Help choosing an ISP

[Razdornwaz]

I would like to find a high speed internet service provider that really delivers a sufficient amount of Mbps that people are generally satisfied with. I have looked up information extensively on this topic and to no avail.
So far my best bet seems to be:
-Verizon Vios
-Comcast Xfinity

Any ideas or any helpful information would be very much so appreciated.
P.S. I hope this is the right forum for this.

[vesseblah]

I would like to find a high speed internet service provider that really delivers a sufficient amount of Mbps that people are generally satisfied with. I have looked up information extensively on this topic and to no avail.

Don't have any experience of US ISPs since I dont live anywhere near there, but just throwing few generic ideas.

1) wireless is shit for gaming
2) maximum throughput and promised mbps has got very little to do for gaming also, 1mbps is totally enough for wow & voice comms
3) every isp overprovisions their bandwidth by about 50-100x
4) i have 40mbps cable (DOCSIS3.0 based) and even when downloading 5-6 torrents at the same time the speed rarely goes over 2meg/s (4.3meg/s is maximum), therefore buying very fast connection is mostly wasted (could get 110 or 220 mbps cable from my ISP but no point when I cant usually cap even this one).

[ispano]

First, it's FIOS. And the choice is FIOS, HANDS DOWN. I'm not a big fan of Verizon, but FIOS is just superior to Comcast any day. You'll get good speeds with both, but FIOS is fiber and isn't nearly as affected by node congestion like Comcast would be. ie the people in your neighborhood all share the same node, and if there's enough people all using it at the same time, speeds can suffer. FIOS also has no "soft-cap" of 250GB like Comcast does. You can get rid of that cap on Comcast by going Business Class, but I'd not recommend that due to the really shitty hardware they force you to use by doing so. Another thing for FIOS, is the upload speeds tend to be much better. The last thing is that FIOS does require a bit more of a hardware install. They have to install a few devices in or outside your home, you might want to call them and ask how many and where to be sure.

But i'd still take FIOS anyday if I had the choice.

[Razdornwaz]

Thank you for your input and my apologies. I actually just ran into this article after hours of researching about how Fios sponsered an all female gaming team or something called PMS to endorse it and from the article it seems just as promising as your post ispano. Now the real decision is deciding on how much mbps is a waste and how much mbps is just enough. Vesseblah said 1Mbps was good enough for WoW but is it really? Kind of seems low to me personally.

[haxartus]

From my understanding the FiOS is a FTTH/FTTB network, which means that it is superior to pretty much everything else.

[ispano]

It is enough. WoW, even on high bandwidth mode and floating around Org doesn't even come close to 1Mb/s. Now if you wish to do more than just play WoW, you'll likely want something more.

---------- Post added 2011-07-27 at 12:47 PM ----------

On another note, the only issue I would personally have with FIOS is if they make me use a dual device, modem/whatever and gateway in one device. That's what comcast does for Business Class, and this thing is garbage. I wouldn't even use this for a residential service person, it's just that bad. But they won't budge on it.

[taekvideo]

Does qwest offer service in your area? They have fiber optic connections in many areas now too... my parents just got a 40mbps connection from them and they love it.

[ispano]

If he has FIOS he won't have Qwest.

[Asera]

I used FiOS in Florida when I visited my Aunt a few months ago. 32ms average latency to Nathrezim US (Average up here in Halifax is 140ms). Pretty good downstream, and excellent upstream. The bridge box they give you with the built in gateway and WAP kinda blows though.

[ispano]

I used FiOS in Florida when I visited my Aunt a few months ago. 32ms average latency to Nathrezim US (Average up here in Halifax is 140ms). Pretty good downstream, and excellent upstream. The bridge box they give you with the built in gateway and WAP kinda blows though.

That would be the one thing to turn me off. What's the point of my nice linux gateway if the shitty hardware one messes it all up? Same thing happening here with Comcast Business, I try damn near everyday to get them to switch to a standard modem, but they won't budge. I had initially got them to let me use my 6120 on the first day, but they tend to have issues with congested nodes, and as such I get nasty packet loss using it.

[Asera]

That would be the one thing to turn me off. What's the point of my nice linux gateway if the shitty hardware one messes it all up? Same thing happening here with Comcast Business, I try damn near everyday to get them to switch to a standard modem, but they won't budge. I had initially got them to let me use my 6120 on the first day, but they tend to have issues with congested nodes, and as such I get nasty packet loss using it.

Thing is though, the Verizon bridge hooks up via Coaxial from what I could tell. The fibre only runs as far as a somewhat hefty box somewhere else in the house. I'm not sure if you could use a standard DOCSIS bridge on it and skip the horrible built in gateway/WAP though.

[ispano]

Well the thing is I don't use TV or phone, just the net. So the box that splits all those signals wouldn't be as important for me. I just want a device to bridge whatever signal they provide to something I can plug into my gateway. I don't like having to do double NAT like I do now. Not to mention this piece of garbage doesn't support NAT loopback, so if I try to access my DynDNS address from inside the network it tries to access the web interface on the thing instead.