Is DSL worth the money?

by **jesus_of_suburbia_old** » Tue 08 Feb 2005, 20:20:31

I recently had to cancel my $45 a month, Comcast high-speed internet connection. I've only gone from dial-up to cable and back- nowhere in between. Right now, I can't even get a 56 Kbps connection. SBC Yahoo is offering twelve monthes of DSL for $26.95/mo. It's not cheap, but definately more affordable. Is it worth the money? If not, is there anyway I can enhance my dial-up connection?

by **Falconoffury** » Tue 08 Feb 2005, 22:34:37

I would also recommend reading up at the dslreports website. I find SBC to not be worth the money, but other DSL providers are worth it.

by **pilferage** » Tue 08 Feb 2005, 23:01:25

Check how far you are from the local connection center thingy, that can really hurt your speeds. Other than that, it sounds like a decent deal, I've been meaning to switch to that plan, but I still need to get the house's phone wiring fixed.

by **TrueKaiser** » Tue 08 Feb 2005, 23:59:30

it depends realy.
if you like better customer service go with dsl comcast in my area completly sucks in that reguard. but when the connection behaves it is much faster then dsl.

by **maverickdoc** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 00:25:28

My experience with verizon dsl has been very bad. at times it was slower than 56k.

by **frankthetank** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 01:26:29

Ive had cable (3Mb/s) now for year...its great, however the price may be going up soon... Try to find someone with wifi close to you, give'em some cash for exchange of internet use...

by **TrueKaiser** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 04:07:00

either way ignore the advice they(the isp) gives you.

DO NOT connect it directly into your pc the average windows machine only lasts 4 minutes before being breached by a virus or trojen when you do.

Do get a router, especaily one with nat and a firewall.

by **savethehumans** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 05:41:39

Well, that depends on how fast you want to get from site to site on the Web, doesn't it? :lol:

Seriously, if you can't afford cable, you better get DSL. It isn't 100% reliable, but beats heck out of not having it! One warning: if you only have one phone line, be prepared to experiment to be able to get your phone, answering machine, AND computer all in good working order! If you have more than one phone line, KEEP THE PHONE AND ANSWERING MACHINE ON A DIFFERENT LINE FROM THE COMPUTER! Trust me. You'll thank me for this advice....

by **k_semler** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 12:40:08

DSL, Cable, T1, 56k, even 33.6k is not available in my area. The fastest I can connect to the internet is at a miserable speed of 31.2Kbps. The telephone line feeding my home is aluminum. It is the exact same line that was ran when the telephone network was installed in the 1950's. About all I can reccomend to somewhat speed up your access, is to buy a real modem, (not a shitty controllerless/winmodem) such as the US Robotics 5610B. When I was using my Intel 536EP, ($14.95), I would connect at an average speed of 26.4Kbps, with my maximum connection speed being 28.8Kbps. After I installed the US Robotics 5610B, ($89.95), I have never connected below 31.2Kbps. I highly reccomend this modem, it has been very reliable. It is quite expensive, but worth the expense, IMHO. An added benifit to this modem is that it is Linux and DOS compatable. I also have changed my DNS servers, and it appears that the resolution time of sites has sped up dramatically. I shall post the addresses I am using when I get home, as I am on a high-speed connection in town now.

by **k_semler** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 14:17:29

I am using the following settings for my primary and alternate DNS servers.

Primary: 199.5.157.128
Alternate:199.166.29.3

It seems faster than the DNS servers that my ISP provided for me to use anyway.

by **TrueKaiser** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 18:32:00

i was just curious so i did a whois on the two dns servers you posted.

OrgName: The American Global Network, Inc.
OrgID: AGN
Address: P.O. Box 763
City: Portage
StateProv: IN
PostalCode: 46368-0763
Country: US

NetRange: 199.5.156.0 - 199.5.157.255
CIDR: 199.5.156.0/23
NetName: NETBLK-RABBIT2
NetHandle: NET-199-5-156-0-1
Parent: NET-199-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: NS1.ADNS.NET
NameServer: NS2.ADNS.NET
Comment:
RegDate: 1993-12-14
Updated: 2000-01-10

TechHandle: JP4736-ARIN
TechName: Palmer, John
TechPhone: +1-312-560-3934
TechEmail: jp@adns.net

OrgAbuseHandle: JP4736-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Palmer, John
OrgAbusePhone: +1-312-560-3934
OrgAbuseEmail: jp@adns.net

OrgNOCHandle: JP4736-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Palmer, John
OrgNOCPhone: +1-312-560-3934
OrgNOCEmail: jp@adns.net

OrgTechHandle: JP4736-ARIN
OrgTechName: Palmer, John
OrgTechPhone: +1-312-560-3934
OrgTechEmail: jp@adns.net

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-02-08 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

OrgName: VRx Network Services, Inc.
OrgID: VNS
Address: 500 Seventh Avenue, 18th floor
City: New York
StateProv: NY
PostalCode: 10018
Country: US

NetRange: 199.166.24.0 - 199.166.31.255
CIDR: 199.166.24.0/21
NetName: VRX-NET
NetHandle: NET-199-166-24-0-1
Parent: NET-199-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: NS1.VRX.NET
NameServer: MEJAC.PALO-ALTO.CA.US
NameServer: JFWHOME.FUNHOUSE.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 1994-04-26
Updated: 1998-10-13

TechHandle: RS79-ARIN
TechName: Sexton, Richard J.
TechPhone: +1-613-473-1731
TechEmail: richard@vrx.net

OrgTechHandle: RS79-ARIN
OrgTechName: Sexton, Richard J.
OrgTechPhone: +1-613-473-1731
OrgTechEmail: richard@vrx.net

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-02-08 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

by **BabyPeanut** » Wed 09 Feb 2005, 20:26:54

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TrueKaiser', 'e')ither way ignore the advice they(the isp) gives you.

DO NOT connect it directly into your pc the average windows machine only lasts 4 minutes before being breached by a virus or trojen when you do.

Do get a router, especaily one with nat and a firewall.

by **k_semler** » Thu 10 Feb 2005, 12:18:49

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TrueKaiser', 'i') was just curious so i did a whois on the two dns servers you posted.

OrgName: The American Global Network, Inc.
OrgID: AGN
Address: P.O. Box 763
City: Portage
StateProv: IN
PostalCode: 46368-0763
Country: US

NetRange: 199.5.156.0 - 199.5.157.255
CIDR: 199.5.156.0/23
NetName: NETBLK-RABBIT2
NetHandle: NET-199-5-156-0-1
Parent: NET-199-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: NS1.ADNS.NET
NameServer: NS2.ADNS.NET
Comment:
RegDate: 1993-12-14
Updated: 2000-01-10

TechHandle: JP4736-ARIN
TechName: Palmer, John
TechPhone: +1-312-560-3934
TechEmail: jp@adns.net

OrgAbuseHandle: JP4736-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Palmer, John
OrgAbusePhone: +1-312-560-3934
OrgAbuseEmail: jp@adns.net

OrgNOCHandle: JP4736-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Palmer, John
OrgNOCPhone: +1-312-560-3934
OrgNOCEmail: jp@adns.net

OrgTechHandle: JP4736-ARIN
OrgTechName: Palmer, John
OrgTechPhone: +1-312-560-3934
OrgTechEmail: jp@adns.net

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-02-08 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

OrgName: VRx Network Services, Inc.
OrgID: VNS
Address: 500 Seventh Avenue, 18th floor
City: New York
StateProv: NY
PostalCode: 10018
Country: US

NetRange: 199.166.24.0 - 199.166.31.255
CIDR: 199.166.24.0/21
NetName: VRX-NET
NetHandle: NET-199-166-24-0-1
Parent: NET-199-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: NS1.VRX.NET
NameServer: MEJAC.PALO-ALTO.CA.US
NameServer: JFWHOME.FUNHOUSE.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 1994-04-26
Updated: 1998-10-13

TechHandle: RS79-ARIN
TechName: Sexton, Richard J.
TechPhone: +1-613-473-1731
TechEmail: richard@vrx.net

OrgTechHandle: RS79-ARIN
OrgTechName: Sexton, Richard J.
OrgTechPhone: +1-613-473-1731
OrgTechEmail: richard@vrx.net

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-02-08 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

by **smiley** » Thu 10 Feb 2005, 18:20:13

I'm currently still on cable, but I'm switching to 10 Mb/s glassfiber in a couple of weeks. They should start wiring-up my street in March or something.

They even managed to get some EU subsidies so it works out cheaper than my current ISP (and I finally get to see some of that tax money back

).

by **Terran** » Thu 10 Feb 2005, 21:38:32

I would say DSL is worth it. It really beats 56K by a ton, I can't imagine the amount of time saved while using DSL SBC networking. It reflects the term "time is money" and your internet connection is proving that. Another thing is I'm not paying for the internet bills.
There is a disadvantage of staying online 24/7, and that is your computer will get infected with spyware/adware.

by **smiley** » Fri 11 Feb 2005, 06:52:05

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')here is a disadvantage of staying online 24/7, and that is your computer will get infected with spyware/adware.

by **Falconoffury** » Fri 11 Feb 2005, 07:37:07

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')O NOT connect it directly into your pc the average windows machine only lasts 4 minutes before being breached by a virus or trojen when you do.

by **TrueKaiser** » Fri 11 Feb 2005, 17:20:35

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Falconoffury', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')O NOT connect it directly into your pc the average windows machine only lasts 4 minutes before being breached by a virus or trojen when you do.

by **Falconoffury** » Fri 11 Feb 2005, 20:10:42

Kaiser, there have been viruses that infect windows XP with no action by the user, but security updates have stopped them. There is no virus right now that can infect a windows XP computer that has all the security updates, unless the user does something to initiate the infection.

It's still possible for hackers to directly hack into a computer, but it's extraordinarily rare for a hacker to be interested in hacking a home user directly. Big companies and websites are the real targets for hackers.

I do run a spyware remover on occasion, and I have had spyware on occasion, but it was always because I made a mistake and ran a program I shouldn't have or clicked a button in internet explorer I shouldn't have clicked. Ever since I stopped using internet explorer, I haven't had any spyware. I blame internet explorer, not the entire windows OS, for vulnerabilities, but even internet explorer's vulnerabilities require some action by the user.

But if you do know a virus that can penetrate the latest security patches for windows XP, I would like to hear about it. I'm confident because I read up on the subject, but humble enough to admit I can be wrong.

by **TrueKaiser** » Fri 11 Feb 2005, 21:05:14

here is the info on defeating sp2
http://www.maxpatrol.com/ptmshorp.asp

besides it's not the patched problems you should be worrying about it's the ones that are not patched. any google search should show them.
all it will take is one slammer or sobig type worm that targets a flaw not yet patched to take down your computer. this might be acceptable to you but not to me. and please you are very much mistaken in the fact that you have to do somthing dumb to get infected, windows is so badly designed most of the time all you need to do is just turn it on.

Is DSL worth the money?

Is DSL worth the money?

Who is online