The Cellar - FCC Report

The Cellar (http://cellar.org/index.php)

- Technology (http://cellar.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7)

- - FCC Report (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=27701)

For a couple of years I've been a Guinea Pig. Samknows has been monitoring my internet connection, as well as thousands of others, and reporting the results to the FCC.
The latest FCC report looks good.

Quote:

Conclusion and Next Steps

In just the year since we collected data for our last Report, ISPs have improved in both their ability to deliver what they promise to their customers, and in the overall speeds they can and are delivering. This is a success story, and indicates strong progress toward the important goals set forth in the NBP, that by 2015, 100 million homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of 50 Mbps, and by 2020 the actual download speed should have increased to 100 Mbps. Though we are making progress toward these goals, we have not yet reached them, and to ensure success it is essential that ISPs continue to improve at the impressive pace indicated by this Report.

In reviewing this Report, it is important to keep in mind that it only provides information on certain aspects of the consumer broadband experience in the U.S. This Report covers ISPs that provide residential broadband to most, but not all, U.S. customers. This Report does not address affordability or other characteristics of service, such as data caps and usage-based pricing, which might have a large impact on how consumers can use their broadband connections. Despite these limitations in the scope of the Report, the areas covered by this Report show ISPs generally performing well and improving on last year’s performance.

There's much to be done, especially for people in the sticks, but overall it's getting better... but not cheaper.

*/ calling Google - where are you */

It almost seems that the physical cable is an archaic technology.
We recently were in some very isolated areas of Oregon,
and satellite discs were mounted on many houses.

When is Comcast or some other huge ISP going to put up
it's own system of satelllites, and do away with all cable connections ?
Of course, I have no idea what I'm talking about...

After being accepted, they supply a proprietary modem that goes inline before the ISP's modem, and reports to Samknows. Then they send me a report monthly with a bunch of metrics for my service.

In general, satellite connections do not make for good internets. There is a great amount of delay added as the signal has to reach across very long distances.

http://cellar.org/2012/ispbusyday.jpg

This graph from the FCC Report says it all. Can you get your advertised speed? Or is your provider's network getting kinda busy at 9pm? The ones with the big drop-offs are going to be in places where you're sharing your connection with your neighbors, which is how it works in cable setups.

Quote:

by 2020 the actual download speed should have increased to 100 Mbps. Though we are making progress toward these goals, we have not yet reached them

Well they wrote that report last month. Verizon is offering 300/65 service to its FIOS customers TODAY. Only $210/month. It's worth it: if you have a family of 8. All of who want to watch HD streaming video. At the same time. On separate devices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 821337)

In general, satellite connections do not make for good internets. There is a great amount of delay added as the signal has to reach across very long distances.

I'm one of Frontier's unfortunates, but its still better than our previous sat dish situation. Someday Frontier may actually upgrade their copper wire to fiber optics and then we'll have 1st world internet!

I no longer remember the exact numbers. But I do remember the price. South Koreans paid an average $20 per month for a national average 50Mb(?) connection. A speed that was only the highest service offered by Verizon and Comcast for something like $50 or $70(?) per month.

Satellite communication was never as robust, less expensive, or as fast as landline connections as soon as fiber was commercially available. Fiber made everything - even existing microwave stations - much more expensive. The Economist discussed this in a series entitled "The Death of Distance".

Quote:

I no longer remember the exact numbers.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE REAL TW????

TAKE OFF THAT MASK AND SHOW YOURSELF, IMPOSTER!!!!

I first noticed it on the Penn State thread, truly out of character. I'm getting worried that he was kidnapped by football boosters.:thepain:

Just like that Google is offering fiber service in Kansas City...

1000 up, 1000 down

Now there are gigabyte internet speeds and the battle is renewed. And now we need to wonder what new innovations will come to run with this kind of speed.

The important thing is for Google to succeed AND to start bringing this to other cities. Maybe then competition will come back to Internet access.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 821832)

1000 up, 1000 down

Now there are gigabyte internet speeds

Gigabit, you moron!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad (Post 821877)

Gigabit, you moron!

Hey! Don't call UT names, you scoundrel!

That's right, UT's a totally standup guy, you douchebag!

From Scientific American of October 2010:

Quote:

According to a recent report by the Beckman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, broadband Internet service in the US is not just slower and more expensive than it is in the tech-0savvy nations such as South Korea and Japan; the US has fallen behind infrastructure challenged countries such as Portugal and Italy as well.

Quote:

A decade ago, the US ranked at or nears the top of most studies in broadband price and performance. But that was before the FCC made a terrible mistake. In 2002, it reclassified broadband Internet service as an "information service" rather than a "telecommunication service". In theory, this step implied that broadband was equivalent to a content provider (such as AOL or Yahoo!) and was not a means to communicate, such as a telephone line. In practice, it has stifled competition.

That was Michael Powell (Colin's son) and the party agenda to enrich the rich providers; the wealthier campaign contributors. While driving off the lesser and innovative competition such as Covad, PSINet, and Cavalier. Also part of a process to charge other 'information providers' (ie Google, Facebook, YouTube, Skype) a fee for access to your home. As Comcast, Time Warner, et al already do for cable and OTA television while also raising your rates. They could do this if called an 'information service'; not if a 'data transport' service. As a result:

Quote:

Here consumers generally have two choices: the cable company, which sends data through the same lines used to deliver television signals, and the phone company, which uses older telephone lines and hence can only offer slower service.

Only the more populous regions have Verizon's FIOS. If you do not already have FIOS, your region will probably never get it. Verizon announced all further expansion has ended. The competition is in being an information provider; not in providing better communication services.

Quote:

The same is not true in Japan, Britain, and the rest of the rich world. In such countries, the company that owns the physical infrastructure must sell access to the independent providers on a wholesale market. Want high-speed internet? You can choose from multiple companies, each of which has to compete on price and service. The only exception to this policy in the whole of the 32 nation Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development are the US, Mexico, and the Slovak Republic; although the Slovaks have recently begun to open up their lines.

From the NY Times of 21 February 2011

Quote:

Home Internet May Get Even Faster in South Korea
By the end of 2012, South Korea intends to connect every home in the country to the Internet at one gigabit per second. That would be a tenfold increase from the already blazing national standard and more than 200 times as fast as the average household setup in the United States.

A pilot gigabit project initiated by the government is under way, with 1,500 households in five South Korean cities wired. Each customer pays about 30,000 won a month, or less than $27. ...

South Koreans pay an average of $38 a month for connections of 100 megabits a second, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Americans pay an average of $46 for service that is molasses by comparison.

The average American broadband speed, if I remember correctly, was about 5.5 Mb/sec.

Comcast and Verizon are advertising new higher speeds - at higher costs. What are they not providing? The numbers. All claims are subjective to keep consumers ignorant. How fast is that speed? If the public had numbers, then Americans would not remain the lemming that they currently are.

A solution starts by changing “information providers” (ie Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner) back into “data transporters” - telecommunication companies. Then their job is to increase profits by moving data faster and more efficiently. Currently they care only little how slow your data rates are. Due to changes made during George Jr’s watch, we are now witnessing slower internet (compared to the world). And a market adverse to innovators such as Google and Cisco. We changed the laws to enrich and protect the few ‘data transfer ‘ companies by making them ‘content providers’ - who make money by charging for the shows/channel - not by moving data.

But that will not happen. The damage was done by the same people who now want Obama to fail. Who do not want to fix anything. And definitely do not want remove barriers that make it only harder for Google (and others) to innovate.