What is Broadband? - Comments Page 1

Category: Cool-Stuff , Networking




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Posted by:

WAQAR AHMED
22 Nov 2006

Hi i am from Karachi Pakistan. In my country there are mostly Dial-up connections in residential places that consist the speed of 56kb/sec and some of the cable service provding is more better then dial-up connections..

Posted by:

Gary Lefmann
28 Nov 2006

I have cable access through Charter, and when it works, it works well. Occasional weather-related outages, or having to occasionally reset the cable modem are frustrating, but most of the time, the 3 kilobit/sec download speed is worth the minor annoyances. I've got it bundled with my cable TV, but I REFUSE to give them my phone business, too. That would be like letting Microsoft run the Internet.

Posted by:

Gary Wigle
28 Nov 2006

I spent years using dial-up. I live is a small village in Mid-Michgan. The phone lines here are really bad. Mr. Bell install the lines about 100 years ago....really.

Now a company has come along and offers wireless. They are using a cell phone tower and I get 1.2megs. That is very close to a T-1 speed. $40 a month. I'm happy! The internet is real fun at this speed.

Posted by:

Martha R. Thomas
28 Nov 2006

My friend has recently taken to the roads with his pick-up and a new trailer, traveling the byroad of America. His intention is to hook-up to the internet with a satellite mounted on top of his trailer. He's not a happy camper. There is a specific satellite which he must hook up with. Aiming for it and finding it are not easy and this guy is a real nerd! He's forced to stop at libraries in little out of the way towns to do his communication. I feel sorry for him.

Posted by:

M. Grant
29 Nov 2006

I'm upset enough at our ten-year-old, 26.4 KBPS connection that every time I go online, I actually entertain dark conspiracy-theory thoughts about the class war that seems to be waged against us rural dwellers. It's impossible to be online these days with such a connection-- and, of course, more and more content is directed online! ("Don't call anymore-- go to our website for faster service!") Satellite service is astronomically high-- I don't understand what marketing survey told these providers that the small-town and rural population is so wealthy that we can realistically afford the equipment and contracts. I am livid about this subject. And no, moving is not an option. Thanks for letting me rant, Bob!

Posted by:

Miles Baska
29 Nov 2006

Bob, I don't know where you got your information, but it's not even close to the way things are down here in central Texas! DSL will run on up to 6M -- which is what I'm pulling. I rarely find a web site that can feed me data at the rate I'm able to pull it down, but I average over 4M. It costs me about $30/mo. Basic DSL gets you 1.5M for $9/mo. Though that's the speed of a T-1, don't let that fool you. The T-1 is still 'faster'. And a LOT more money.

Then there are several wireless options -- some from the cell phone providers (Sprint, Verizon...), some from local government (Muni Nets), several ways to use wide-area wi-fi, Motorola's Canopy systems... Not to mention satellites. Some of the new wireless players are offering speeds close to 40M for $60/mo. with a one-time setup fee of $200.

EDITOR'S NOTE: As I said, speeds for cable access will vary. I got 6 Mb/s with OptimumOnline, but only half of that with RoadRunner. You're lucky to have such good prices for broadband in your area. But they are far below the norm in most areas.

Posted by:

Leilani
29 Nov 2006

I have wireless access and its blazingly fast. I've tried broadband in my neighborhood which is mostly older homes and it was a nightmare. After every storm I would have an outage and when you rely on the Internet for your job (I work at home) and it goes out because of a storm, then you need something else. I would like to hear your thoughts on WiFi access.

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you live in an area that offers Wifi, you're very lucky. It's rare to have it outside of urban areas. As for security, see http://www.askbobrankin.com/is_public_wifi_access_safe.html and http://www.askbobrankin.com/wireless_security.html

Posted by:

John
29 Nov 2006

I started out with dialup, 9 years ago, and went to cable when it was first offered here. AT&T became Comcast and is now Time Warner's RoadRunner. The cost is a freakin' RIP-OFF, nearly $60 per month, and their customer service sucks ... incredible phone wait times. Some neighbors and friends have DSL, and it's much slower than cable. I'm in a Verizon area, but FIOS (fiber optic) isn't offered here, yet. I'm jumping on that as soon as it's available. There are several sites on the internet where you can test your download and upload connection speeds.

If you upgrade to Cable or DSL, tell the service providers that you don't want their icons and gimmics in your browser. Just get the service and keep your browser intact. I would never use their install discs or download from their sites.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For speed tests, go to http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest

Posted by:

Ivan (Please don't get Verizon on my case) Furd
29 Nov 2006

According to the Washington Post (WP) article "Who's a Bandwidth Bandit?" [http://tinyurl.com/hthhf] at one time Verizon (Vz) offered an "unlimited high-speed wireless Internet access" for $60 per month. However some of the people who purchased this service discovered it wasn't really unlimited and the discovery happened when Vz abruptly cut them off and charged them a $175 early termination fee.

Seems the "unlimited" service is limited to 5gb/month or 166mb/day. If you go above that, Vz Security can infer that you're using the service for a prohibited activity, like downloading music and movies or watching p**nography. And they will use that to terminate your contract and nail you with an early termination fee. According to Vz's Acceptable Use Policy "3. You may NOT use the Service as follows: ... (n) to generate excessive amounts (as determined by Verizon in its sole discretion) of Internet traffic..." [http://tinyurl.com/bqsvs]. At this time you can view this page by going to verizon.com, clicking on the FIOS or the "Last Chance! Get DSL..." hyper links and then clicking on then surfing to a page with the "Verizon Online Policies," hyper link. According to the WP you only find out about the specific limits if you happen to talk to a Vz employee who's sympathetic or backed into a corner.

If there is any local, state or federal agency looking at this I'd love to know about it. In the meantime, "Pirates ye be warned" [http://tinyurl.com/y5u9vs]; but which one's the pot and which one's the kettle?

Posted by:

Ivan Furd
29 Nov 2006

P.S. And people wonder when I'm going to "wind my watch," and switch from dial-up to broadband.

Posted by:

Don Trottier
29 Nov 2006

After using dial up since it was first available (yes, around the time of T-Rex) I am now considering going with Sprint's "air-card" for $60 per month. It would be financed by cancelling my land line (which can't provide DSL in my area) and the $15 per month I spend on an ISP. Sprint tells me there is no activation fee and they will provide the "air card" to plug into my desktop's USB port for no charge. My wife and I would then rely on our cell phones. Far faster internet access for a difference of about $5 a month in total costs. I'd be happy for any observations.

EDITOR'S NOTE: If the speed is acceptable, it sounds like a good plan.

Posted by:

Glenn P.,
29 Nov 2006

Hey, you think Dial-Up TODAY is bad? I started going online in the mid-1980's with my trusty Commodore-128, at 300 baud (!) and then later moved on up to 1200 baud. When I'm not surfing via DSL on our Windows XP Pro box, I still use my C128 -- only now I use an Aprotek modem, which gives me a whopping 2400 baud. (And no, I am NOT joking!) :)

Posted by:

Anna Roscello
01 Dec 2006

I've been so thrilled with my Optimum service, it's not even funny. I moved to Connecticut from the Tampa area, where Road Runner prevailed, and I thought it was great and worth the $49/mo for 2-3mbps I was getting. I came to CT and signed with Optimum, and took their one-year promo plan that includes Unlimited national calling on their phone plan, with voice mail that can be accessed online; Upgraded cable through Cablevision, 100+ channels; and BLAZING internet speeds, in the vicinity of 17mbps(!) for $29.95 per service!

For under $100, I have cable, phone, and lightning-fast internet. I RARELY lose cable service (like I often did with Road Runner), and I call all over the country and never have to worry about talking too long! The above rates are good for one year (compared to RR's intro special, which lasted 6 months), and even after that expires, the rates are still superior to my old RR rates. If I wanted to upgrade to 30mbps (yikes!), their Optimum Boost is reasonably priced at $9.95 additional.

Posted by:

Domenic
04 Dec 2006

Seems like broadband access is still costly in the States.

In Australia, broadband starts from about $20 ($15 US) for a DSL plan with Optus...

Posted by:

Peter G.
02 Feb 2007

I travel a lot and am currently in Panama. I need a fast connection with minimum installation problems/cost. I found a provider for about $40 month. They provide a wireless modum which you just plug into the power with 10/100 connection to computer. The service is fast with very few interuptions. No telephone or cable installations and same day on line.

Posted by:

GMZ
03 May 2007

wow I'm surprised about the prices in the above article. I have something between 60-80 mbps ( like 10 MB/s download ) in my country with only 15$/month - and I dont' get any promotional offer. Every user of the ISP pays the same. nice huh ?

Posted by:

fritz
12 Jun 2007

yea but in australia they give you super fast service then nail you with 1-5gb caps... i lived there and every provider had a cap.. oh yes we offer 30Mbps for 15 a month... but wait we have a 2GB cap... dumb.. its all because if you go to overseas websites they have to pay more and stuff... proudly surfing at 12MBps in rural new york with fairpoint dsl.. all for $50 a month.. not bad..

Posted by:

Roger R
24 Jan 2008

How do cable companies get their signal? The local cable company here uses rather large satellite dishes. I have fiber optics here, so went with BellSouth DSL, about 350-400kb/s, I love it! Costs with other phone services approx $15/month

Posted by:

Patti Lance
21 Mar 2008

Great info on DSL, Cable and satellite! My issue is this. We have a place in Georgia and one in North Carolina. We travel between the two places during the year. Currently we have dial-up. It is my understanding per my current provider if I wish to upgrade from dial-up to DSL..I would be forced to have a DSL account with them in both places and pay two monthly charges. Seems we can't "take" DSL with us as we do dial-up. Is this entirely true or fiction? Thanks, Patti in GA/NC

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, unfortunately that sounds right. The DSL service is something that must be installed at a specific location.


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