Cable Modem

[bn]

This may be completely retarded, but humor me--

I have a cable modem thru my cable company and I have compuserve(locked into a contract), well I always use compuserve when I'm on line (to keep down on the number of email addresses that I have to keep up with) and I have it set up so that my cable modem "dials" up to compuserve...and it works.

So my question is..... If I ditch the cable company's service and just buy a cable modem will I still be able to connect to compuserve at the higher speed?
The guy at compuserve said yes, but I'm not sure.
Anybody know?

[devinemi83]

I too have a cable modem, but from my understanding, unless compuserve has a Cable internet service, it wont help you, may not even work Its like a few years ago when 56K modems came out if your isp still used 28.8 YOU still used 28.8.

I would suggest going to pages like dslreports.com they have people on there that know just about everything about cable modem technologies and they may have links to other sights that may be of help to you.

[pinoy2201]

nope it wont work my friend tryed it he bought a cable modem and tryed it and it just wouldnt conect....just a week agohe signed up for the service and a guy had to come to his house and and set stuff on the nearst cable poll out side his house soo he can use it

[Greg12]

cable wires are closed. The law says that they don't have to open up for service. Phone lines are regulated to allow any isp to use them and the phone company can't force u to use their service to get to ur isp.

You must sign up with your local cable company. THen you can connect to compuserve when they hook u up.

However it is stupid because the cable company provides an e-mail adress and everything you need.

Make sure ur cable company has a plan.

Excite@home is going to shut down for good in Feb. Make sure ur cable company has a 3 month agreement with Excite to provide service and is readyu to switch u to a privite network.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Greg12 on 2001-12-07 15:48:56 ]</font>

[devinemi83]

Whats up guys, I can say that the NEW ATT broadband network that replaces excite isnt as good.
The speeds have alot lower cap on them, I was getting 500KB thats half megabyte a second through @home but now I am getting at most 1/8 a MB a second, 25% my original speed. They say that this is to help enlarge the network while still allowing for great service,well this is just my two cents but cutting someone's speed by 75% is pretty likely that they are not going to vote you as a really great service,
Even the burst speeds are alot lower, for instance when I had @home, I went to microsoft to download IE6 and I got a speed of 650KB pers second,thats awesome speed, now I tried to do the same thing just to test and the highest I got was 200KB.

[alucard2050]

ATT is getting pretty crappy in my opinion. i fell into their Grandfather clause on the 495/mo plan. basically i was getting 150 hrs for 5 bucks a month. they switched it and said i would stay on it just the same because it was offered as a PERMANENT plan. now they've switched it again except this time i am being changed. my new service is like 10 bucks a month for 50 hours. they also switched my dialup number so instead of immediatly being able to get online, it sometimes takes up to 2 hours to get on. good thing i'm a patiant man with other things to do while i'm connecting. as of Jan 4 i'm probably gonna go with Earthlink.....its a no wonder ATT isn't doing so well nowadays.....

[Greg12]

from my prespective, 50 or 40 or 100kps r unreal speeds.

why are you dialing up with a cable modem?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Greg12 on 2001-12-07 21:13:33 ]</font>

[jwhitlow]

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Whats up guys, I can say that the NEW ATT broadband network that replaces excite isnt as good.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Tell them what you think using the only method that they will understand. I disconnected my cable modem today. I am using my DSL modem now.
Personally, the new 1.5Mbps cap means little to me. $46/month for that kind of speed is more than fair. The shutdown last weekend was the last straw for me. I was considering dropping them anyway. I cannot stand their customer service!

[shagrath]

deinemi83:
i also have att net and with the transition to new service from excite it was a nightmare, i coulndt browse the net and just alot of problems, finally got it under control but still not everything is working as it used to.

Could u tell me what is the IE6 that u download it that has speed up your speed and how can i test the speeds.

and another question that i have cause getting anyone to talk to at att is just pain, i cant figure out why my uploads are so slow it doesnt go over 15kbs, same if im sending files over ICQ at full speed it only tops 15kbs it wont go over it, but i had people send me files and it was like 60kbs. I want people to have faster uploads (espacially in morpheus), what can i do, can i have faster uploads or am i stuck with what i have 15kbs, and i am thinking of swithching to DSL what do u think of it? thanx for any answers.

[HillJack]

shagrath, Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) doesn't speed up your Internet. I think divinemi83 meant he got 650KBps DOWNLOADING IE6 from MS.

As for testing your speed, goto http://www.speedtest.net

If given the option, DSL kicks on cable anytime, anywhere, in every way. I used to have @Home cable for a 2 year period, then switched to 7MBit/s (875kbytes/s) DSL for 3 years, and now I'm down to 2.5MBits/s (312.5Kbytes/s) download and 740KBps (92.5kbytes/s) upload DSL (can't afford the 7MBit anymore) and I'll never EVER use cable again. DSL is consistent and does not rely soley on how many people are using it like cable does.

As for increasing your speeds, there isnt much you can do. Caps are implemented at the cable-co's end... You get what you get. If its bad, complain and complain to them again, and maybe (doubtful) they will look into it. Sure there are registry patches and hacks for "increasing" speed, but they are crap and a waste of time. Most of them only work for dialup (if they work at all).

My 2 cents.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: HillJack on 2001-12-07 22:50:58 ]</font>

[shagrath]

thank u, i am sure now that i will get DSl, thanx again.

[pinoy2201]

oh nnoo dont get DSl trust me.....its going to take atleast half of the year to approve and conect you to to DSL and first they have to know if its even avalable in your area...and there ar three kinds (i forgot the names)first ones goes upstream faster then downstream, second one is equeal at both, and the third one is upstream is slower then downstream.....and if your lucky enough to get it...there might be bridge gaps on your line and it will slow down your conection and it will take hundreds of $$$$ to take them off...soo your better off with Cable Modem

[ngnr]

shagrath, the only one who knows what _you_ want is you but what you _get_ depends on where you are. If DSL is available in your area, it will be just as good as, and in come cases better than cable and in other cases worse. However, the DSL provider will be able to advise you whether it's available and what speeds you may expect as will the cable modem provider.

DSL speed depends on a whole lot of factors but none of them are under your control. Some of them are distance from the nearest DSLAM, gauge of cable (I mean twisted pair not cable TV) between your home and the DSLAM and the age of the cable plant in your area. To put it simply, it's the cable attenuation that is the limiting factor. Of course, the provider also controls how big a "pipe" he sells you.

While some (not all) bridged taps (not "gaps" ) may affect the speed you will get, it depends on where they are and how long they are and in any case, the only one who can take them off (if it's necessary) is the telco who owns the plant. I know in my area, if bridged taps are a problem, they get removed to get the speed up - at the telco's cost, not the customer's so who cares what it costs. My speed is a respectable 1 Mb/s down and 512 k up.

As for the type of line, it will most likely be ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Sibscriber Line. Asymmetric meaning not the same in both directions; the "down" speed is greater than the "up" speed. I don't know of anyone who would offer a home subscriber the opposite (up greater than down)and I suspect there are few providers offering SDSL (symmetric - same speed both ways) but it's possible.

How long it will take depends on the provider. In my area, it can take a week or so, more or less. You apply on line, they tell you if your number is in the service area, and they set up an appointment. If you are not in the service area, they will email you when it is available. In your area you should talk to the service provider and get an estimated install date to know for sure.

Remember one thing - when you get free advice, you get what you pay for (hey - including that free bit ) so your best bet is to talk to the providers in your area, find out which one (cable or DSL) offers the best speed, price, service and time to install and buy there. You should also talk to the people you know who have the service you are interested in and see if they have any problems, and whether the service suits you.

Happy hunting and good luck!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ngnr on 2001-12-08 12:57:01 ]</font>

[jwhitlow]

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On 2001-12-08 05:57:32, pinoy2201 wrote:
oh nnoo dont get DSl trust me.....its going to take atleast half of the year to approve and conect you to to DSL and first they have to know if its even avalable in your area...</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

I called them on December 1st when the cable modem went out. I got the equipment on the 4th and my service was up and running on the 7th.

[shagrath]

Thanx guys, for the answers, up to this time i had no problems with att cable service, got it in may and and got the service in 3 days, speeds were great, had speeds up to 600 kbs, just the uploads are below 15kbs, now when excite has bancrupt it was hell, they should have atleast infor me about it, that they are shutting down, after i finally got on line it was chaos, things dindt work as they used to, and now since yesterday i have noticed that the net is slower than before, just getting to this website it takes alot longer than when i had @home. I am paying 49.95 for the service so i dont care what company i have all 3 internet providers that i know in my era charge the same, i just want a good working internet cause i am not going back to 56k , i have checked if i can get DSl in my era and its provided by local company ameritech i live close to chicago and they would send all the stuff to me it would take about a week.
Friend of my has DSL ameritech.net and as far i can tell before when i had @home my intenet was a alot faster, his uploads were the same as mine, he hasnt had any problems with the service yet, if i can get everything working as it used to it would make me happy, just i wish i could get the uploads a little bit faster so people can upload faster as i can download, 60kbs would be just awsome, thanx again for the answers.....

[Greg12]

I live 6 miles from a phone pop so DSL is not an option and the phone company here has no interest in selling DSL.

Last year, the cut off DSL county wide due to low sales.

[devinemi83]

I know what some of you mean when you say that support from @home sucked. If i had problems they would always walk me through the same things I just told them I did, and that Netdiag tool that they put into the software they never cared what it said, I told them the name server wasnt getting connected and they told me it must be a problem with MY computer!!!!
Installing it wasnt any fun either, most people say DSL is bad, try getting cable installed and the idiot installers try to hook you into a node from another district, 3 hours they changed out cable modem after cable modem, 5 in total to be exact. They gave up, left and I got a call 6 days later, saying "try it now we just put you on the right node", finally, it worked!
Then alot of fun was had with a service rep when I called because after uninstalling Zonealarm, I couldnt connect, which i found out later is supposed to happen,(what the hell?) he was nice but he said he found a registry edit on their site that tells you how to repair it,and since it wasnt their product, he couldnt take me through it, he would email me the info,(EMAIL!?!) internet down.
I had to solve the problem myself be restoring the system registry.

[Greg12]

for someone running a server, it would be bennifitial to have a line with a higher upspeed.

I have heard bad things about DSL.

And like i said, everyone in this county lost DSL because Verizon said they were loosing money.

Also some ppl suspect they did this because non-version dsl companies (mindspring) were doing well.

[sarge]

DSL, Cable, whatnot. It all depends on what YOU want for service.

RoadRunner has always been excellent. DSL is an old technology. Cablemodems are still emerging, and 1.5Mbps is more than a fair download cap.

Many DSL SERVICE PROVIDERS (different than the carrier in many cases) have less of an internet connection than the cable company, so now you're stuck with whatever they give you - and if they get more customers, you get slower speeds. Period.

What this service needs is more bandwidth. MORE wide-open pipes. CHEAPER bandwidth. Hey, the hardware attached to the 'net is dramatically cheaper than it was just a year ago. Therefore bits are cheaper to fly.

anyway.. you can see where I'm going with this.

If you can't -- well, just ask questions and read up as much as you can about networking technology. Understand how cablemodems work inside and out. Understand DSL modems from the ground up. Then move to the easiest stuff -- the backbones and external providers.

To answer the original question in an odd way -- AOL allows people to sign in using a TCP/IP connection. This means that people at home with cablemodems can still log into their AOL account and do whatever it is they want to without having to wonder what version of IE, Netscape, Amaya, Omniweb, Arachne, etc. etc. you use. Since Compuserve is owned by AOL-Time Warner, it only makes sense that they'll support TCP/IP connectivity. Check Compuserve2000 for more information.

[ngnr]

[quote]
On 2001-12-08 22:31:04, sarge wrote:
<snip>
DSL is an old technology. Cablemodems are still emerging, and 1.5Mbps is more than a fair download cap.
[quote]

What? DSL is an old technology? Just how would you define old? In any case, even if that were a correct statement, "old" does not mean "bad" any more than "emerging" means good. In terms of network stability, the opposite is true more often than not.

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Many DSL SERVICE PROVIDERS (different than the carrier in many cases) have less of an internet connection than the cable company, so now you're stuck with whatever they give you - and if they get more customers, you get slower speeds. Period.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you have any facts to support such a statement? There is no reason why a cable co would have any more or less of a connection than the DSL provider - it depends on how much they spend for it and the backbone they connect to. As for the number of customers affecting the speed you are correct. The total customer throughput will be no higher than the carrier's pipe which in turn will be impacted by the backbone network. However, this will be true for both cable and DSL. In general terms however, cable will be more affected in _local_ areas than DSL since the cable bandwidth is shared all the way back to the hub among all the users whereas DSL is not. While you may have a higher connection speed on cable, it will be reduced as more customers share the pipe in your local area to a greater degree than DSL. DSL speeds are more likely to remain consistant while cable speeds are more likely to have a higher peak speed yet be more prone to slowdown. It's the nature of how the technolgy is applied.