logical to downgrade.

It sounds like you&#39;re paying &#036;30 more for a service your not getting. Downgrade, take the &#036;30 and buy beer.

Unless your uploading and downloading vast amounts of data the extra speed just isn&#39;t worth having.

:( Man I need to get Cable....DSL sucks. :(

I DL&#39;d some of those patches you referred and then tested like you mentioned above and came out with an average of about 2.0 megabites per second... it sounds good. Says it&#39;s faster then T1 ...but, my ISP says my package only goes up to 1.5Mbps. Who&#39;s right?

Your ISP may be closer to right, then again you be the judge since you are the one that is actually using the service. Do some download testing at different location/file sizes and see what speeds you come up with. With the DL speeds you can average out what it is you actually get vs. what ISP/Test sight says. Best of luck on final decision.

<_< The Point here is that even they have those different packs they must also assure a quality Cable Signal (Forward Path and Return Path) and those kind of things are very hard to attain because the Cable Signal is always floating even when u turn your TV ON or OFF ... get the 750 kbps pack and look in the CABLE MODEM software if the Signal is fine... after u may need to buy an ATENUATOR and make the signal adjustments... i don&#39;t how much it should cost there, but i bought one by 30 € +/- 30 US&#036; ;)

:D Like your avatar Lone Ranger.....welcome to the board.Wheres Tonto?:D

downgrade and use that thirty dollars to buy the dvd u wanna watch, or rent and rip, or buy them bootleg, or u can just get drunk and forget about downloading movies.

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Originally posted by maybe@7 March 2003 - 00:52
or u can just get drunk and forget about downloading movies.

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:D That is the kind of attitude we need in this galaxy of ours. :D

Take the &#036;30 and buy some beer and relax&#33;

Take the thirty dollars and have fun.

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Originally posted by nizers@14 February 2003 - 12:10
Says it&#39;s faster then T1 ...but, my ISP says my package only goes up to 1.5Mbps.&nbsp; Who&#39;s right?

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First things 1st.. goto www.dslreports.com .. go to tools, and test your connection speed. You compare your speed against other providers in your area, and other users.

2nd.. your ISP quotes you a "guaranteed bandwidth", it could be more or less, depending on a few factors, such as the number of users in your area, etc..

DSL is the best service because you have a direct connection from your home to the central office at the telephone company. Many users aren&#39;t happy with their DSL because it is a fairly new service, and they have yet to work out the bugs, even in major metro areas like NYC. In addition, DSL connections will only work if you are within a 3 mile range of the central office which services you.

Until they can work out the DSL bugs, cable is probably the best choice. However as more users get cable in your area, the connection speed will slowly drop over time. After enough customers have signed up, you may experience a slight decrease in speed. If you live close to the city, instead of on the outskirts of town, your cable company will constantly be adding new servers in your area, so this probably won&#39;t be an issue for you.

I say get the fasted package that they offer, especially if you plan on downloading lots of big files, movies especially.--

Jibbler

One thing I would recommend is calling and complaining to your cable company if you notice your speed drop for extended periods of time (I&#39;m not talking rush hour stuff, more like a couple days). This happened to me the same time I was installing a network for sharing the connection, and I was just sure that it was bad settings until I called up my ISP, told em what was going on, and they fixed the prob. (Sort of...) :huh:

My cable co also has that same option.

I run at 768 down, for about 45 bucks a month. Its like another 25&#036; for the 1.5 meg connection.

For gaming purposes, 768 is way more then adaquate.

For filesharing... right now im downloading, binging more like it, about 10 fulls cds of data, movies, and games, 700 megs each. Im maxing out my connection, as im about my 800 down, in total on all the files. Rarely do I do this. And its even rarer that a couple files on the network will max out my 768 down, cuz it depends so much on how many senders there are, & what their upload speeds are.

I wont upgrade to 1.5 megs, its more then I need. If I decide to run a home network, and share my connection, maybe then, but the 768 is plenty for me.

Cable is defintly better. It&#39;s usually cheaper and faster than DSL. But DSL is more widely available. This has been my experience in NYC. I guess it varies, depending on MANY factors.