Which dsl speed should I get?

[hornadylnl]

I live off the paved road and 5.5 miles from the nearest gas station. So the fact that I have dsl at all is a blessing. I'm currently signed up for 1.5 mb. I got a subscription to Netflix and streaming is next to impossible. I stopped into the phone company and talked to the tech about upgrading. He said I'm only getting 6-800 b and can't upgrade until they run new fiber at $50k. I'm currently on 4.5 miles of line between me and the hub. I figured that it would be several years.

A few months ago, I saw people trenching by the house and emailed the tech. He said they were burying the line but would be awhile before they got the fiber cable. Well, it will be done in a few weeks and I'm trying to decide what I'm going to upgrade to. It's around $10 more a month for the 3mb and $20 more a month for the 5mb. The tech thinks 3mb should be sufficient. I'm thinking of going with the 5mb, partly to throw the phone company a bone for upgrading the lines.

The service from the phone company has been great. I can email the tech directly or talk to him personally if I can catch him in the office. The office is 2.5 miles from my house.

 

[hornadylnl]

Here's a speed test taken on my iPad through wifi.

 

[efd1295]

If you are planning on streaming video or movies, I wouldn't get anything less than the 5mb. For general surfing and e-mailing, 3mb would be sufficient but video and especially the new HD video takes up a lot more bandwidth.

 

[eldirector]

That's your current "speed"? Looks more like a modem! No wonder streaming doesn't work.

I'd guess that your current 1.5Mb service will improve if they are really running fiber to the house. If you expect to be online a lot and stream often, I'd get the fastest speed I could afford.

Man, I've forgotten how ssssllllooooowwww DSL can be!

 

[iamaclone45]

I would go with the 5mb. You will need the 3mb to stream smoothly. The 5mb will give you a little bit of cushion.

The speeds you show in your image are stupid slow. I would be pulling my hair out.

 

[SEIndSAM]

I do Netflix and general use in a house with 3 people, including a 13 yr old daughter who is always online. 3MB works fine for me.

 

[hornadylnl]

Internet speeds are definitely a negative to living in the country but fortunately I have a forward thinking phone company that's upgrading. General surfing isn't too bad on my current speed but threads like the funny pic thread are really slow to load up.

Will the 5mb speed up my iPad and iPhone significantly or do they peak out on speed?

 

[revsaxon]

I have a 50mb connection and its to slow. Anything under 5 really won't cut it these days...

And 5mb/s wont bother your iPad in the least. Once you hit 100 it starts bottlenecking, but not 5

 

[hornadylnl]

Ok, I was wondering as my phone always seemed a little slower than my desktop. The desktop is hooked straight to the router and the phone and iPad are on wifi.

 

[efd1295]

I thought I read somewhere that the iPhone has a max speed of 7mb/s?

 

[Prestige WorldWide]

You're better off with the higher speed for streaming video. I have 3.0 speed and mine buffers on videos sometimes. I would go with 5 if u want to pay for it, if $ is important then start with 3.0 speed because u can always upgrade to 5 if the 3 is too slow. Depending on the company you'll have then its easy to call in and change ur speed. There's no need for a tech to change speeds. Check when u sign up for contract terms. Cancellation fees. Transfer fees for moving and if u change speeds does that change a contracted term with them. Prices and promotion may vary with the speed u pick so make sure u get the best deal available.

 

[hornadylnl]

You're better off with the higher speed for streaming video. I have 3.0 speed and mine buffers on videos sometimes. I would go with 5 if u want to pay for it, if $ is important then start with 3.0 speed because u can always upgrade to 5 if the 3 is too slow. Depending on the company you'll have then its easy to call in and change ur speed. There's no need for a tech to change speeds. Check when u sign up for contract terms. Cancellation fees. Transfer fees for moving and if u change speeds does that change a contracted term with them. Prices and promotion may vary with the speed u pick so make sure u get the best deal available.

I have the good fortune of being with a small, independent phone company. I'll have my wife go to the office next week to check on the 5mb.

 

[T-Mann]

Rule of thumb....the greater the speed, the more porn per minute.....

just sayin'

 

[hornadylnl]

Wow, I love my phone company. Got an email from my tech this morning. He said they'll switch me over tomorrow or Tuesday. I asked if I needed to go in and sign anything for the upgrade. He said he'll go ahead and take care of it and won't change my bill until December to make sure everything is working ok.

I'm currently paying about $70 a month for phone with caller I'd, call waiting, $.05 a minute long distance, and 1.5 mb Internet. The 5mb will run about $20 more. I'm sure I could get the same for cheaper in a place like Indy but with a tenth or less of customers per mile of wire, I think my phone company is very reasonable. My only other Internet option is wireless and it's usually more expensive yet.

 

[4sarge]

Wow, I love my phone company. Got an email from my tech this morning. He said they'll switch me over tomorrow or Tuesday. I asked if I needed to go in and sign anything for the upgrade. He said he'll go ahead and take care of it and won't change my bill until December to make sure everything is working ok.

I'm currently paying about $70 a month for phone with caller I'd, call waiting, $.05 a minute long distance, and 1.5 mb Internet. The 5mb will run about $20 more. I'm sure I could get the same for cheaper in a place like Indy but with a tenth or less of customers per mile of wire, I think my phone company is very reasonable. My only other Internet option is wireless and it's usually more expensive yet.

I'm paying almost 80 a month for DSL/Phone, Tin Can Phone Company and live in the middle of no where, have DSL, 4 miles of gravel road and No Fiber Optic as of yet. I am a little closer to the phone sub station at about 2 miles but have no problem with Neflix movies. Not sure of the advertised speed but I am 1 tier up from the bottom if I remember correctly

 

[hornadylnl]

This is way better than I used to have. I don't know if the upload speed should be a lot better than it is or not.

 

[bigred_dean@yahoo.com]

I have netflix and play ps3 online. And I use 3 mb I'm happy with it.

 

[edporch]

When it comes to DSL, ALWAYS get the fastest speed you can afford.
Especially if you're gonna be doing a lot of streaming.

I have 6Mb DSL (which with overhead gives me about 5.1Mb) because it's the fastest I can get where I'm at, and at times only marginal for streaming.