I am looking at dropping Verizon and getting DSL Extreme. Still checking them out, but I'm wondering if I go with them, wouldn't the connection still be thru Verizon? And if so, why would speed be any better?
Sounds like it uses their existent phone connection which means Verizons wires.
maybe speed wouldn't be better, but would price be worse?
Speed depends on the wires and phone company hardware. If you are at the max, no company will offer better, but the price may be.
I'm not so sure about the phone company hardware part. The phone company may or may not be providing the hardware on the other end. Back around 2000 independent internet companies were offering DSL where they put their equipment in at the far end of the line. But back then they were doing it because the local phone companies were slow to roll out DSL and they had an opportunity to do it, because deregulation allowed it. They used the existing phone company
2 pair copper lines, terminating in their equipment. I had that kind of service here for a few years, until cable internet arrived.What's going on today, IDK. The company would know the answer in the actual situation. I agree the performance is going to depend on the existing wires and the eqpt. Probably a lot more on the wires, as DSL reached it's limit from a hardware standpoint long ago. If one company is using eqpt that is
15+ years old, while the other is using stuff that came out 5 or 10 years ago, that might make a difference. How long the line is, how many taps there are on it, how many gauge changes, etc all factor in to the max speed.A simple question that might make all this irrelevant is what speed does he have today? Verizon what? FIOS? DSL? If he has FIOS, then he almost certainly has an order of magnitude higher bandwith than he's going to get with DSL, regardless of who provides it. There are various sites where you can do a speed test, ookla being one.
And therein lies the problem. The speed restrictions are on the front end from your house to the switching gear at the local phone company terminal. It is that lcal terminal that sends the signal to the independent DSL company.
The question is if that DSL endpoint, typically at a CO, is always owned and supplied by the local phone company or if an independent company can use their own equipment on there. My understanding from years ago, crica 2000 was that these independent DSL providers could put their own equipment in, because deregulation allowed it. I thought at the time that it was a bit strange, because you would think it would result in chaos.
But then my own experience seemed consistent with that. Verizon is the local phone company. Back in 2000, Verizon did not have DSL service in this area. I wanted it and they could not provide it. They did have it in other nearby areas. Yet an indendent did offer it and I had it installed. So, it's seems rather odd that Verizon has the equipment on the line for the independent to use, but won't use it themselves to give me service. Do I know for sure, who actually bought, spec'd, installed the linecard in the CO? No, but it kind of looks like the independent did it. But as I said, that model seems to have holes in it too, as you would think that chaos would insue at the CO.
So, you might be right that the local phone company actually speds, puts in the line card in the CO. But then I have a hard time understanding why Verizon would not offer the service themselves, but instead put in their line card for someone else. But the deregulation world is probably a strange universe.
In any case, I agree that it's the wire primarily and then the eqpt at both ends that determine what he's going to get. And if other services are available at competitive rates, I'd probably go with them. AFAIK, the independent DSL providers are going by the wayside as other, better technologies replace DSL. And even with DSL, these independents are squeezed by the existing phone company. I see it primarily of use in those areas where there isn't a better option. I sure wouldn't be trading off cable internet or FIOS if it was available, to save $10 a month or something.
You can do a speed test on what you have now at sites like Ookla. If you know the length of your line, you can also get an idea of the theoretical, typical speeds you can get with that line. I did that back in 2000 when I had to do DSL. IDK what resources there are today, but DSLreports was a good place to start. I would say that chances are you're not going to get any significant better speed. The biggest factor is the line, it's length, etc and that isn't changing. Unless maybe the modem you have is old, the new service provides a new, better one, etc. But you can probably get a new modem out of V too.
What's the motivation to switch? Cable internet not available?
Just had another thought. If you have DSL now from Verizon and still on copper you might experience what happened to me and have Verizon replace their old copper with FIOS. A few years ago, I had Comcast internet and TV but 2 copper Verizon lines. The copper lines were a mess and Verizon asked permission to replace them with FIOS. They have to ask permission because they burrowed through my lawn and put box in house then connected to house copper. I since dropped one copper line in favor of Comcast's triple play. Still keep one for business which is paid by a client. Interesting is that my in house copper is still used for both phone connections.
I've been a DSL Extreme client for almost a decade now. One outage in those 10 years; 5 static IP's, bridged not PPPOE. Good firm.
They leverage the existing POTS line, in my case AT&T.
A bit more expensive, but worth every penny to me.
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