OT....internet connectivity, thinking of going w/ cable Options

[Aaron Cox]

im thinking of going w/ cable....DIALUP SUCKS the big ...... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

[need4speed]

I agree with Mockmaw.
You can get "lucky" with cable, many do. Many do not.
Then again, whether local service providers will offer DSL to your area or not is also a crapshoot.

But for me, it comes down to my philosophical disagreement with how Cable TV is structured in the US. It's a largely unregulated monopoly. The cable companies raise prices with impunity. They degrade their analog signal, then tell people who complain to upgrade to the "better" digital cable for $10 a month.

Back when I lived in Illinois, our local EVIL MONOPOLIST cable provider, Jones, used to rob us blind, with crappy service, no phone reps, and ever escalating prices.
Then, they passed legislation (1996 Telecom Act) which allowed competition. AT&T came in, and magically, the outages stopped, and Jones started answering the phone when there were problems, and prices actually went down. Then Jones decided it wasn't profitable to be in that market, and shut down operations. Leaving only one provider, which played the monopoly game again (only this time it was AT&T, so they pretty much knew how to play that game, because they have the most experience at it).

When I moved to California, in my area, again, we suffered under a cable monopoly. I was renting for the first two years, and everywhere we moved, it just got worse and worse. Then when I bought a home, I said enough's enough - and got DiSH satellite TV, and DSL internet through PacBell. While the DSL prices have gone up by 25% since I first signed up, I've never had an outage, and performace is crisp and stable, and their customer service is top notch, AND - no goofy port blocking. It's a connection, with email and webhosting tacked on. They don't cut me off if I use too much bandwidth, and they don't block certain ports they don't like. It's very common for cable providers to do both. And while my mother in law probably would not care about blocked ports as long as 80 was open, if you do more than just web browsing (passive consumption of content), then having a full-on REAL connection is important.

I'm glad I have a choice, and as long as I have a choice, I choose to say "screw the cable companies".