June 13, 2018

My home network

For over ten years my broadband service was DSL from Century-Link (aka "Qwest"). In the summer of 2013, I got fed up with the erratic and intermittent nature of my DSL connection, tried to get Century-Link to fix it, and finally gave up and switched to cable internet supplied by Cox communications.

Five years have gone by now, and all I can say is that it is like night and day. Century-Link DSL was so bad, there was never a day without problems. My cable internet "just works". That is the highest praise I can give any technology. It is as reliable as the ethernet at the university. It is like the running water we take for granted or telephones back in the days before cell phones. My connection is always there, it is fast, and I can keep remote sessions going for days on end. The only mystery is why I waited and suffered so long.

Now this could all be different in different parts of town or the country, but this has been my experience now in two different Tucson, Arizona locations.

I will note that my issue with DSL was never the speed. When I could get a connection at the 7Mbit download rate, it was fine. The problem was that for many hours a day I could not get a connection at all or I would get a connection that would last only a few minutes. Worse yet, Century-Link was unable and/or unwilling to fix this (despite many words to the contrary). Many people I talked to confirmed my problem or sympathized, but nobody got busy and did anything.
Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Computer Info / tom@mmto.org