Cable or DSL?

[Wombat]

I think this has come up before, but the new forum doesn't seem to like searching the old posts.

I'm looking for high speed internet access. Ping (for online gaming) is a consideration.

My options seem to be:

1) Qwest DSL: A 640/256 connection is $48/mo, plus I'll have to buy a DSL router (they offer the Cisco 678 for $195, pricey since it only has one port).

2) AT&T @Home: $50/mo plus I buy my own switch (they have a Linksys 5 port 100T for $50).

Opinions on the services, and hardware suggestions welcome and appreciated.

Thanks.

[Greebe]

http://www.dslreports.com is your first stop.
Check out users in your area for perfomance/problems

@Home when working properly should be the best bang for the buck.

Both should have low ping times... <30ms for DSL and <20ms for @Home to the gateway(typical). I don't know how saturated the market is in that neck of the woods, if highly so with @Home then things may slow to a crawl.

here's a couple more links...

http://www.dslwebserver.com/

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/ (good info for @Home users)

[Liquid Snake]

Yep, it really depends on the area you live in. Check out DSL Reports' speed archive (http://www.dslreports.com/archive) and check the speeds of QWest and @Home in your area. When it comes to ping, it depends more on the ISP than the technlogy. A ISP that isn't overloaded with good routing would give excellent pings everywhere.

[Wombat]

Well,
I'm pretty much sold on getting cable.

Now,
Can you recommend a good cable modem? A good switch? Possibly some of the combo units that are out there.