Help me pick a DSL plan

August 19, 2005 1:15 PM

Help out a DSL n00b. The company: SBC/Yahoo. The location: Connecticut. The more: inside.

SBC is offering either (A) 384 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps downstream, 128 to 384 Kbps upstream, for $20/mo, or (B) 1.5 to 3.0 Mbps downstream, 384 to 512 Kbps upstream, for $30/mo. This is compared to Adelphia's $43/month for cable internet service.

Considering that there seems to be no way to test the connection speed at my new house before I order the service, should I go for the $20 or $30 plan? I'm locked into a year-long contract with what I pick. I have no experience with anything other than dialup and my cable connection, so I have no idea if "slower than this" (i.e. my current 1.5mbps) is going to be manageable or noticeable. I don't play a lot of games; I occasionally stream videos, but mostly I use the connection for mindless surfing, chatting and e-mail.

I've tried dslreports.com but feedback from the locals is spotty at best.

posted by Saucy Intruder to computers & internet (9 comments total)

I have SBC DSL (Madison, CT) and I've found it to be VERY unreliable. I would take a serious look at the cable modem if you'd rather be using your broadband than troubleshooting it.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:19 PM on August 19, 2005

Even if you plan on using it for torrents, the slowest connection they offer still won't be used to its fullest on the down stream.

I started with Yahoo Pro and downgraded to their cheapest with no difference in my useful connection speed.
posted by 517 at 1:22 PM on August 19, 2005

I'm in CT and have SBC DSL, for a few years now. I used to have their basic service. It reliably maxed out at 1.3 mbps, although I could only do that using Bittorrent. Through some quirk of pricing, it was cheaper per month for me to move to the faster service, and that precisely doubled it. Now I get 2.6 mbps max. OTOH, I don't think the upload got much faster. It was around 384 kbps at the slower speed and is barely faster now.

Mine is very reliable. It's never down.
posted by smackfu at 1:26 PM on August 19, 2005

My parents recently swiched to the cheaper of those two SBC plans ($15/month, actually), from Adelphia cable. It's not quite as fast as cable, but it's still pretty zippy, and has probably been a bit more reliable than Adelphia was. There are peak-time slowdowns, but Adelphia has those too. They're in OH though, not CT.

Anyway, at the time we ordered it, we were assured that they could upgrade to the faster plan, without violating the terms of the contract. Given that, I'd recommend starting with the cheaper plan. Also, take a look at the forums at DSLReports. There are apparently SBC techs who hang out there, and might be able to predict what kind of speeds you might expect at your location.
posted by kickingtheground at 1:32 PM on August 19, 2005

Unless $10 a month is a hardship, I'd go for the higher-speed connection; it's a reasonably cheap price to pay if the connection really is that much faster. (Note that the difference very well might be between 384 Kbps and 3 Mbps, which would be noticeable to anyone who also uses networked or fast broadband computers.)

Likewise, no matter what kind of contract you're locked into, if you get the connection and find that your speeds vary wildly from what's advertised, then you can put a lot of pressure on the telco to fix the problem or let you out of the contract so you can flee to cable. It might be a painful process, but there are reasonably good laws to protect your right to make the telco hold up their end of the bargain or surrender the contract.
posted by delfuego at 2:35 PM on August 19, 2005

I've had no problems with SBC Yahoo! DSL, using the cheaper one. Admittedly, I haven't been precisely monitoring its speeds regularly, but this is compared to my previous experience with cable internet where it would get down to unusable (even for simple WWW/email) speeds once or twice a day for an hour or so and totally go out about once or twice a week, for several hours.
posted by dagnyscott at 2:46 PM on August 19, 2005

Might be an area thing, but SBC DSL in Austin TX is $14.95 a month, 12 month contract.
posted by buzzman at 2:55 PM on August 19, 2005

The most important question is this : How far are you from your CO?

With xDSL connections, data throughput is dependant on this distance....and the condition of all equipment between your residence and the CO.

Do some more homework on which system has the most up to date infrastructure. I would talk to the guys that roll out in the trucks or vans.... but that's just me. You might not have to do as much digging as you think.

R.I.P. Telocity....
All hail , Speakeasy!
posted by PROD_TPSL at 5:01 PM on August 19, 2005

The jury is out on whether I can get the $5 discount (14.95) without purchasing SBC's $40/month phone package. If so, even better.

I'm 4.6 miles by road to the nearest CO (downtown Norwich, CT). Though I don't yet have a home phone number, I put in the number of a business across the street and it came up as showing availability for both Express and Pro service. So I hope there's a remote transmitter nearby.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 7:43 PM on August 19, 2005