The Best Broadband ISPs in America

Cable: Bigger Pipes

The technology behind each service is the biggest factor affecting customer satisfaction. So we've organized the latest data, with results from our survey, into sections on each of the most common connection methods, starting with the most widely used type respondents cited.

For most U.S. homes, the cable modem is the primary means of Internet access. However, its dominance will fade in coming years, say industry analysts. Currently more than 28 million U.S. households access the Net via cable, a number expected to climb to 37 million by 2011. By comparison, DSL, which currently serves about 22 million U.S. homes, will have nearly 39 million subscribers within five years, according to JupiterResearch.

Cable's advantage today is its wide pipe. Downstream speeds (the rate of data traveling from the Internet to a local computer) of 6 megabits per second are commonplace, and many cable providers offer even faster connections. Top-ranked Cablevision, for instance, supplies downstream speeds of 15 or 30 mbps. This superfast link appeals to Bob Murdoch, a flooring salesperson in Brielle, New Jersey, who pays $65 per month for Cablevision's Optimum Online Boost service, which costs $10 to $15 more than basic service. "They're blowing everybody's doors away with the speed and quality. I don't think I've had an outage in a year," says Murdoch, who reports getting 26 to 30 mbps downstream and 1.5 mbps upstream. In contrast, Murdoch's DSL connection at work tops out at 3 mbps downstream, roughly the average speed reported by DSL users in our survey.

Cablevision's megaspeedy service is more the exception than the rule. "You're not going to see anywhere near 15 mbps for 50 percent of U.S. households over the next five years," predicts Matt Davis, director of Consumer Multiplay Services for research firm IDC. "We're still struggling to get to a megabit [per second] in a lot of households in the U.S."

But other cable providers are boosting bandwidth. Comcast, the nation's leading cable ISP with more than 9 million broadband customers, recently introduced PowerBoost, a service that automatically doubles its users' bandwidth--from 6 to 12 mbps, or from 8 to 16 mbps--when necessary, for no extra charge. For most of the day, when the cable network isn't operating at peak capacity, the provider "uncaps" the user's modem via software commands, according to Comcast. The result is additional speed for downloading videos, games, and other hefty files.

"You'll get a boost of speed when downloading a large file or anything that would tax the capacity of a good connection," says Mitch Bowling, general manager of Comcast's online division. Bowling adds that Comcast may eventually offer a 30-mbps connection (at extra cost), but notes that extreme speeds may be overkill for the infrequent user. Our survey respondents already rate Comcast's speed highly--much higher than they rate the company on most other measures.

Cable's weakness? It's relatively expensive. For example, Comcast charges, on average, $43 a month for its 6-mbps service. DSL is often much cheaper. AT&T Yahoo charges new subscribers as little as $13 a month for one year of DSL, albeit with downstream speeds that max out at 1.5 mbps. You must sign up for local phone service to get the killer DSL deal, too. (For a month-to-month contract, AT&T Yahoo charges $35 per month.)

But don't expect to see a price war between cable and DSL. Introductory offers aside, "the deals may get a little bit worse if all you want from a provider is Internet access," says Joseph Laszlo, JupiterResearch senior broadband analyst. Rather, the good deals for customers will come in the form of bundled services.

Most cable and telephone companies offer bundles of two or more services. Comcast's Triple Play bundle, for instance, delivers phone, Internet, and digital TV service for $99 a month for the first year (but then the cost increases to $118 to $143, depending on the area).

Nearly 70 percent of the people who responded to our survey said that they purchase one or more other services from their ISP. And according to IDC, the number of U.S. customers buying bundles will nearly double from 43 million last year to more than 85 million in 2010.

Click the image below to see survey results on types of connectivity.