# 10mbps fiber optic dsl or 20mbps cable



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

I just switched from 20mbps cable to 10 fiber optic, and i hear fiber optic is a lot faster, is this true?


----------



## dir_d (Aug 14, 2010)

fiber maybe in the upload but thats about it


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

dir_d said:


> fiber maybe in the upload but thats about it



well I mainly download and play games is it good for that? they also tell me its more reliable, just wanting to see if I made the right choice to switch


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

Fiber has higher bandwidth possibilities but going from a 20meg line to a 10 fiber line is still a downgrade. Fiber in the metro areas about 30-40mins from where I live offer 50-100meg lines. 

Latencies and whatnot for games is probably a wash, and if you download you just lost half your speed. Bad move in the short term, but if they start offering more speed later it might work out down the road.


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

theonedub said:


> Fiber has higher bandwidth possibilities but going from a 20meg line to a 10 fiber line is still a downgrade. Fiber in the metro areas about 30-40mins from where I live offer 50-100meg lines.
> 
> Latencies and whatnot for games is probably a wash, and if you download you just lost half your speed. Bad move in the short term, but if they start offering more speed later it might work out down the road.



well its only me here so im the only one using the internet. now I feel like a retard....awesome


you sure it was actually a bad move? eh


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

Is the bill cheaper? 

What I don't get is why there is some supposed hierarchy for internet tech. I mean a 20meg line is a 20meg line whether its DSL2, FIOS, or Cable- right? I know 3G, 4G (WIMAX), and Sat have latency issues and are considered bad, but when it comes down to wires running into your house bandwidth>* 

Also, the way you describe the service is that it is Fiber to the area/neighborhood then they run DSL lines from the terminal to your house. If thats the case your speed might be limited by the distance to the terminal. Maybe someone more familiar with Fiber to the Node setups can clarify if that is a bottle neck for future speed upgrades.

A 10meg line is still fast if you ask me though


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

theonedub said:


> Is the bill cheaper?
> 
> What I don't get is why there is some supposed hierarchy for internet tech. I mean a 20meg line is a 20meg line whether its DSL2, FIOS, or Cable- right? I know 3G, 4G (WIMAX), and Sat have latency issues and are considered bad, but when it comes down to wires running into your house bandwidth>*
> 
> ...



yeah they told me it was probably going to be faster than my 20meg line and it was cheaper, so far I've been saving quite a lot


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

If you are saving a decent amount like that then I say you're a winner.


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

theonedub said:


> If you are saving a decent amount like that then I say you're a winner.



I just want performance with it as well, even if Im saving money I still want it to be at least almost as fast as the 20mbps line...i know im greedy but what the hell


----------



## Nickzy (Aug 14, 2010)

-1nf1n1ty- said:


> I just want performance with it as well, even if Im saving money I still want it to be at least almost as fast as the 20mbps line...i know im greedy but what the hell



Well, supposedly you have a 10/10 line now, as we're talking about fiber, right? 

It should be better than youre 20 meg cable connection as you would now also be able to upload alot faster(BONUS!), not to forget the savings.

Its a fine upgrade if you ask me  Wish i had fiber here, as i upload big files everyday, but were still on the shitty cobberlines  so im gonna have to stay with my 30/3 for now.


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

Not to be Mr. Negative but can you check your modem and see if its 10/10? If its Fiber->DSL then its likely it isn't but check and see.


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

theonedub said:


> Not to be Mr. Negative but can you check your modem and see if its 10/10? If its Fiber->DSL then its likely it isn't but check and see.



how do I check for that?


----------



## AltecV1 (Aug 14, 2010)

go run speedtest.net


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

AltecV1 said:


> go run speedtest.net



they're telling me at the moment that there have been slow speeds in the area so they're fixing it

http://www.speedtest.net/result/913985862.png


----------



## twilyth (Aug 14, 2010)

theonedub said:


> What I don't get is why there is some supposed hierarchy for internet tech. I mean a 20meg line is a 20meg line whether its DSL2, FIOS, or Cable- right? I know 3G, 4G (WIMAX), and Sat have latency issues and are considered bad, but when it comes down to wires running into your house bandwidth>*



Cable companies drop wires from a local hub/switch/whatever so the more people who are on the switch at any given time, the slower your dl speeds will be.  My cable connection goes anywhere from 2mbs to the low teens depending on the time of day.  They "guarantee" 15mbs, but I don't see that very often.  Of course there is some degradation due to my LAN.  I don't know why since I'm usually the only one online but I know I get better speeds if I'm hooked directly to the modem.

edit - you don't have the problem with DSL because you're going directly into the switching office on your own line.  The thing about their fixing the problem sounds bogus though - especially if you've never seen the guaranteed 10mbs.  I would bust their chops about that.


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

^ I have heard about that slowdown before, esp when cable was an emerging broadband tech and the bandwidth it could supply was equal to DSL in many areas. Strangely enough when I had Comcast Cable back in 2005/2006 I was paying for a 7mb line and never got anything less, and even now at a relatives house Comcast's 12mb plan has yet to experience any slow down either.

I don't know if my experience is rare or if its just a matter of a ton more people sharing the bandwidth in Jersey then in California. I figure with upgrades and a move to DOCSIS 3.0 network congestion was no longer as big an issue as it was in the past. 2mb on a 15mb line sounds crappy


----------



## AsRock (Aug 14, 2010)

20mbs to 10mbs is obviously a downgrade if you were getting the supposed 20mbs.  all so depends on what your upload speeds are\were too.

Like im on 16mbs \ 2mbs and with me being a gamer i would trade the 16mbs for 8mbs to have the upload speeds equal to the download speeds any day.  Although if you plan to run dedi server or 2 you better check with your ISP.  Like Comcast their agreement is that you will not run dedi a dedi server(s).

If you just watch movies online like hulu \ nexflix the higher download speeds will help out and of course when you download games of Steam or D2D or any other legal source.

Cable depends on area to and how many people are on it in your area.


----------



## kid41212003 (Aug 14, 2010)

Fiber optic > Cables/DSL in term of latency.

So for gaming it's better.

Best fiber optic in the US is probably Fios. Their optic network is 100% optic while AT&T U-Verse is hybrid.

EDIT: FYI, I'm using U-Verse 12Mbps, and my download speed is always at max.


----------



## DaveK (Aug 14, 2010)

If it's 10Mb/10Mb that's great, but unless you upload a lot, slower upload speeds are usually sufficient for most people. I'm on cable and get 30Mb/3Mb and although 3Mb up is a bit slow for uploading large HD video to YouTube, it's sufficient for everything else I do though I would trade it for something like 15/15. The only benefit of a slower speed is that it's usually cheaper.

I don't think you understand the speeds though, 10Mb is not as fast as 20Mb and never will be, they're outright lying to you saying that their 10Mb is faster than the other 20Mb. Unless for some reason the cable was always less than 10Mb, which I doubt.

Take what they say to you with a pinch of salt, of course they're going to say they're better. They're internet service providers, don't believe everything they say. My ISP are a bunch of scam artists and are always bragging about their excellent, better, cheaper services and I've had constant trouble with them from their poor services, terrible customer care and constant over charges on non-existent services.


----------



## kid41212003 (Aug 14, 2010)

DaveK said:


> If it's 10Mb/10Mb that's great, but unless you upload a lot, slower upload speeds are usually sufficient for most people. I'm on cable and get 30Mb/3Mb and although 3Mb up is a bit slow for uploading large HD video to YouTube, it's sufficient for everything else I do though I would trade it for something like 15/15. The only benefit of a slower speed is that it's usually cheaper.
> 
> I don't think you understand the speeds though, 10Mb is not as fast as 20Mb and never will be, they're outright lying to you saying that their 10Mb is faster than the other 20Mb.
> 
> Take what they say to you with a pinch of salt, of course they're going to say they're better. My ISP are a bunch of scam artists and are always bragging about their excellent, better, cheaper services and I've had constant trouble with them from their poor services, terrible customer care and constant over charges on non-existent services.



Only services provide for business/schools have such high upload speed.

They don't want you to host a server at home, lol.


----------



## v12dock (Aug 14, 2010)

Don't forget DOCSIS 3.0 I think in this case it depends on your cable provider


----------



## DaveK (Aug 14, 2010)

kid41212003 said:


> Only services provide for business/schools have such high upload speed.
> 
> They don't want you to host a server at home, lol.



Ok, 15Mb is pretty high for upload, but 10Mb would be nice. 3Mb is just tiny compared to the 30Mb I get down. It's been ok so far, but it's always nice to have that extra speed. I don't expect my upload to go anywhere anytime soon, they market their cable as fiber and are basically scam artists. There isn't really any competition for them so my choice is extremely limited.


----------



## MilkyWay (Aug 14, 2010)

Fiber Optic has a higher theoretical speed and also it has more chance of giving you a better real speed. Companies always say UP TO SUCH AND SUCH A SPEED which is just the theoretical max you can receive. Cable is already better than normal phone lines i think.

In answer its probably not as good.
The only way it would be good is if for some reason cable only gave a lower real speed than you would get with the fibre optic; for example if your only getting 8meg with the 20meg cable then fibre optic gives you 8meg on a 10meg line its great you saved cash for the same thing.


----------



## newtekie1 (Aug 14, 2010)

Fiber is _capable_ of higher speeds than Cable.  However, the fact that you only got a 10Mbps package is a huge tip off that your fiber will not be faster.  Your cable might be 20Mbps download and only 3Mbps upload, and the fiber might be 10Mbps download and 10Mbps upload, but really the faster upload will not help your unless you are constantly uploading huge files.  Overall, you will get slower downloads and slower page loads, which is probably what is important to you.



kid41212003 said:


> Only services provide for business/schools have such high upload speed.
> 
> They don't want you to host a server at home, lol.



A lot of home services provide that fast of an upload.  They don't want you hosting a server, that is in the terms of use, but the fast uploads help with doing things such as sending emails with large attachments which I do a lot when I'm sending graphics to clients(after my graphic artist creates them).








And that isn't even that fastest package offered to me.


----------



## DRDNA (Aug 14, 2010)

most cable companies no longer have the slow downs during peek time, they have fixed it a while back now. If your provider offers a business account then you can bet that they also no longer have the slow down issues..cable will however choke when they are having issues and they reroute bandwidth. Going from a 20MBit line to a 10 MBit line in my book would be an absolute down grade unless your Ping time is now absolutely phenomenal and your upload is equal to your download even then its questionable.


----------



## slyfox2151 (Aug 14, 2010)

definetly a downgrade IMO, you should have just stuck with Cable... i doubt your latency would have changed by more then 3-5ms.... and now your stuck wile they "fix" the problems in your area for fiber...


what connection is it exacly? FTTN or FTTH? are you using Gpon? if so how many people are sharing the connection? 32/64/128 are fairly common numbers.




the most importaint question here is, what were you paying for cable and what are you paying now for fiber, and what maximum speeds both upload and download do they state you might recive? you said fiber was 10mbps and cable was 20mbps what are the uploads.


and are you sure the fiber is 10mbps and not 10MBps - 12.5MBps (aka 100mbps)


as a side note, Fiber can go well over Terabytes per second. its what they use to connect all the countrys together, underground sea cables. some are capable of over 8 Terabits per second.


----------



## n-ster (Aug 14, 2010)

whats heavier, about or a little less than 2 million pounds of feathers, or exactly or a little more than 1 million pounds of rocks?


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

Do you even bother to read the thread? He already said he is saving a good amount, and the thread is titled '*10mbps fiber optic dsl or 20mbps cable* which would have to mean its FTTN and not FTTH.



slyfox2151 said:


> definetly a downgrade IMO, you should have just stuck with Cable... i doubt your latency would have changed by more then 3-5ms.... and now your stuck wile they "fix" the problems in your area for fiber...
> 
> what connection is it exacly? FTTN or FTTH? are you using Gpon? if so how many people are sharing the connection? 32/64/128 are fairly common numbers.
> 
> ...


----------



## slyfox2151 (Aug 14, 2010)

well im sorry i have never used fiber before ffs. get off your high horse.


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

No high horse, just noting if you read a lot of questions can be answered.


----------



## puma99dk| (Aug 14, 2010)

i can do more on a fibernet connection when u game online than a adsl connection i experienced that myself when i for the first time got fibernet 3-4years ago one of my friends was playing CS1.6 on my 15/15mbit connection that time and i was able to download and upload in µTorrent and with full power and he still had a ping of 15 on that server o.o


----------



## 1freedude (Aug 14, 2010)

Here's my two cents:   Does the service work for your needs?  

If yes, then no issue.
If no, continue

Is the deficiency worth the savings in your bill?

If no,

Do you have a contract that requires an ETF?

If yes, stick out the term
If no, go back to cable.


Bottom line, use what you have.  Max it out, try to break it, find tweaks, hire an IT wizard to come to your house to optimize it.  If all of these don't make the service perform to the standard YOU need, get different service.

"don't underestimate the bandwidth of a stationwagon full of DVDs."  (don't know who said it)


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

1freedude said:


> Here's my two cents:   Does the service work for your needs?
> 
> If yes, then no issue.
> If no, continue
> ...



no contract, I only switched to it cause I heard it was going to be better in the long run, so far it feels a bit slower than what I use to have, but I havent tried games, but I've tried watching youtube videos and what not and it has loaded faster than my cable internet, Ill edit this post when I play a game or something

edit:they fixed the internet in my area http://www.speedtest.net/result/914532784.png


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Aug 14, 2010)

Cable depends on traffic: the more bandwidth in use on the node, the less bandwidth you get.  On DSL, you will always get ~10 mbps but with cable, you get as high as ~20 mbps or as low as ~1 mbps.  Cable will be fastest in the middle of the night and maybe during business hours but it will be slower in the morning and in the evening (whenever everyone gets online).  I, personally, would go with DSL.


----------



## -1nf1n1ty- (Aug 14, 2010)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Cable depends on traffic: the more bandwidth in use on the node, the less bandwidth you get.  On DSL, you will always get ~10 mbps but with cable, you get as high as ~20 mbps or as low as ~1 mbps.  Cable will be fastest in the middle of the night and maybe during business hours but it will be slower in the morning and in the evening (whenever everyone gets online).  I, personally, would go with DSL.



yeah when I had cable EVERYONE was on it(everyone in my area) same line or whatever, so there was always slow downs and always time when it would just disconnect all together



edit: pingtest.net results http://www.pingtest.net/result/22151466.png


edit: ping is definately lower, and gaming on it seems to be ok, when playing LoL I dont load as fast :\


----------



## n-ster (Aug 14, 2010)

really? I switched from dsl to cable, and my speeds are now a CONSTANT 7.5~8mbps, 7.5~7.7 during peak hours... I pay for a 7.5mgps line

On my dsl, I got 2.2~3mbps when I was paying for 5mbps, but weirdly, my cousin next door is getting 4~4.2 with the same line. Thought it was because of my home line. Then tried another DSL resellers (Bell has the only lines in Montreal, and then rents them to others), and they could get me a 4mbps line


On the other hand, my cable internet has a down+upload limit of 30GB, way to little for me


----------



## claylomax (Aug 14, 2010)

With ADSL it depends how far you live from the exchange; with Cable you are supposed to get what you pay for, however at least here in the UK, Virgin throttles down the connection during office hours while most of the ADSL providers don't. I happen to live very close to my exchange but because the telephone lines in my building are old I can't get the advertised speed; still it's ok, I pay for 24mb and I get 20mb but I get 20mb 24/7.


----------



## cadaveca (Aug 14, 2010)

OK, so, I've both worked at both companies, and use both Cable/DSL.


I've had fibre DSL since it's been available...few years now. Over time they have slowly upgraded the speed as they bought and built up the NOC.

I'm now up to 25/1. I have 6 HDTV boxes running, and still manage to get 1.0-1.2mb/sec downloads(1.25MB/sec=10Mbit).  Some of you might have heard I can now use XBOX360 as a cable box(not really news to me though..  )Cool stuff, running the Microsoft Mediaroom platform.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Mediaroom

This is what 1f1n1ty's back end will be as well.

The biggest issues I find is with routing, as becuase this network is "self-contained", actual global pings won't be much better once outside the general network.

Once on IPTV, I lost my download limits. I also got a static IP, good for server hosting, etc.

I haven't had any real outages in years...even when the regular TELUS network has issues, I tend to not.

As with DSL, every signle foot to get away from the main building in your area will affect overall bandwith. This fact alone will lead to most providers giving out a max 10/1, and saving the rest for IPTV service.

EDIT:


LATENCY is fantastic, as you get TV streamed on the same lines. switching channels is pretty seemless, but still not "perfect" like cable.


----------



## theonedub (Aug 14, 2010)

So by looking at the Speedtest results you are definitely on a 10/1 DSL line.


----------



## n-ster (Aug 14, 2010)

ahh, ok... in Montreal, DSL is throttled and cable is not


----------

