[sorryville]

I had Cox cable for years, including the digital service for a period of time. I had nothing but problems with it and the reception was horrible. When I switched to Directv it was almost like having a brand new TV. The picture was unbelievably clear. I've compared Dish and Directv and there is no way I would ever use Dish, the channel selection is bad and some of there "fees" are outrageous in comparison to Directv. If HD is your thing Directv has the largest selection of channels around. A friend of mine has Dish's DVR and it's features and capabilities are sub par compared to Directv's, also seems more complicated (more steps to do even basic things). As far as internet service I switched from Cox to Embarq because of price. Never had a problem with it, never noticed a difference in speed and save by over half every month. I also referred a friend to Embarq when he was looking to cut costs. He's a gamer, uses it for work and and downloads stuff constantly. He loves it and it saved him money.

[Julia B.]

Sorryville: Thanks for your post! It has just the info I was looking for. Very helpful and much appreciated!

[olecapt]

Shan't argue the TV stuff don't go there. But there is simply no way any DSL is remotely competitive with Cox at this point in time. I have had one significant problem in 10 years which was a slow channel. They diagnosed and fixed it perfectly...though it took a service call which did not occur for five days.

I am a techie by background and there simply is no way DSL gets to the levels that Cox routinely provides. DSL is, by the way, good enough unless you are into gaming or heavy downloads. I would also expect DSL to be less reliable though both are quite good. Many gamers use premium Cox rather than the basic.

[sorryville]

Originally Posted by Julia B.

Sorryville: Thanks for your post! It has just the info I was looking for. Very helpful and much appreciated!

Glad I could help!

[AA702]

Embarq DSL is not good for gaming or heavy P2P file trading or downloading. Cox is the only way to go unless you have a dedicated T1 line to your home with a dedicated 1.5MB UP/DOWN. Cox has a pretty good download but the upload is 1/4 the bandwidth. If your into heavy downloading, you might want to check your ISP if they have a MB limit to downloading. Most of the keep track and limit your d/ls to 15 Gigs per month.

[sorryville]

Originally Posted by olecapt

I am a techie by background and there simply is no way DSL gets to the levels that Cox routinely provides. DSL is, by the way, good enough unless you are into gaming or heavy downloads. I would also expect DSL to be less reliable though both are quite good. Many gamers use premium Cox rather than the basic.

My friend and I both come from PC tech backgrounds. I will admit, it went against my better judgment choosing DSL and I was pleasantly surprised. Not only by the price, but the reliability. I'm not exaggerating when I say I noticed no difference in speed, during downloads or otherwise. Speaking with my friend he admitted that some of the applications he uses actually seem to perform better, and he felt like he was going to be downgrading! I've yet to call Embarq support in the year and half or so that I've had it. It seemed like I was on the phone with Cox a couple times a month for the 5 or 6 years I had a cable modem. I'm very happy that my home is Cox free LOL.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by sorryville

I had Cox cable for years, including the digital service for a period of time. I had nothing but problems with it and the reception was horrible. When I switched to Directv it was almost like having a brand new TV. The picture was unbelievably clear. I've compared Dish and Directv and there is no way I would ever use Dish, the channel selection is bad and some of there "fees" are outrageous in comparison to Directv. If HD is your thing Directv has the largest selection of channels around. A friend of mine has Dish's DVR and it's features and capabilities are sub par compared to Directv's, also seems more complicated (more steps to do even basic things). As far as internet service I switched from Cox to Embarq because of price. Never had a problem with it, never noticed a difference in speed and save by over half every month. I also referred a friend to Embarq when he was looking to cut costs. He's a gamer, uses it for work and and downloads stuff constantly. He loves it and it saved him money.

This is an interesting post. I've been wondering about this too. My question is, how do you get local stations, and do you get all of them? Do you need a separate antenna or does the sat system provide something? How is your internet service on Embarq compared to Cox? I have hated cable companies ever since my early days in local television when they tried their best to put us out of business, and also throughout my programming and management career trying to work with those SOB's.

[AA702]

Originally Posted by sorryville

My friend and I both come from PC tech backgrounds. I will admit, it went against my better judgment choosing DSL and I was pleasantly surprised. Not only by the price, but the reliability. I'm not exaggerating when I say I noticed no difference in speed, during downloads or otherwise. Speaking with my friend he admitted that some of the applications he uses actually seem to perform better, and he felt like he was going to be downgrading! I've yet to call Embarq support in the year and half or so that I've had it. It seemed like I was on the phone with Cox a couple times a month for the 5 or 6 years I had a cable modem. I'm very happy that my home is Cox free LOL.

Do you use any bandwidth intensive programs? Because its just a fact that Embarq DSL vs. Cox cable bandwidth .... there is no comparison. I've had Cox Cable for years and yet to have a problem with any kind of outage. Another drawback about DSL is if you have an older home, your phone line quality might not be the best because of "bleeding" + your distance from the C/O (central office) will also affect your speed. This will slow your speeds down. The only other type of connection I would have rather than my cable internet is a T1 and those are not cheap. You also get a static IP with dedicated UP/DOWN speeds of 1.5 MB

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by AAPoolServiceLV

Do you use any bandwidth intensive programs? Because its just a fact that Embarq DSL vs. Cox cable bandwidth .... there is no comparison. I've had Cox Cable for years and yet to have a problem with any kind of outage. Another drawback about DSL is if you have an older home, your phone line quality might not be the best because of "bleeding" + your distance from the C/O (central office) will also affect your speed. This will slow your speeds down. The only other type of connection I would have rather than my cable internet is a T1 and those are not cheap. You also get a static IP with dedicated UP/DOWN speeds of 1.5 MB

Just what I thought. I have had very little trouble with the Cox internet service too. I still hate cable though, and they don't offer enough HD yet to justify what I paid for my TV.

[sorryville]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

This is an interesting post. I've been wondering about this too. My question is, how do you get local stations, and do you get all of them? Do you need a separate antenna or does the sat system provide something? How is your internet service on Embarq compared to Cox? I have hated cable companies ever since my early days in local television when they tried their best to put us out of business, and also throughout my programming and management career trying to work with those SOB's.

The only local station Directv doesn't provide is channel 4, the governement access station. All of the local channels are provided thru the satellite system and appear in the guide as part of your programming, including the local HD broadcasts. No separate antenna needed. In this area the locals come from a different satellite and the LNB to pick that coordinate up is built right into the dish provided. I went right from Cox to Embarq and did not notice a difference in speed and I was looking for it. My son does use it for gaming and I've gotten no complaints from him, I use it for P2P and have had no problems.