It may seem a little basic, but still...

[intellover]

With all of today's online games what is the best broadband to play on. I play mostly EQ2, used to be EQ1, on cable, but I notice a bit of lag at peak hours. So what is the best? Cable or DSL? And another thing, I've heard DSL stands for digital subscriber line. Then I've heard it stands for direct satellite link. What does DSL really stand for? I never heard the satellite thing until recently, and that was on a commercial, so I figured that their version of the acronym might be reputable.

So what's the best, cable, DSL, or satelllite? And how much does a T1 cost per month, if anyone knows?

[KoolDrew]

Re: It may seem a little basic, but still...

It really depends on the ISP itself if it is good or not. I know tons of people over the net that have really solow cable connections while mine is around 3.2mbps. Satelite would not be good for online gaming though.

I would post at http://dslreports.com as the people there know alot about this subject and you could find a good ISP in your area.

Also DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line

[Arcainyx]

Re: It may seem a little basic, but still...

The biggest two right now are Cable and DSL. Cable is very area dependant, as you've noticed. The more people there are using it, the slower it gets. DSL is much more dependant on location. The closer you are to the carrier's equipment, the better off you are. I have a friend who is very happy with his DSL service because he has a DSL node literally in his back yard. His service is much better then my Cable service is at any time.

As far as the two of those go, you have to decide which is better for you if both are available. If you live close to a good sized city, odds are you'll have a choice. Otherwise, you can have a Cable Modem hooked up at any place that already has cable TV.

So far as I know, there are on internet connections that use satellites in the way you mention. Wireless is still much too insecure to be used. The quick search I did online says that a T1 connection can cost anywhere from about $300 to $1500 depending on the carrier and quality of connection.

[kgburns]

Re: It may seem a little basic, but still...

DSL is also dependent on how far you live from the trunk. I think 5 miles is the farthest they will run a DSL line.

[Spongebob]

Re: It may seem a little basic, but still...

Is your connection slow for everything or just when you play the game? You can change web cache to possibly speed up webbrowsing, I know if I use the defualt settings my cable ISP is slow and if I change it makes a very noticable difference. For the game you should try a different server and see if that helps, its always possible the fault might not be on your end.

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: It may seem a little basic, but still...

I hace a gigabit service and it is blazing fast... it cost a bundle but I have connections and friends that get me very reasonable discounts, I pay no more that you would for a high-end DSL or ADSL line. not everyone can afford this but cable worked fine before and there is no reason not to have a DSL or Cable line into your house... Dial up is out of the question For obveous reasons.

[intellover]

Re: It may seem a little basic, but still...

Thanks for all the input, I think I'll go with upgraded cable with no cap. A little pricey, but it's worth it. Thanks for the T1 info Arcainyx. And my connection is fast for web browsing and downloading, but not as fast for EQ2. Sony says its not their server, but I can't see how they can know that for sure. It definitely isn't my computer. Anyway, thanks.

[Arcainyx]

Re: It may seem a little basic, but still...

I don't really want to do solid speculation on how Sony figures things out. Their track record for intelligence in how they operate is not exactly the best.

I don't know specifics for EQ2 but EQ had a meter that you could activate and deactivate at will that could give you a general idea of the lag both on your end and theirs. Maybe they have a similiar meter in EQ2?

I know a group of people playing EQ2 and lag seems to be a general problem for some people, especially if you don't have a medium to high end computer. They recommend the general things; defragging your hard drive, sweeping for spyware, etc.

Good luck.