What follows is a cost comparison of some popular internet services, and their relative speeds. The question being asked here is: are the faster and more costly services actually worth getting?
Note: All prices are current as of 8/1/00
| Service | Provider | Set-up fee | Monthly rate | Downstream Data | Upstream Data | Downloading of 1 GB of data, no compression | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various Modem Pool | U of Pitt | N/A | $27.50* | 22000 - 44000 bps | unknown | 54.23 - 108.46 hours | $81.73 - $135.96 |
| 56k | Verizon | $9.95 | $19.95 | 53000 bps | 33600 bps | 45.02 hours | $74.92 |
| DSL | Verizon | $99.00 (cost of modem) | $39.95 | 256000 - 640000 bps | 90000 bps | 3.73 - 9.32 hours | $142.68 - $148.27 |
| Cable Modem | AT&T@Home | no fee | $39.95 | "2 seconds on @Home as compared to 9 minutes over 28.8 modem" | 128000 bps | .31 hours | $40.26 |
*This price is based on the $110 per semester Computer Network/Service fee that is charged to a full time student at Pitt.
To illustrate the true cost of each of these services, the following values will be used:
According to these calculations, DSL is actually the most costly overall. Of course, that includes the $99.00 for the DSL modem, which one would presumably only pay for once. If Cable Modem speeds are true to their claim, it is by far the best service in terms of cost. However, since AT&T does not provide any definite specifications on the speed, it is difficult to make an informed decision.
At this point, sticking with the Pitt modem pools is my best choice, especially since I have to pay the network fee anyway :-)