internet: cable or dsl (Dallas, Richardson: home, transfer, neighborhood)

[ommatidia]

We haved moved to Dallas (Richardson to be exact). I am considering internet options. Should I choose cable (only Time-Warner available in my area) or DSL (from AT&T)? TW cable is advertised as faster, and slightly more expensive, but in practise, is there a significant difference in speed/bandwidth? Are you generally happy with the service of TW cable internet or AT&T DSL?

[FarNorthDallas]

TWC is having a tough time. We used to have Comcast in this area and we complained about them until TWC took over and then Comcast was actually good compared to the mess that is TWC. It's been a bumpy transition and consequently a lot of people have switched to AT&T.

TWC problems have been outages, sometimes a couple of hours and sometimes just a minute or two numerous times a day, and horrible customer service. They really have no idea what they are doing. I'm hoping enough people get off of TWC and then they have a manageable number of customers so it's better for those of us who stuck with them because we didn't want to have to go through the 8 hours of labor it takes to switch from TWC to AT&T in your house.

People who switched say ATA&T is cheaper, better and faster and there are more high def channels.

[ommatidia]

My foremost concern is the internet, I don't care about TV much. Is TWC bad for the cable internet as well?

[lpepping]

I think it really depends on what area you live in. I live in east dallas and have Time Warner and like it much better then the DSL we had through SBC. We also had terrible Dish service here but my sister who lives out in the boonies had great Dish service.

[FarNorthDallas]

The outages I am talking about are internet outages. Not TV. TV has never gone out althought the channels sometimes switch themselves.

[scyogi]

TWC, awful to deal with. HORRIBLE customer NOservice. The packaging and pricing are good but having to deal with them is ........ugh! We are now with At&T--good pricing, fast DSL, and we have called customer service and they spoke great english and were friendly. Something TW lacks.

[Debsi]

I had no choice in my part of Richardson -- there was only Time Warner internet or AT&T dial-up!

So we went with Time Warner internet and have not had any problems with outages in service. It was cheaper for us too, because to have AT&T we also would've had to add a home phone line, not to mention deal with archaic dial-up service.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Cable is going to be faster if you care about speed, but DSL is going to have an overall better user experience. In every instance I have found that if there is a problem with a cable network, it's impossible to report it and have it fixed. The phone companies have done a much better job of building out their networks and actually monitoring them.

And I say this as a network engineer. I feel my blood start to boil anytime I have to deal with a consumer connection because I know no matter how clearly I state the problem, the CSR won't escalate anything I submit to an engineer. They'll just continue to tell me that the problem is on my network.

[lpepping]

Originally Posted by scyogi

TWC, awful to deal with. HORRIBLE customer NOservice. The packaging and pricing are good but having to deal with them is ........ugh! We are now with At&T--good pricing, fast DSL, and we have called customer service and they spoke great english and were friendly. Something TW lacks.

TW was doing work in my neighborhood yesterday that caused my TV service to go out. I called them and someone answered within 10 mins. I could tell the rep wasn't american but he spoke english well(to my surprise, I think I may have been a bit lucky?) He resolved my problem within 15 mins. Just giving my experience.

[Willys]

I recently lived near downtown Dallas and had TW Cable/Internet. There were a couple of broadband (not called DSL) interruptions but nothing serious. As TW converts to fiber, both Cable and Internet services will get better. Any contact with the TW helpdesk was with LOCAL persons who may or /not have known what they were doing. Not untypical for any helpdesk.

With AT&T you have up to two non-choices, depending on the local phone service.

If the local phone service is copper, you can get DSL (also called Broadband).
If the local phone service is fiber (U-verse) you can get Broadband (not called DSL because it's not copper) with higher download speeds.
Both have a helpdesk that answers somewhere in the deep South Pacific to test your knowledge of computer usage. If you choose to converse in Spanish, you will get a helpdesk in Mexico. After a satisfactory inquisition, a few hoops and baptism by fire, they will transfer you to 'second tier' support, in Dallas. Been there, was that.

Now here's a really cool option. If your home has copper, from the telephone pole or box, then you get a third choice. You can sign up with an internet provider which will involve a third party (typically COVAD) who will 'lease' the telephone circuit from AT&T. I did this a couple of years ago in Dallas when using VoIP on my DSL. You can find more info at BroadbandReports.com. The FCC has recently ruled that Verizon and AT&T don't have to share those lines that are fiber (as opposed to the usual copper) so if you have FiOS or U-verse this is not for you.

Observations are that most problems with Broadband/DSL really are local issues. Local as being within the confines of your property. Sometimes a circuit needs to be 're-built', or there really are outages. If there's an outage they should be upfront and tell you exactly that. Considering the massive numbers of circuits about the U.S., the chance of an outage in your area should be less than in-frequent. Whether Cable or phone service.

It would be a good practice for any internet users to familiarize themselves with BroadbandReports.com where you can run speed tests, learn to optimize your computer or ask questions in forums.