Switching to high speed internet. Advice please.

I've pretty much made up my mind to switch to cable internet, instead of DSL. The cable modem is about $80, and there's an installation kit too.
What experiences have the rest of you had with the switch? Am I the last one in the world to still use dial up? Is cable internet better than satellite? I've heard that cable is faster. I'm also planning on ditching my telephone service, and going solely with the cell phone. Can't wait to say goodbye to SBC!
Here's my real questions: My address book and 'favorite internet links' lists. I'm assuming that I can simply download them onto disk, and then transfer them to the new service. Is this correct? I'd sure hate to have to re-enter all of that stuff.

You should be able to use the same browser and mail that you currently use.
If not, before you transfer to the new service, import all of your info into outlook. then when your new service starts just use outlook.

Make sure they tell you what your POP and SMTP servers are so that you can make sure the mail comes to the outlook box like it should.

On the other side of things
If you are that concerned about loosing contacts, it would be a good idea to back up those files anyway... just in case the unexpected happens.

is actually used for something?

It's a great big "Welcome: mat for all those viruses you've heard about!

:evilgrin:

Your line will NOT be dedicated. You will be sharing the same line (segment) as everybody else in that area. This means that:

1) Net speed is dependent on what others are doing at the same time. If lots of people on your segment are playing online games or downloading, you'll not get that high speed. And given how our society keeps people penned up with a 9-to-5 work schedule, you're not only getting a lower gas mileage during rush hour, cable-based peak time (6pm-midnite) might be somewhat slower than what they advertise...

2) Unless they've done something about it, you can EASILY hack into anybody's computer on that same segment! :grr: Ashcroft loves this because he want us all to spy on each other... And cable internet makes it a lot easier to do. (so get a HARDWARE firewall on top of a software firewall. A hardware firewall is going to cost you ~$100, but it'll spare you the effects of nosy neighbors... a software firewall (e.g. norton internet security), for $70, will take care of intrusion the h/w firewall will miss.)

I'm sticking with DSL... it's more secure and dedicated.

is that you use a dedicated line from the DSLAM (digital subscriber line access multiplexer) installed in the Central Office to your DSL modem. From the DSLAM, your traffic is multiplexed right along with everyone else into the public internet. The DSLAM provides a wonderful place for Ashcroft, should he want to, install a trapper and log every site you visit, every mail and newsgroup you receive, and every IM conversation you have.

The other security feature it offers is a dynamic IP address, as you have to "dial in" to DSL using a POET dialer (basically spoofing a phone call to alert the switch that you want access). Each time you use the POET dialer you receive a new IP address. POET dialers, are notoriously buggy. I have to use on through Verizon and I was lucky to connect once out of ten tries, and even then I could lose the connection at any monment. I lived less than a kilometer from the CO so my speed was as advertised, about 700K. With cable I receive an average of 3 megs.

CATV systems offer dynamic IP service too, but tend to rotate through addresses on a daily/weekly basis with no interruption in service. You service is multiplexed through the neighborhood node and separated from other traffic via a variation of frequency division multiplexing.

You can generally beat all of CATV service's caveats with the purchase of a simple router. I have a Netgear that cost 60 bucks and offers Network Address Translation (so that all my computers are invisible) plus hardware firewall.

and as for bandwidth sharing... that was probably an issue five or ten years ago, but most companies offering digital/data service use Fiber to the Curb and even in very dense areas, have terabytes of bandwith from the headend to the neighborhood node, and hundreds of gigabits from the neighborhood node to your residence.

If you are the only one in your area using Cable, it's great. The download speeds are smokin' fast. When I had it, I must have been the only kid on the block using it, my download speeds were in the hundreds of Ks, depending on the site traffic.

I have Verizon DSL now, and it has been very reliable. (knock on wood)

My download is throttled to around 175k tops, but that's still handstands over dialup.

Satellit sounds like crap to me, you have to use USB, and it is combined with your phone line somehow. I think your upload goes thru the phone, download thru the USB. Plus it's more costly all the way around. Bad storm comin' thru? No reception for you!

Satellite internet suffers from high latency (very bad for anything
interactive) and should only be used as a last resort.
Cable seems to be more bang for the buck than DSL in many areas,
provided that your neighbors don't use lots of bandwidth.

Neither cable modem nor DSL are available here. Too many trees for
satellite (and the latency would have driven me nuts). Had to get a T1.

What are you using for mail now? I assume it is some kind of web mail
since you spoke of downloading your address book. If you are using
a mail application on your machine, your address book is on your disk.

Favorite Links would ordinarily be stored on your disk, unless they
are on a homepage you created on their portal.

BTW, cellular data is faster than landline dialup now, at least on
Verizon. Still not broadband, but good for away-from-home access,
or as a backup if your cable/DSL is down.

I've used cable at a a few friends' houses plenty of times, and the speed difference is not so much that I even noticed it. I really don't care if a page takes a second to load as opposed to half a second. Plus, I much prefer spending $26.99 every month rather than $49.99 per month.