WebJunction

Hi Tamara, and welcome to the Web Junction. I think that's a great question - someone must have done some research on it. I know that I have heard joys and frustrations with both. Maybe someone knows a good comparison site. Thanks for posting!

Thanks for the info. The Cnet link was very good. However, this one:

Introduction to DSL

Author: Marnie Webb

Publisher: TechSoup, a project of CompuMentor

Date Published: Mar 13, 2003

Copyright: Copyright 2001-2002,TechSoup, a project of CompuMentor

Date Posted: May 1, 2003

would make anyone run screaming before they even attempted to use DSL.

I've had good experiences with both cable and DSL. I think it is largely a question of what is available in your area and if you need to host any servers.

If I were in a small library trying to choose a connection method, after reading that article, I'd never use DSL even if they were offering service at 5 cents a day for super fast synchronous connections.

Where's the rebuttal section ;)

Hi Wendell--

I agree with you that DSL can vary greatly by provider and location. I've had both in my home, which is close to the CO and for my needs, DSL is better. I was afraid that the TechSoup article might scare off some small libraries from trying DSL.

I work with small libraries in Washington and there are a handful that have DSL provided by small, rural startup telcos. The prices are amazingly affordable and the service tends to be reliable. We are also fortunate to have a very affordable statewide network that offers T-1 connections to schools and libraries.

The main reason I was looking for the chart is because people ask me which one they should get for home service. The CNET article had a sort of "applause meter" to help you decide based on some preferences they list. I thought it was a good starting point if you are lucky enough to have a choice.

When you were referring to wireless, do you mean line of sight wireless to the ISP, or the LAN/Access Point type?

Tamara

I wish DSL was even an option for us. I think the phone company folks get the giggles whenever we ask. I've been told it will be at least five years before they'll even think about installing in the area, because so many larger cities are ahead of us.

When we started providing net service, the only option was standard dial-up. Later on, the school district got a grant for access to a T3, and we used a wireless system to tap into it.

If the antennae moved just slightly, the signal loss was so great that we would often completely lose the signal. This was in place before I started working here, and after about a year of pulling my hair out trying to keep the service up more than it was down, we determined we had to make a change.

At the time, cable wasn't an option (it is now), so we went with an ISDN connection. This service is available just about anywhere from what I understand, though it does cost $$$ to set up.

We had good luck setting ours up and keeping the system running. Our City pays the phone bill (about $60/month for "two lines" and we use one for our fax). Our ISP donates the ISDN service for free. The company that installed our ISDN router donated the cost of the equipment as a tax write off.

All we had to pay out of pocket was the cost of installation of equipment, plus the cost of installing the ISDN line.

It's slower than cable, DSL or our previous wireless, but it is more stable than what we had. The only times we've been down were due to a cut phone line, and brief outages were fixed simply by turning the router off and on.

Of course, now that I've praised it, it will come crashing down around my ears. Especially since I'm on vacation starting next week.

Perfect, Chad, I'd be interested to hear about this. Might be something we want to add to the WebJunction articles/materials as well.