Cable Modem tips please. for a newb

[Omicron]

I am getting a connect next week probably. Was curious if people could give some quick suggestions about what cable modem brands are crap.

Also

Check out the newest additions at the thetain.net archives. Some truly great plugs which I will be hosting when I can.

[haravikk]

While various governments seem to be clamping down on it now, you'll find that most DSL cable providers will always quote you "up to" X amount of bits per second, the modem in this case is irrelevant as you're always going to be limited by your distance from an exchange and various other network conditions.

In general you're better going for a provider that uses fibre-optic, however it requires the cabling to be available in your area, but you're much more likely to get closer to your connection rating, though expect dips anyway during busy periods (early evenings mostly, though sometimes later as well).

If you're in the UK, don't use Supanet, and they arbitrarily cap your connection speed or suddenly tell you that you now have a bandwidth limit per month, not a good company at all, but then they ARE cheap so you get what you pay for there.
I use Virgin Media (was Telewest) and am for the most part satisfied with it, though the mailbox size for e-mail is pathetic, better just getting a gmail account or your own webhost.

[Baron LeDant]

Agree with what Haravikk says about the UK, I found my Vrgin connection to be pretty reliable, BT seems to disconnect / get a poor signal several times a day.