Worth getting cable?

[Geordie]

I admit it, I tend to download most of my porn rather than buying vids, but at half an hour to download a one minute or so clip I'm seriously considering getting a cable modem. We wont get ADSL in this country for years, and even then I don't believe it is a hugely quicker service than what we have now.

So, does anyone here have a cable modem and can you actually get the fantastic download speeds that I see posted on various sites?


Thanks

[Mackem]

Whilst not a direct answer to your queustion, if you are in Newcastle/Sunderland area I would sugest contacting TVS (in the yellow pges) as they can provide you with a fairly cheap sattelite system with 30-40 hardcore channels. No subscription. I do not work for them. I am just a satisfied customer. Certainly cheaper than buying vids.

[British-Amateurs.com]

Broadband, be it ADSL or cable, makes for a complete new internet experience (particularily for porn). Both technologies offer the same download rate but ADSL offers twice the upload speed but for most that is not really that important. Also no dialup times, no engaged tones, no disconnections etc etc.

Previously on a 56k modem I used to get a download rate of about 2-4kb/sec. Now on cable I can get a steady 70kb/sec with bursts of up to 150kb/sec (a friend in London with ADSL gets similar rates).

Cost wise cable is much cheaper than ADSL (?24.99 pm compared to ?34.99 pm for ADSL, installation of ?25 compared to installation of ?150 for ADSL) and there is practically no waiting time for installation (ordered on a Tuesday and it was installed on the Saturday). I was paying BT Surftime ?19.99 per month for an unmetered dialup account and now I pay NTL ?24.99 for always on broadband.

I can now download movies which I wouldnt even have tried to before and surfing is a much more enjoyable experience. Streaming video sites (such as Seventeen Live, for example) are now much more watchable and there is none of the stop start I got with analogue.

BTW, I am using NTL Digital and am based in Berkshire - I assume it is the same everywhere else but there are just my experiences. The most crucial thing is the contention ratio (I think thats what it called anyway, correct me if I am wrong) - basically if loads of people in your area have broadband and they all decide to download large movies at the same time your connection will slow down as there is a fixed bandwidth shared between all the users in any given area. However, where I live loads of people have broadband and I dont notice any major problems.

My only criticism is that NTL cable support is a nightmare to get in touch with (2 hours plus on the phone - its a free number though). I find in most cases all you need to do it to power cycle the modem, reboot your machine and renew your IP address and it takes care of 99.9% of the problems.

My advice - go for it. You will never look back!!!

cheers

Jason

jason@british-amateurs.com
www.british-amateurs.com

[kryten]

Like Jason says, it is well and truly worth it!! It completely changes the internet experience. The are stacks of free download sites for movies, plus newsgroups with great movie downloads.
I'm with NTL as well, customer service sucks big time,but it is in general VERY reliable.
As its always ON, you will need a firewall, like Zone alarm and a decent Virus protection essential.

Kryten.

[Geordie]

Thanks for that, especially coming from a Mackem! (For the benefit of those of you not from the North East, 'Mackem' is a generic term of abuse for anyone in the Sunderland area - and no, I don't know what it means!)

[Geordie]

Great stuff, I'll see what is available round here. Thanks for the replies.

[Matt]

I agree with what's been posted. I'm with NTL - the only thing I'd add is that (at least in Manchester) NTL aren't currently offering broadband internet as a seperate. You have to get the television service and phone line too. So I'm paying about ?35 a month, for all three (plus any phone calls of course).

I'd still say it's worth it though - it sounds a bit OTT to say it copmletely changes the internet, but it really does! I rarely even consider clips of videos that once would take hours to download.

Of course, if you were to play by the book (and I'm being deliberately careful here) broadband is limited in it's scope (I'm not sure how legit downloading entire movies and, just for example, Windows XP is) but the 'always on' thing is good, and like Kryten said, I've had no problems that a simple re-boot of the modem couldn't fix.

Get it, get it, get it! Then get Zone Alarm and anti virus software.


Matt.

[Robbie D]

The derogatory term "mackem" came about when the (then) thriving shipbuilding and marine engeneering companies of Sunderland were able to produce their merchandise very quickly and, some (geordies, for example!) might say rather shoddily, hence they would "mackem 'n tackem away" (sic).

[Pedantic Peter]

It is not actualy a derogatory term as many wearsiders use it themselves. As for its origins there are a few different explanations in addition to Robbie D`s. One was the sail-making industry where people would "mack"(make)sails and then tack them to the masts. Personally I do not like the term but can I still be classed as a geordie when I left Newcastle as a kid to live in Sunderland?

I bet there are a good few North East people hovering around this forum. We always were a bunch of pervy pornfreaks.