Cable or Wireless ISP????

[BornOnFire]

In my area i have a choice between cable(AT&T broadband) or wireless(stratus wave)ISP. I talked to the tech about the wireless isp he said it is not satilite!! It is like a WAN, there are towers (8 towers in all) set up and they come to your house and take a signel reading to find the best tower for your location. They say the d/l rate is 512kbs. My question is.......which is the best connection for gaming,i play Q2, Q3 and halflife. thx for your input.....Born <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

[korpse]

Check the upload speeds for each. Wireless upload speeds are usually low because the FCC doesn't allow you to send data using alot of power. On the other hand cable companies often set an upload cap at either 128kbps or 90kbps, so you might just be better off with wireless...

[Budd]

ask the wireless tech what the latency is on the wireless connection. its the high latency that causes high pings on satilite connections. all in all, if its mainly for online gaming, i would say go with the cable. also look out for high install and equipment costs on the wireless thingy

[MacGyver]

I would go with the cable, as well. Use wireless as a last resort.

[widget]

[quote]Originally posted by korpse:
<strong>Check the upload speeds for each. Wireless upload speeds are usually low because the FCC doesn't allow you to send data using alot of power. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Upload and download speeds aint regulated by FCC if it's 802.11a/b in the 2.4/5 ghz range, thats why they are popular. Both are controlled by the network guru (and by distance, obstructions, and height of antennas).

If you can get cable in your area - go with that, wireless ISP's are more for hard to reach areas and business's that need a wan (wlan) link within 10-15 miles between buildings.

[Packrat]

For gaming go with cable. Satellite would have too much latency for gaming.

[korpse]

[quote]Originally posted by widget:
<strong>

Upload and download speeds aint regulated by FCC if it's 802.11a/b in the 2.4/5 ghz range, thats why they are popular. Both are controlled by the network guru (and by distance, obstructions, and height of antennas).

If you can get cable in your area - go with that, wireless ISP's are more for hard to reach areas and business's that need a wan (wlan) link within 10-15 miles between buildings.</strong><hr></blockquote>

802.11 has nothing to do with satelite/wireless internet access. With satelite/wireless internet, your upload speed is limited due to the unliscenced transmit regulations of the FCC. You cannot transmit more than a certain number of watts without a liscense from the FCC, otherwise you would have planes crashing into your house.


802.11 is really only used for LAN access, since it uses a public frequency that is unregulated for the most part.

[widget]

I work for a company that sells 802.11 gear and most of the clients I deal with set up ISPs with our gadgets. So, NO it's not just for LAN access, in fact the coolest part of 802.11 is the ability to set up your infrastructure easily in places where there is no high speed cable (DSL)service.
Don't give out advice you cant back up

Here is one of our products that ISPs use:
<a href="http://orinocowireless.com/template.html?section=m61&page=1406&envelope=97" target="_blank">Wireless router</a>

[Budd]

well, i can see where this thread is going

[widget]

I just don't like people talking smack about 802.11 when they aint experts (which i am not).

I also don't like people giving out false information.

[silencio]

Having had pretty bad cable service in the past (out at least 50% of the time) I would check dslreports.com or another web site like this and see if there are any comments about the service available in your area.

[DiR[ëctory]]

I would also go with cable. The wireless probably has lots of down time.

[deseqer]

[quote]Originally posted by dir:
<strong>I would also go with cable. The wireless probably has lots of down time.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I have wireless were I live and work. And We/I have not had very much down times even when the weather was bad. but both places have very good signal strength and signal quality. at home I average about a signal strength of about 38% and signal quality of about 96%, talking to the several people and the company that is about the best signal you will get without being on top of the tower. ( what is cool is that I am about 6 miles from the antenna.)

if I lived in town I would probly go cable just because I could save myself about $10.

[Cygnus]

Wireless is an imperfect science just now. If they ever get it right it will be a great connection but I think something else will come along before that happens. just my opinion.