Why Cable Internet

After many years of boggy and unreliable dial-up (hey, it was free), the switch to broadband in the form of Comcast Cable high-speed internet service was a life changing event. There are many advantages that cable internet has over dial-up:

Pros

--No connection time: cable internet is always connected, making it very quick and easy to get onto the internet.

--Connects through cable lines: this way, for those who are always online, there is no need for an extra phone line. Cable internet does not interfere with the TV signals.

--Connection speed: Dial-up can connect at the very fastest 50.6 k (due to FCC limitations on phone lines), which translates into about 5.4 k/s download speeds. With Comcast cable, I have experienced stable 200 k/s downloads. This translates into much much quicker download speeds and quicker page renders, although the internet surfing is also dependant on the speed of your system.

Cons:

There are but a few low points of cable internet
--Reliablilty: When broadband first came out, there were many complaints about the reliablilty of Cable and DSL services. However, I have not yet experienced one loss of service with Comcast.

--Price: This is the main reason most of America has not switched to broadband. The basic rate for Comcast home cable is a steep $50 a month. However, currently, there is a promotion that offers the first three months for a $30 per month rate. Also, if you are a subscriber to Comcast Cable for TV, the cost for High-Speed internet is cut by $10 a month. However, when compared to the value of dial-up, cable internet seems worthwhile. For instance, if one decides to get a dedicated phone line for dial-up, that would be about $14 a month. Add to that the basic unlimited rate for a generic ISP of $19 a month, and your paying $33 dollars a month for an internet service about 50 times slower than broadband, which does not instantly connect and cannot stream video or play high end internet games. When asking yourself whether it is worth it to get Comcast, or any other cable internet service, especially if you are already a cable TV subscriber, you should seriously consider the many benefits you recieve from an always on connection for just $17-27 more. Just think, an extra tank of gas a month, or three McDonalds meals...


Installation

I purchased the self-installation kit from Circuit City. This came with a full rebate for the Motorola SURFBoard cable modem, and also saved me the installation fee. Setting up the hardware was extremely simple. It consisted of attatching a splitter to the end of an existing cable line, hooking that up with the cable modem, and and attatching the modem to a computer or router via USB or Ethernet. A splitter, cable wiring, USB B male to A male cable, and ethernet cable are all included. No software installation is necessary; everything is plug and play. Very convenient. An included setup poster helped visualize the connection scheme.

I did not experience one hitch in installation until the software installation. The included Comcast software installation CD prompted me to install of bundle software, much of which was completely uneccessary and did no good but to bog down my computer. Also, it changed my IE logo and home page. The installer also made a seemlingly unjustifyable number of restarts: 5 until I was back in control, and it required two more beyond that.
However, this was not the end of the woes I encountered during the setup. The number that Circuit City gave me to call to activate the account could not retrieve my account number, and directed me towards another phone number. Although there were no hold times, I was sent back and forth between numerous departments, often ending up back where I started. Eventually, the problem was solved

Installation time:
Hardware Setup - 10 min
Software Setup - 50 min

Service

After I was on the internet, all I could way was "wow". Downloading from a dedicated server, I experienced speeds of 220 k/s, while cnn.com loaded in a little under 4 seconds. Uploads are also lightning quick, at around 22 k/s. Compare this with the 15 k/s speed limit on most other DSL and cable providers. Comcast offers a bunch of usual ISP services, such as 7 e-mail accounts and ample web-storage space. I have not yet experienced a loss of service or major problem, however, I am praying that it doesn't happen becuase of the poor service I recieved, and the general public has had discontent with Comcast Service.


Edit: ran speed test on 1/16/2005 from nyc.speakeasy.net
Results: 3010 up / 270 down, translates into about 376.3 kb/s transfer rate. This is much faster than most cable services I have tested.


Update (4/15/2006): Connection is still rock solid; I've only had one or two instances of a prolonged connection loss, and it was never more than 24 hours. Ran another speed test with speakeasy and it seems that they've upgraded my bandwidth. I'm now rocketing at 6199 kbps up / 359 kbps down, which translates roughly to a 750 KB/s download speed



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 40/month