Advice on Broadband Service

July 14, 2005 8:29 AM

Still using antediluvian dialup connection to the 'net - seeking experience re: switching to broadband. Help me O mavens of Mefi....

We've got a couple of desktop computers at home using dialup 58K modems - an old office (450 Mhz) job I use for word processing & a fairly new 2.1 Ghz loaded Dell that the rest of the family uses & that most of us use for internet surfing. Both computers have LAN cards installed.

The Dell connects via a separate, dedicated phone line ($18/month). The office job through the regular house line. Our internet "service" is through Earthlink ($21.95/month), which I ONLY use for the dialup connection (not their home page or email, etc. - we have Norton Internet Security & Antivirus). We've kept our old free Juno email connection so we didn't have to change over our addresses.

We all hate the load times of dialup & Mrs. Pressed Rat is increasingly getting pissed that the 2 MB Juno email box space gets filled with pictures sent by friends and she misses other email, etc.

All this has reached critical stupidity mass. I can get a broadband service for what I pay for the separate phone line plus Earthlink. The question is, "what kind of service should I get?" - DSL, cable, whatever?

We live in west Knoxville, Tennessee (37922) & an ISP search (www.thelist.com) returns a plethora of net services offering DSL -- it's difficult to wade through all of it & the various options (many of which I expect to find don't actually offer service in our area).

There's also our cable Co. - Charter ($42.95/mo) & our phone Co. - TDS Telecom (DSL cost depends on speed).

What should I look for, and look out for ("activation" fees, etc), when shopping around? I'd like to have broadband on both computers - if DSL, this is possible through the existing house phone line, allowing me to stop phone service/charges on the dedicated Dell line, correct? What hardware mods, if any, would I have to make for DSL (i.e., can you use the LAN card for the connection or what?).

I can run coaxial cable for cable hook-up - no problem, but would have to install cable modems. Am I better off buying or renting? what would I expect to have to pay?

Any cost comparison info or advice/lessons learned would be much appreciated. I'm covered up at work & home (late on taxes) right now and so don't have time to do all the research myself at the moment, but am increasingly annoyed at myself for not being smarter about our service. Thanks!

posted by Pressed Rat to computers & internet (14 comments total)

The first thing I would suggest is 1)Buy your own modem (cable or dsl) and 2)get a good router with firewall. I like my Netgear 4-port router. Easy setup and an excellent firewall.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:13 AM on July 14, 2005

I assume you're talking a wireless router? I'd need wireless cards for the CPUs in addition to getting the cable modem & router, right? Plus, I know zilch about setting the router & connection protocols up, unless it's easy for anyone to do &/or has explicit directions. How hard is it?
posted by Pressed Rat at 9:26 AM on July 14, 2005

No. Not necessarily a wireless router. My two desktops are in close enough proximity that I can use a regular wired router.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:35 AM on July 14, 2005

Here's what I did. Yahoo DSL

$14.95 a month for 12 months. Mine jumped to $26 a month after a year, but it's still plenty fast, and way, way cheaper than cable.

Oh yeah, I second picking up a wireless 802.11B router and card if you have a laptop. No laptop, get a regular 802.11b router.

Why not 802.11g? Because it's a waste of money. Any broadband connection you're likely to look at (excepting high end business class stuff) is way slower than even 802.11b. Why buy more speed than you can use? My little network at home is b, and let me tell you, it's plenty fast for me.

Check it out.
posted by kungfujoe at 9:51 AM on July 14, 2005

Setting up a router is dead easy. It's mostly a matter of plugging in the appropriate cables, running the network wizards, and it just works.

If you want to share printers and files, that takes a smidge more doing. But just getting both machines on the internet is dead easy.

Regarding your question, I would google the local providers. Either DSL or cable can be fine. The real variation is going to be within the companies available to you, not between DSL and cable.

The lesson I've learned is to GET BROADBAND AND GET IT NOW. It's positively life-changing, and better than crack. Having my auxiliary brain available all the time is wunnerful. So if you don't have the time to do big research now, then just don't bother. Flip a coin, or go with your gut feeling, or whichever is cheaper for the speed you want, or whatever, but GET BROADBAND NOW. If you're unsatisfied with the provider you get, you can switch later.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:59 AM on July 14, 2005

kungfukoe--

So being a dumbass, I get the 802.11b Cable/DSL wireless router, install it to the cable/DSL modem I need to get for the Dell upstairs & hardwire that to the ethernet/lan card to the Dell?

For the downstairs computer, get a wireless adapter & I'm good to go?

Sounds like a lot of steps may be left out - How big a hassle for a neopohyte is it to set up the network/connections?
posted by Pressed Rat at 10:04 AM on July 14, 2005

Uh, that should have been kungfujoe...

ROU... it would be nice to set the network up so that I could use the upstairs CPU's printer on occasion or exchange files between the two. How much of a "smidge" are we talking about?

Cost estimates for router, modem, card(s) & are the modem's interchangeable for Cable or DSL or one or the other? Any recommendations on a Modem model, external vs internal, etc.?
posted by Pressed Rat at 10:10 AM on July 14, 2005

Unless you need to either host your own web/ftp/e-mail server with any significant traffic or plan to upload tons of stuff, here's my prescription:

1. Get cable modem. At least around here, they give you 1-3Mbps down, but only 256kbps up.
2. Get a router with an integrated wireless access point. If you ever get a laptop, the wireless is heaven, and it doesn't cost much more. Just set your PCs to "Obtain an IP address automatically", which they probably are already, and you're good to go. (Using this setting, your PCs will use DHCP to get their IP addresses, whiich let them "talk" on the network, auto-magically -- you most likely won't even have to learn any of this stuff.)
3. Ditch the landlines and get mobile phones, assuming you have a good signal at your place.

After all the costs are totalled, you will probably pay a little more per month, but you'll have a much faster, more versatile home IT "system" than before.

A couple notes: DSL is a better choice than cable if you need more upstream bandwidth, but you have to keep a landline for that, so just figure that into the cost. Also, be damned sure you have decent virus protection on your systems, as they will be more exposed over broadband than via dialup. I recommend the free package AVG -- better than Norton/McAfee, IMO.
posted by LordSludge at 10:14 AM on July 14, 2005

My old residence had DSL service only and I have to say between my experiences with it and that of an aquaintance I would not recommend it. I had a standard package through our phone company and an area ISP (very rural) so it was like 40$ a month total (x for land line + x for service), but the speed just isn't there compared to cable. Yeah, you get some upstream but really... there'll be an infinitely larger pool of instances where you'll want the faster download than a better than average upload. This buddy I mention called up the same phone company years after I'd had my service installed and was issued DSL "bundled" under MSN. He couldn't get a 'stripped down' package. All the hardware was very chintzy, it was a horrible pain getting everything rolling, and the most pathetic thing was his speeds were about a third as good as mine (which were not impressive to begin with). As soon as I moved in closer to town I ordered cable immediately. He has since gone back to cable as well.

Check out Broad Band Reports for regional information and maybe some more specific anecdotal evidence.

With all the computers on the same network you will be able to map resources from one to the other such as your printer and shared folders rather painlessly.
posted by prostyle at 10:30 AM on July 14, 2005

How much of a "smidge" are we talking about?

I'm an idiot, and it took me ~15 minutes to get the printer and file sharing working.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:25 AM on July 14, 2005

LordSludge writes "Also, be damned sure you have decent virus protection on your systems, as they will be more exposed over broadband than via dialup. I recommend the free package AVG -- better than Norton/McAfee, IMO."

A lot of this exposure can be minimized by running your connection through a router that has a nice built-in firewall. I use a D-Link router, mostly because it gives me lots and lots of configuration options. You might be better off with something simpler; I've heard good things about Netgear.

Do you plan on doing any online gaming, videoconferencing/videochatting, or using file-sharing programs? These all will make setting up the firewall a bit more complicated, though you should be able to find nice step-by-step instructions specific to the applications you're using. If you're just using the web and email, setup will be easy.

But yeah, sharing your connection between computers is just one advantage of the router. Having a dedicated stand-alone firewall box is important, too.

Pressed Rat writes "Cost estimates for router, modem, card(s) & are the modem's interchangeable for Cable or DSL or one or the other?"

The cards and router are all interchangeable; they'll work with either cable or DSL. The modem cost will depend on which protocol you go with.

As for choosing between cable and DSL, the rule of thumb I've used is that if you need to keep your land line anyway, go with DSL: it'll be cheaper. If you can ditch the land line and use cell phones though, go with cable. There are specifics that vary from location to location; definitely take a look at prostyle's link. Also some cable companies have been jacking up their prices recently and advertising "package" prices that you can only get if you also subscribe to their TV service. This is fine if you want cable TV, but awfully obnoxious otherwise. Make sure that the advertised price you have is for broadband without a TV package.

kungfujoe writes "Why not 802.11g? Because it's a waste of money. Any broadband connection you're likely to look at (excepting high end business class stuff) is way slower than even 802.11b. Why buy more speed than you can use? "

I'd object to this point. The cost differential isn't that great, and you don't know to what extent you're going to be pushing your home network. If you're streaming music between computers, sharing files, surfing the web, and trying to print all at the same time, the extra bandwidth might come in really handy.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:25 AM on July 14, 2005

Make sure that the advertised price you have is for broadband without a TV package.

Unless it's a tv package you already get, or would like to get.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:06 PM on July 14, 2005

I have SBC Yahoo DSL and it's VERY unreliable. Tech support is helpful, though.

I am switching to Comcast cable modem as soon as I get my new computer.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:04 PM on July 14, 2005

I will add just this:

To determine whether to get DSL or cable: ask. Ask your friends, co-workers, and especially your neighbors. Call a few local computer places and ask the techs for their personal opinion. (Not a recommendation, let them know you're not going to hold them to it - you just want to know what they use.) Get people's experiences with and opinions on reliablility, support, value and overall satisfaction.
posted by attercoppe at 6:59 PM on July 14, 2005