Haven't seen much on this lately so will throw it out again.

Cable vs phone "DSL".

I have had phone DSL for six months or so and am basically satisfied except for downtime when the phones go out.

At the same time, I switched from dish to cable for our TVs but they did not offer cable DSL in our area. It just became available this week and I signed up for a 2 month trial at $9.99 a month for the first two months. As we are in a new cable area, I do not anticipate the overload problems I have read about on this board for a while at least and if I recall, cable is faster and perhaps clearer than the phone DSL. With the firewall protection now available I would also anticipate fewer problems with my system being broken into on the cable setup vs the phone setup.

Is there any new intel or opinions out there regarding a comparison between the two??

Wi-Fi:

Do any members out there have experience with this relatively new functionality addition to the PC makers offerings? I just a few weeks ago installed wireless networking in the house and now have two PCs and one laptop operating on that system hooked up to our phone DSL and it works quite well. I guess my question is if Wi-Fi would just be a reduntant system parallel to the wireless network system or is it a valid additional feature I could use efficiently. As I understand it, for the moment it is primarily useful (maybe only useful) on a laptop which is not my favorite device. Any opinions on this one??

Finally, I broke down and purchased a Samsung Syncmaster 213T 21 inch monitor a couple of weeks ago after fighting any number of problems with trying to get a pair of glasses that would allow me to read, drive andddddd effectively see my monitor without continuing to change glasses. What a change. Talk about big the big screen. No glasses necessary at all, I can sit comfortably and view, type and so on for the first time ever. Not cheap, but a definite good move in my opinion.

Thanks for any comments.

Bill

 

just make sure your wireless system is not vulnerable. Without the proper safeguards your wireless system can be hacked from outside your house.

 

This is the biggest problem for you security wise.

Cable is a lot more secure than it used to be. The security issue used to be that cable was like being on a LAN. Everybody could see everybody as if on a buisiness network. That is no longer the case.

Reliability mostly depends on the company and their attention to their equipment. I've got "Brighthouse" and it's been pretty reliable. We had the first major episode today, and we've been in this location for 2+ years now. Not sure if a tractor dug up the line or what.

As far as what to choose is really your preference. Cable is usually faster, DSL more responsive. You're gonna get a taste of both, so that'll be your best evalution of it.

 

Thanks to both of you for your replies.

As there is not much information of any use to anyone else stored in my PCs nor do I send or recieve anything that I would be too worried about, I guess I am more interested in functionality than protection at this point. I have read about the wireless systems being rather easy to eaves drop on but I have not read anything about it being more than just a bother. Is that correct?

 

Dammit.

I just started to type a new line and it sent the above message without me even going near the send command.

Anyway, if there are others out there who have opinions or experience with cable vs phone dsl I would like to hear from you and as well as any opinions about Wi Fi.

Regarding Wi Fi, I am a complete klutz when it comes to computers. This is why I asked the question as to whether it is just another form of the wireless networking system I already have. I can run the laptop on the battery from anywhere in the house over the phone dsl hookup or plugged into the house electrics if I leave it in it's normal place. Is Wi Fi something different than what I already have?

Hope to get some additional input.

Thanks
Bill

 

Well, someone could theoretically hijack your connection and use it for illegal activities. That might be rare but something to consider. If you live kinda away from other houses your chances of that happening would be nill. If you're in an apartment complex, well, who knows.