Cable vs. DSL, Judge's Scorecard

The cable company would have you believe that cable data speeds absolutely smoke DSL, no matter the local area load or time of day.

But I have anecdotal proof of the inferior nature of cable modem access to the internet. The main drawback of cable that I can see is that there is only a certain amount of bandwidth available to an area. And when everyone else on that pipe gets on then you get almost no connectivity. Slower than dial-up even.

DSL may not be as fast during the off peak hours but it also doesn't slow to a mind-numbingly pokey speed when I want to use it. And that makes it far more practical to me.

And, oh yeah, cable also costs twice as much as DSL.

Of course, cable runs like a freaking top during the off peak hours but what good is that if you work regular hours and want to check your email when you get home at 6.

DSL beats cable for practical usage but definitely get a cable modem if you work nights and surf during the day when most of the rest of the people you share bandwidth with are at school or work.

Paid Programming on Cable Should Credit My Account

You've seen them, those "programs" that are nothing but long, long commercials that preempt actual programming on regular channels.

Well I pay for cable so I am explicitly paying for these lame commercials.

That's like paying to read ads in a magazine (oh wait). And its wrong. I want my cable company to pay me for watching these stupid things and maybe I would watch them. Probably not but it galls me that they sell the time to air these things when I'm paying them for access to the station.

Its a great sales deal for the station, they make money both ways. But its wrong and needs to stop. You want to sell my paid-for cable access to the station? Them reimburse for those hours. Otherwise, quit preempting real programming for this bullshit programming.