The Gadget Showdown: DSL v Cable

OK, so we're not exactly talking gadgets, unless we stretch that term to the futuristic-looking modems both technologies rely on, but we thought it time to pit a high-speed ADSL connection against one that uses a cable modem. Tony Hallett and Ben King rolled up their sleeve...

Today's contenders: BTopenworld's standard home ADSL service and Telewest's blueyonder 'hi-speed' offering. In the summer, we ordered both. BT's ADSL service - the market leader for home broadband access, for obvious reasons - was tested by Ben King in east London (E1), while Tony Hallett tested blueyonder in the southwest of the capital (SW19).

Let's get ready to rumble:

Round one: INSTALLATION

BT ADSL (Ben King writes)
Dreadful. So dreadful we had to write a separate article about it (http://www.silicon.com/a48989 ). Took three months of chaos from start to finish.

In terms of installing the necessary hardware and software on my PC, however, it was easy. The ultramarine Alcatel SpeedTouch modem looks like deep-sea predator from The Blue Planet, but once you stick its tail in your USB port it works like a dream.

Telewest blueyonder (Tony Hallett writes)
Very good. Took one week from ordering it to two engineers arriving at the arranged time. One, armed with a huge drill, handled the cabling, easily running a line from my main cable point to a home office, another installed the necessary software on my computer. The Motorola (General Instrument) cable modem isn't USB connected, which means they had to take the back off my PC. Not a problem.

They even stuck around to help me test drive the service, but didn't install the blueyonder ISP software - more on that in a moment.

Round one to blueyonder.

Round two: SPEED

BT ADSL
It seemed to do the business. I downloaded high-definition cat photos from a friend's site at very close to the promised 512Kbps. I also achieved feats unimaginable on a dial-up, like simultaneously downloading eight different cover versions of "Light my fire". The time to hesitate is indeed through.

Clocking the bandwidth on http://www.2wire.com 's bandwidth meter produced a variety of figures, from a rather surprising 526Kbps to around 150Kbps. Naturally, it was slower in the evenings.

Telewest blueyonder
The speed is noticeably better than dial-up when surfing the web, but not always as much as you'd hope, and seemingly less than ADSL connections I'd tried in California. The most noticeable advantage is when downloading email while working from home. Those unsolicited 2MB PowerPoint attachments no longer cause fits of rage, taking seconds rather than minutes.

Ongoing bandwidth measurement shows speeds of anything between 240Kbps and 350Kbps. Upstream rates are theoretically slower for cable modem-based services (128Kbps versus 256Kbps for ADSL), but that has yet to bother me.

Little in it - ADSL wins by a point.

Round three: AVAILABILITY

BT ADSL
It seems unforgivably rash to describe any service as 'always-on', and DSL is no exception. I occasionally couldn't connect, and sometimes rebooting my machine didn't fix it. BT has been criticised for network outages.

Telewest blueyonder
Likewise, blueyonder isn't perfect. The most common error, which was ironed out after some tech support, required a simultaneous cable modem and PC reboot, which wasn't the end of the world, but annoying. Generally stable.

A close call, but blueyonder just about shades this round.

Round four: CUSTOMER SERVICE

BT ADSL
Not too bad once it's been installed. Once you get the right number you are usually through within half an hour to someone who can help.

Telewest blueyonder
Impressive. Expected long waits and corporate spiel - got the opposite. Call me lucky, but the customer service agents I've spoken to have always been knowledgeable without being condescending. On one occasion, when I asked about transferring old emails, accounts and so on to blueyonder an agent said: "Why would you want to do that?" and advised on how I could use the service as a 'fat pipe' to my existing ISP settings. That may displease the Telewest higher-ups but should be music to the ears of end users.

Round four clearly to Telewest.

Round five: PRICE

BT ADSL
Normally £75, free to existing BT customers until November. The real problem is the £39.99 monthly fee, which doesn't show much evidence of being about to fall.

Telewest blueyonder
Install is normally £50 (plus £25 for a NIC card), and includes a cable modem, and monthly cost is £33 or £25 for users taking other Telewest services, like cable TV.

Round five to Telewest. BT needs to realise providing ADSL isn't just about rollout, but cost too. A Mercedes is just about available to everyone, but we can't all afford one.

THE VERDICT

Generally, neither service is without teething problems and taking advantage of possibilities such as good quality streamed video also depends on PC specifications - yet we recommend them both. Their speed and always-on, all-you-can-eat nature mean they will change most people's home internet experience.

But this is a showdown and we need to pick a winner. We should point out that Telewest's blueyonder isn't available everywhere in the UK, although Telewest is offering it in all its franchise areas. The same cannot be said for fellow cableco NTL's cable modem offering, although a slower speed internet plus TV plus phone budget package promises to be a nice alternative offering from them.

But then, we hear you say, nor is BT ADSL available wherever there is a copper phone line. That's true, and it is an understatement to say this is something of a logistical, political and even business nightmare for BTopenworld.

In short, in terms of what they can do, there is little to separate the two services reviewed here, but for quality of customer service and cost, we're handing this Showdown to Telewest's blueyonder.

Now just have your postcode ready to see what's available in your area...

For related links and articles click here:
http://www.silicon.com/a48993