10mbps fiber optic dsl or 20mbps cable

[-1nf1n1ty-]

I just switched from 20mbps cable to 10 fiber optic, and i hear fiber optic is a lot faster, is this true?

[dir_d]

fiber maybe in the upload but thats about it

[-1nf1n1ty-]

Originally Posted by dir_d

fiber maybe in the upload but thats about it

well I mainly download and play games is it good for that? they also tell me its more reliable, just wanting to see if I made the right choice to switch

[theonedub]

Fiber has higher bandwidth possibilities but going from a 20meg line to a 10 fiber line is still a downgrade. Fiber in the metro areas about 30-40mins from where I live offer 50-100meg lines.

Latencies and whatnot for games is probably a wash, and if you download you just lost half your speed. Bad move in the short term, but if they start offering more speed later it might work out down the road.

[-1nf1n1ty-]

Originally Posted by theonedub

Fiber has higher bandwidth possibilities but going from a 20meg line to a 10 fiber line is still a downgrade. Fiber in the metro areas about 30-40mins from where I live offer 50-100meg lines.

Latencies and whatnot for games is probably a wash, and if you download you just lost half your speed. Bad move in the short term, but if they start offering more speed later it might work out down the road.

well its only me here so im the only one using the internet. now I feel like a retard....awesome


you sure it was actually a bad move? eh

[theonedub]

Is the bill cheaper?

What I don't get is why there is some supposed hierarchy for internet tech. I mean a 20meg line is a 20meg line whether its DSL2, FIOS, or Cable- right? I know 3G, 4G (WIMAX), and Sat have latency issues and are considered bad, but when it comes down to wires running into your house bandwidth>*

Also, the way you describe the service is that it is Fiber to the area/neighborhood then they run DSL lines from the terminal to your house. If thats the case your speed might be limited by the distance to the terminal. Maybe someone more familiar with Fiber to the Node setups can clarify if that is a bottle neck for future speed upgrades.

A 10meg line is still fast if you ask me though

[-1nf1n1ty-]

Originally Posted by theonedub

Is the bill cheaper?

What I don't get is why there is some supposed hierarchy for internet tech. I mean a 20meg line is a 20meg line whether its DSL2, FIOS, or Cable- right? I know 3G, 4G (WIMAX), and Sat have latency issues and are considered bad, but when it comes down to wires running into your house bandwidth>*

Also, the way you describe the service is that it is Fiber to the area/neighborhood then they run DSL lines from the terminal to your house. If thats the case your speed might be limited by the distance to the terminal. Maybe someone more familiar with Fiber to the Node setups can clarify if that is a bottle neck for future speed upgrades.

A 10meg line is still fast if you ask me though

yeah they told me it was probably going to be faster than my 20meg line and it was cheaper, so far I've been saving quite a lot

[theonedub]

If you are saving a decent amount like that then I say you're a winner.

[-1nf1n1ty-]

Originally Posted by theonedub

If you are saving a decent amount like that then I say you're a winner.

I just want performance with it as well, even if Im saving money I still want it to be at least almost as fast as the 20mbps line...i know im greedy but what the hell

[Nickzy]

Originally Posted by -1nf1n1ty-

I just want performance with it as well, even if Im saving money I still want it to be at least almost as fast as the 20mbps line...i know im greedy but what the hell

Well, supposedly you have a 10/10 line now, as we're talking about fiber, right?

It should be better than youre 20 meg cable connection as you would now also be able to upload alot faster(BONUS!), not to forget the savings.

Its a fine upgrade if you ask me Wish i had fiber here, as i upload big files everyday, but were still on the shitty cobberlines so im gonna have to stay with my 30/3 for now.

[theonedub]

Not to be Mr. Negative but can you check your modem and see if its 10/10? If its Fiber->DSL then its likely it isn't but check and see.

[-1nf1n1ty-]

Originally Posted by theonedub

Not to be Mr. Negative but can you check your modem and see if its 10/10? If its Fiber->DSL then its likely it isn't but check and see.

how do I check for that?

[AltecV1]

go run speedtest.net

[-1nf1n1ty-]

Originally Posted by AltecV1

go run speedtest.net

they're telling me at the moment that there have been slow speeds in the area so they're fixing it

http://www.speedtest.net/result/913985862.png

Originally Posted by theonedub

What I don't get is why there is some supposed hierarchy for internet tech. I mean a 20meg line is a 20meg line whether its DSL2, FIOS, or Cable- right? I know 3G, 4G (WIMAX), and Sat have latency issues and are considered bad, but when it comes down to wires running into your house bandwidth>*

Cable companies drop wires from a local hub/switch/whatever so the more people who are on the switch at any given time, the slower your dl speeds will be. My cable connection goes anywhere from 2mbs to the low teens depending on the time of day. They "guarantee" 15mbs, but I don't see that very often. Of course there is some degradation due to my LAN. I don't know why since I'm usually the only one online but I know I get better speeds if I'm hooked directly to the modem.

edit - you don't have the problem with DSL because you're going directly into the switching office on your own line. The thing about their fixing the problem sounds bogus though - especially if you've never seen the guaranteed 10mbs. I would bust their chops about that.

[theonedub]

^ I have heard about that slowdown before, esp when cable was an emerging broadband tech and the bandwidth it could supply was equal to DSL in many areas. Strangely enough when I had Comcast Cable back in 2005/2006 I was paying for a 7mb line and never got anything less, and even now at a relatives house Comcast's 12mb plan has yet to experience any slow down either.

I don't know if my experience is rare or if its just a matter of a ton more people sharing the bandwidth in Jersey then in California. I figure with upgrades and a move to DOCSIS 3.0 network congestion was no longer as big an issue as it was in the past. 2mb on a 15mb line sounds crappy

[AsRock]

20mbs to 10mbs is obviously a downgrade if you were getting the supposed 20mbs. all so depends on what your upload speeds are\were too.

Like im on 16mbs \ 2mbs and with me being a gamer i would trade the 16mbs for 8mbs to have the upload speeds equal to the download speeds any day. Although if you plan to run dedi server or 2 you better check with your ISP. Like Comcast their agreement is that you will not run dedi a dedi server(s).

If you just watch movies online like hulu \ nexflix the higher download speeds will help out and of course when you download games of Steam or D2D or any other legal source.

Cable depends on area to and how many people are on it in your area.

[kid41212003]

Fiber optic > Cables/DSL in term of latency.

So for gaming it's better.

Best fiber optic in the US is probably Fios. Their optic network is 100% optic while AT&T U-Verse is hybrid.

EDIT: FYI, I'm using U-Verse 12Mbps, and my download speed is always at max.

[DaveK]

If it's 10Mb/10Mb that's great, but unless you upload a lot, slower upload speeds are usually sufficient for most people. I'm on cable and get 30Mb/3Mb and although 3Mb up is a bit slow for uploading large HD video to YouTube, it's sufficient for everything else I do though I would trade it for something like 15/15. The only benefit of a slower speed is that it's usually cheaper.

I don't think you understand the speeds though, 10Mb is not as fast as 20Mb and never will be, they're outright lying to you saying that their 10Mb is faster than the other 20Mb. Unless for some reason the cable was always less than 10Mb, which I doubt.

Take what they say to you with a pinch of salt, of course they're going to say they're better. They're internet service providers, don't believe everything they say. My ISP are a bunch of scam artists and are always bragging about their excellent, better, cheaper services and I've had constant trouble with them from their poor services, terrible customer care and constant over charges on non-existent services.

[kid41212003]

Originally Posted by DaveK

If it's 10Mb/10Mb that's great, but unless you upload a lot, slower upload speeds are usually sufficient for most people. I'm on cable and get 30Mb/3Mb and although 3Mb up is a bit slow for uploading large HD video to YouTube, it's sufficient for everything else I do though I would trade it for something like 15/15. The only benefit of a slower speed is that it's usually cheaper.

I don't think you understand the speeds though, 10Mb is not as fast as 20Mb and never will be, they're outright lying to you saying that their 10Mb is faster than the other 20Mb.

Take what they say to you with a pinch of salt, of course they're going to say they're better. My ISP are a bunch of scam artists and are always bragging about their excellent, better, cheaper services and I've had constant trouble with them from their poor services, terrible customer care and constant over charges on non-existent services.

Only services provide for business/schools have such high upload speed.

They don't want you to host a server at home, lol.

[v12dock]

Don't forget DOCSIS 3.0 I think in this case it depends on your cable provider

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by kid41212003

Only services provide for business/schools have such high upload speed.

They don't want you to host a server at home, lol.

Ok, 15Mb is pretty high for upload, but 10Mb would be nice. 3Mb is just tiny compared to the 30Mb I get down. It's been ok so far, but it's always nice to have that extra speed. I don't expect my upload to go anywhere anytime soon, they market their cable as fiber and are basically scam artists. There isn't really any competition for them so my choice is extremely limited.

[KieranD]

Fiber Optic has a higher theoretical speed and also it has more chance of giving you a better real speed. Companies always say UP TO SUCH AND SUCH A SPEED which is just the theoretical max you can receive. Cable is already better than normal phone lines i think.

In answer its probably not as good.
The only way it would be good is if for some reason cable only gave a lower real speed than you would get with the fibre optic; for example if your only getting 8meg with the 20meg cable then fibre optic gives you 8meg on a 10meg line its great you saved cash for the same thing.

[newtekie1]

Fiber is capable of higher speeds than Cable. However, the fact that you only got a 10Mbps package is a huge tip off that your fiber will not be faster. Your cable might be 20Mbps download and only 3Mbps upload, and the fiber might be 10Mbps download and 10Mbps upload, but really the faster upload will not help your unless you are constantly uploading huge files. Overall, you will get slower downloads and slower page loads, which is probably what is important to you.

Originally Posted by kid41212003

Only services provide for business/schools have such high upload speed.

They don't want you to host a server at home, lol.

A lot of home services provide that fast of an upload. They don't want you hosting a server, that is in the terms of use, but the fast uploads help with doing things such as sending emails with large attachments which I do a lot when I'm sending graphics to clients(after my graphic artist creates them).




And that isn't even that fastest package offered to me.

[DRDNA]

most cable companies no longer have the slow downs during peek time, they have fixed it a while back now. If your provider offers a business account then you can bet that they also no longer have the slow down issues..cable will however choke when they are having issues and they reroute bandwidth. Going from a 20MBit line to a 10 MBit line in my book would be an absolute down grade unless your Ping time is now absolutely phenomenal and your upload is equal to your download even then its questionable.