Does residential DSL service varies from companies in terms of speed ?

I've been with a company for few years, I got my dsl service w/them, which is 3.0 mbps, according to speed test I am having 2.2 or 2.4. which is not bad. I found out that att offers same speed for half the price, I call them and they say that the speed available in my area is only 1.5 mbps.





If is possible that my company ( earthlink) offers 3.0 because of the infraestructure they have or just simply there is no way that any company could offer such service yet in this area and they have been charging me for a speed not available yet? This is in San Bruno, CA





I will appreciate you answers please, in order to cancel or ask for a better deal with the current dls provider|||It depends on how the provider distributes bandwidth. If you and your neighbors are all on the same provider, then it is likely that you share a single gateway and hence bandwidth. Other than that, speed is limited by the DSL service itself andthe switching speed on the internet servers you are connecting to. If all the DSL services in your area are comparable in terms of absolute speed, then choose the one that the least of your neighbors use.|||One of the factors that determines DSL speed is how close your house is to a switching station. The closer you are the faster internet because the signal dies as the wires to connect to the DSL gets longer.





See if you have Fiber Optic Internet in your area. It's pretty fast at close to 4mbps.|||Stay away from DSL. Get cable instead. Remember, DSL is through the phone lines. If the phone service goes down, so does the DSL. Cable may cost more, but it's much faster (even on the basic service) and more stable.





Phurface