[Tfug] why not cable?

[johngalt1]

From: "Brian Masur"
> Hey everyone.  I'm always seeing articles about DSL on tfug.org.  Why 
> don't
> you want cable?  I see DSL, at roughly the cheapest of $25/month like 
> qwest.
>  Cox and Comcast is roughly $40 per  month and 4 times faster or even more
> faster.  $50 per month if you do not have cable TV, which would likely be 
> my
> situation if I wasn't getting a neighbor's wifi-g link for free.
>
> Even then, many parts of the inner city businesses of Tucson, (you might
> think Qwest would care of them) can't even get 256kbps (may as well use
> dial-up)...
> 1.5mbps is SLOW.  I often get faster on comcast cable than DSL's physical
> limit of 7mbps.  Cable's physical limit is roughly 40+ X faster than DSL.
>
> I ask again, why pay for DSL in tucson when cable is at least four times
> faster for only twice the cost or less?  Same for everywhere else in USA I
> have ever lived.  And cable is available wherever DSL is, and further.
> Cable has a longer range as a standard from CO, by about 3x.
>
> Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm probably right for everyone I've lived in
> USA.  Cable is better than DSL short of being free.

To answer, cable broadband is EXPENSIVE, especially if you don't subscribe 
to their cable TV or telephone service.

How much bandwidth do you really use? For the average person who is not 
hosting a prOn/bittorrent node, cable is mostly under-utilized capacity.

Another thing to consider is: how often do you find download servers that 
provide more than 1-2 Mbps? Unless it's that UA server, it's not that 
common, I believe. Yeah you could download multiple things at a time, but if 
you download multiple disks of a distro simultaneously, that's kind of 
greedy.

If you do web browsing, email and downloads (ISO images, etc), why spend the 
extra money for cable? Yeah, I know - so your friends won't think you are a 
dork. ;-P OTOH, spend the extra money because you can. }:-)

Otherwise I think the premise above is sort of like saying: "Cable's vehicle 
can do 120 mph and the cost is $30/week." versus "DSL's vehicle can only do 
60 mph and their cost is $20/week." Therefore cable is better unless you get 
a free bus pass.

IMO, satellite/OTA/FTA TV is higher quality and way better for the money 
than cable TV. So for me, it's pointless to consider cable broadband since I 
don't do online gaming.