Need Internet!

I've been stuck using the Library computer far to much, and I am sure at this point they are far and away frustrated with me, and I'd like to be able to enjoy the online component of some of my games.

Thus, I am going to be getting either DSL or Cable internet soon, but was going to ask you gents which one would be better for my area - I live in New York, around the Pennsylvanian border in Elimra. Since my interests lie in Online Gaming, I'm looking for a cost effective (under 50 US) solution that gives the best performance. However, I'm still mostly computer illiterate IMHO, and I don't really have room for error in "guessing wrong". Please help :shame:.

If keeping the cost low is a priority, DSL is probably the way to go. I'm not aware of any cable company that will allow you to buy their internet service bare without jacking the price so high that you might as well have gotten their TV service as well. Bit of a racket, that.

That was what I was thinking as well, but It seems google has failed me in finding out what service providers I have in my area, so I am left with the swarm of TWC junkmail and offers - borders on annoying.

Time Warner Cable wasn't a bad deal when I was living in Brooklyn, but if you don't also buy their TV package, it ain't worth it. Also, they did that weird "we're gonna meter your bandwidth" thing less than a month ago.

I don't need TV, just books and the internet :laugh4:

Also, they cap their speeds at 5mbps, and everyone and their second cousins aunts uncle brothers mother (have no idea where that puts them in the family tree, if it's a tree at that point) is subscribed to TWC - that kills in my book the ability to have decent speeds for gaming.

I think.

Dunno. When I was living in Brooklyn I got good speeds at all times, probably because I was the neighborhood bandwidth hog. I think everybody else was just glad to discover email.

If everybody in your 'hood has TWC, why not get one of them to let you run a speed test?

Sadly, don't know any of my neighbors - just moved in :sweatdrop:

And I'm not the sociable type either :shame:

I am thinking of going with AT&T DSL, maybe U-verse I think it's called?

U-verse is fiber optic, right? If that's what I'm thinking of, it's slick stuff. You can check availability here.

Not available in my area yet :shame:

Now I am not sure at all :sweatdrop:

EDIT - although Verizon is in my area and is around 20-40 US with exceptional Upload speeds...hmmm...

I know a certain other orgah switched to Verizon fios and seems to have gotten some good results.
How good they really are I don't know, you'd have to ask Proletariat yourself.

Otherwise I can't help, being german and all, ya know...

FIOS is fantastic if you can get it, but most of us can't. :sweatdrop:

I can only speak to my limited experiences- I have had Verizon DSL and cable modem service from 2 different providers. DSL was always rock solid- it never went out on me. My first forray with cable was fast, but flaky- it suffered from frequent disconnects.

I've been very happy with my current cable provider. I get 5Mbps download speeds and it's very reliable. The only problem is upstream, which is just 512kbps. Even with that though, I've hosted (small) TeamSpeak and game servers over it with no problems.