[JanetG]

Hi all - my Internet is on a standard dial-up modem and I am wanting to upgrade to something quicker. I am, however, a computer idiot. Does anyone out there have recommendations as to which is better: cable or DSL?? Thanks!

[Michael]

I love the cable internet the speed is amazing. As a matter of fact I used a friends compute at his house several days ago and I thought there was something wrong with his puter.
It does cost more but I feel it's worth it because you aren't sitting there waiting for a page to load, with cable it's there as soon as you hit the button.
I am told there is a downside in that it is more susceptable to viruses. I have not seen that and everything I use for protection is downloaded for free from the KimKomado web site so you would think the little bugs would be all over my puter. They are not!

Hope this helps

[shyangel]

Janet - you first need to check if you can even get DSL where you are. Although more popular these days, there are areas that cannot get it. Why isn't really important - unless you really want to know and then I can tell you.

DSL is cheaper ($16 per month for me). Both are fast enough for any typical user - surfing internet and checking e-mail. They are both a lot faster than dial-up though and you would probaby be happy with both. Most of the bugs have been removed from both methods although you may want to inquire from a neighbor (someone who uses the same company you would be) if there has been a lot of down time for either. You should also consider the customer service for each company. My first cable modem used to go down a couple of times a week - very annoying.

[Suzanne 3FC]

IVe never tried DSL, but I love my cable connection. Unfortunately, both are terribly expensive in my area, at least the high speed connections are expensive (around $100). I use the 3 Mbs speed because I work online, and often download files that are over 1GB in size. If for some reason our cable goes out, we have a backup dialup account to get online. If I chose DSL and the phone service went out, then I'd be out of luck.


Either way, you're going to see an incredible difference, and the internet will be easier to get addicted to

[JanetG]

Thanks, everyone. I get so frustrated now with the slow speed of my dial up. I have DSL and cable available here, but I think I will go with DSL. The cable company that runs the internet broadband is the same one that runs my cable TV and I swear their rates increase every three to four months. Thanks for all the input - there's a local store for DSL so I think I'll go talk to them tomorrow.

[Suzanne 3FC]

If you don't get DSL, you might consider changing your browser to help speed things up. I don't use Internet Explorer anymore, I use the Firefox browser. One night our cable went down due to a storm, so I used my backup dialup account, and I was amazed at the speed difference between IE and Firefox. In fact, I double checked it to make sure I wasn't really still connected to my cable line. Of course results may vary, lol, but I definitely noticed a difference.

[JanetG]

Thanks, I appreciate any input. I'm so used to multitasking I want to get more done in less time!!