I am one of the unfortunate souls who use DirecTV DSL. I love the service, but they are going belly-up, so I have to find another provider. I'm trying to research the best one, but I need some knowledge first, so I can ask the right questions.

1) I currently have a static address. I noticed that Earthlink charges $10 a month for the service. Is it a good thing to have, especially since I eventually plan to set up a wireless network throughout the house? I like always knowing my address, but if there are better reasons to have a dynamic address, I'd like to know.

2) I noticed that I can buy cable modems fairly easily. However I haven't seen any ASDL modems. Why not? (As an aside, DirecTV hasn't said anything about wanting their modem back. Anybody know if I can I reuse it with another service?)

dsl is somewhat faster than cable.
no i don't beleave the modem can be used.
static or dynamic? with more than 1 comp it doesent matter,allways make sure one is on and ip will hold. Mine hasent changed in months.
Dsl modems are out there i will look for one or two links.

http://www.resnet.und.edu/dsl/buying.html

In answer to
1) This is one of the reasons DTV/DSL is going away, they underpriced some of their offerings, a static address will be about $10/month anywhere. As they are all resellers
the modem may belong to the local provider (read your contract carefully, Just because hughes hasn't told you to return it , does mean they won't try to charge you for it, they have a long history of mis -communication ))
A static address is needed , if you are running a web/ftpserver from home, or for some secure remote appilications, otherwise dynamic is fine.
As a DSL modem is a usually a bridge from a PPPoE WAN your Router/wireless gateway/ NAT box will set your local addresses, your broadband IP will not affect it.
2) As I said above, the phone company may own it, or you may be about to pay for it But usually the DSL provider provides the modem, hense no market for other brands/aftermarket modems. Cable on the other hand usual charges rent on the modem seperatly. If you plan to keep the service for a few years, believe the modem won't die for a few years, know the cable company won't change equipment require an upgrade for a few years, it might pay off to buy your own. if the rental is month to month, try the service for a few months to be sure you are satisfied with the quality of sevice

As far as cable vs DSL
Cable has more potential bandwidth, and have very low ping times (important for gameing), but it's a shared resource ie: when few people are on your loop speed s may/will be very fast. but in the evening when everyone else is on throughput may drop to near dial-up speeds! Even though local loops are upgradable for more capacity ALL cable providers are currently losing money on the services, so upgrades are coming slowly and price increases are coming.
2) DSL is a dedicated loop to the local switch, so to that point the bandwidth/speeds can be garunteed, the service beyond that depends on their network, but generally speeds are very consistant around the clock.
Modem is usually provided/included in the monthly fees
All the RBOC's (local Phone co's) are making money on DSL, and the technology/basic equipment/maintance is standard phone stuff. So upgrades troubleshooting and repair happen as needed.

The most important thing is how YOUR provider runs their business. as you are happy with the DTV service it means the RBOC is well maintaned, so any reseller big enough to give good instant 24/7 tech support (with hopefully you'll never need) can provide the same service.
Wtih either ask your neighbors, other users of the service how well it works

BTW, which modem (brand/model) do you have, this would be good to know before you call new providers (ask if compatible/upgradable) and in case you need to "fight" DTV for ownership.

I don't really know. All it says on it is DirecTV 10-X203.

My cable company actually suggested that I buy a cable modem, if I decide to go with them. But after randomly testing them and my connection for the past week, the DSL I have now is about 6 times as fast as the cable. Yes, it's twice as expensive, but it has never dropped off once in the past year. I think I'd rather stay with the DSL, if I can find the most economical solution for what I want.

Boy, don't I know it! The service was spectacular, but the accounting dept? What a pack of imbecils! Still, I'm very sorry to see the service go...

Not true... in fact most of the time DSL is significantly slower than cable... at least around here. It all depends on how far away you are from the DSL provider and how much you are willing to fork over for it.

[quote="egarrard"][quote]the DSL I have now is about 6 times as fast as the cable. Yes, it's twice as expensive, but it has never dropped off once in the past year. [/quote]

What are the speeds for each service?

Believe it or not... DSL is SHARED too... (hell, for that matter, so is the Internet).... DSL must to go thru the Central Office or CO.

So that bit about gauranteed bandwidth is bull-crap. if everyone is on, the CO will get swamped and your bandwidth will go away... not to mention DSL is WAY more expensive for 1.5 down and 128 up speeds.

My freind has DSL and we monitor the bandwidth.... yes folks.. it fluctuates... and read the agreements carefully, they really make no guarantee at all when all is said and done.

something like, if your bandwidth drops, let us know and we will fix it.... some guarantee.... and do you have the time to watch it constantly?

[quote="Treytor"][quote][quote]the DSL I have now is about 6 times as fast as the cable. Yes, it's twice as expensive, but it has never dropped off once in the past year. [/quote]

What are the speeds for each service?[/quote]
Actually I didn't write that, but I agree that cable is generally faster during good times.

Mandark, if you read what I wrote CAREFULLY you'll see I said that
DSL= dedicated to the CO/switch, from there (unless you're in a very remote location) it usually goes into a big pipe, t-45, or fiber and local load is not a factor.
Cable= bigger local pipe, shared by all the users in your neighborhood, until it reaches the local converter then usually fiber.

k,

local load not much of a factor.... i agree.... but total load is a factor overall.

there is nothing great about DSL over cable... in the end, they both deliver good bandwidth. i have NEVER been stalled because of too many surfrers

and DSL bandwidth DOES fluctuate.. just like anything else.... this is not a lossless world

i would look at bandwidth per dollar and make my decision... also keep your distance to the CO in mind or all bets for high speed are off and deteriorate as the distance increases.

Cable would be my choice..... plus you can usually split it and get free basic cable TV if they have not filtered it off.

as far as buying or renting cable modems, Comcast dropped the price of our connection because we use their modem... the boosted the price for those using their own. They effectivly dropped the rental charge.

i would rent and not buy. i have had two cable modems in 1 year go south.... a motorola and a toshiba..... not worth the 100-200 price tag.. and you have to figure out.. at 7-8 dollars/month rent (that is what they used to charge us)... how long would that take to pay for itself? I will let you do the calculations... i am too dumb

so when my modems burned up, they came out and replaced them the next day, and noticed the split to the tv.. the tech frowned and said, "that is not one of our splitters", then he went to his truck and returned with the correct part and installed it... then he said "there, the cable modem will now get the proper signal strength" and then he left.... lol

haha...ive had cable for a few months now. its been running great for the most part. try not to get a jack ass when u get in installed. the guy that came to install mine had not computer experience at all. he was used to installing cable tv. when i told him that i wanted the ethernet opposed to USB he asked "which one?" but i constantly get the cap because no one has cable internet arround here. so i get 2000 down 384 up constantly. my ping times are pretty stable. i feel sorry for my friends that jumped on DSL too early. they are stuck with crappy bandwidth. 768 down and 128 up is a joke to my cable. also the local (and only sadly) provider of DSL (alltel) has frequent connection problems.

And that's an example of a good loop, more bandwith than users , but I've also seen, neighborhoods (particularly some that got cable internet early on) where the loop was designed for the then existing demand. since then more houses were built and usage at peak times is above the design capacity, The cable provider is near bankruptcy and can't/won't install new hardware during the day plenty of bandwidth is available, but evenings and weekends are miserable!
yuo also mentioned the other factor tech and installer compentcy many cable techs were trained / have the mindset for TV freqentcies, with out much training in filtering for broadband, for instance lose a few bits due to interferance on TV, no big deal you may see a little snow, if you even notice, due the same to a internet connection and it becomes unusable (or at least annoying) But with DSl the same people have been dealing with megabit bandwith, dedicated loops for 20 years or more., well understood and part of their basic training, just alot more of it now.
But as I said before, a lot depends on your provider, bandwidth counts, but reliablity should come first

mandark, don't make me waste my time taking screenshots of every single download i do... always 80k/sec on every download. All-tel 768k dsl, always up, always the same speed. i have a friend on the same service that lives a few miles away, same there too. another friend has cable in town, he is lucky to get high speeds to download anything. i'd rather pay for for better quality. the technology behind dsl is a quota of that speed, and cable is whatever you can get.

Well, I have cable at 1 meg down and 128k up. I am consistantly at 1 - 1.2 meg download even at peak times. Even when both kids are doing stuff on the internet, my speed never drops below 980K.

earthlink is good =)

Earthlink is too high! Bellsouth seems to be the leader, so far.

Here'a chart comparing my brother's cable connection with my DSL one, using the same speed test:

just my 2 cents on cable and dsl...if u live in a VERY heavy populated area(major cities)...id say dsl...if ur in a semi pop area...cable

Ps: can we get a link to that broadband test?

veggeto.. i get 1.5 Mbit/Sec consistantly. With Flashget.. I can usually always get 768Kb/s to 1.5MB/s (download... they cap us to a measly 128KBit/sec upload which is equal to 16 Kilobytes/sec.... crap)

I don't want to fight, I am sure there are great DSL packages... I just live too far away from a CO... so I don't have much choice... I did write that you should look at bandwidth per dollar and consider distance from the CO, then make a choice. I must have a super duper network team for our comcast cable.... it does go out if we have several days in a row of heavy rain though.... the phone lines never go out.... so i think DSL would be better in a way.

The cost of 768 up and 1.5 down for DSL is still $80/month here.. and my cable bill is 40..... you do the math.

The one I used: Http://www.asdlguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp
Another one: http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/