Internet Speeds

[geekhelp4u]

Just a heads up, and random discussion on Internet Speeds...

Below article taken from Google

The new service, which Comcast has yet to name, will allow the cable operator to better compete with phone company Verizon Communications Inc., whose next-generation FiOS already offers service at up to 50 megabits per second.

Comcast will also be offering up to 50 Mbps for downloading, or receiving, files. Uploading, or sending, files will be at up to 5 Mbps. The monthly $150 price is available only to residential customers; small businesses will have to pay $200 for a package that includes additional technical support and security software.

The existing high-end tier costs $53. Maximum upload speeds for those customers will automatically increase to 2 Mbps, more than doubling the current limits. Downloads will remain at up to 8 Mbps. Maximum upload speeds for the basic, $43 tier will nearly triple to 1 Mbps, while downloads will remain capped at 6 Mbps.

Cablevision Systems Corp. already offers a 50 Mbps maximum download service — with 50 Mbps maximum uploads — for about $200 a month but does not actively market it. Cablevision's fastest advertised service costs up to $65 for maximum downloads of 30 Mbps downloads and uploads of 5 Mbps.

To offer the new tier, Comcast is taking advantage of a technology called DOCSIS 3.0, which allows service providers to use four TV channels rather than just one to send data over the cables. The industry group CableLabs is nearing certification of DOCSIS 3.0 modems.

Butz said Comcast would deploy the new systems to about 20 percent of its service area by year's end, finishing by mid-2010. He refused to say which markets would get the upgrades next. The company said that although the initial offerings would cap downloads at 50 Mbps, the technology could support service three times as fast in the future.

[Andy-Always]

Quoted from The Guardian in January

Openreach will today propose the prices it will charge for the use of its new fibre connections, ranging from £100 a year for a basic line to £530 a year for the fastest connection, at 100 Mb per second. Openreach will hold a meeting with potential industry customers next week to discuss these proposed prices, but exactly what services will be offered and what price residents of Ebbsfleet will ultimately be charged is up to the service providers to decide.

The 100-MB top speed available over the new fibre network is more than 20 times faster than the current average UK residential broadband connection, which Ofcom estimated last year at 4.6 Mb

100 meg @ £44.16 per month = $96.23 AU = $88.17 USA

How does that compare??

[Jory]

They're trying to compete with Verizon's fiber offerings, but it's just not going to happen. Without looking at the specifications I'd be willing to bet this new system is severely limited in total bandwidth compared to fiber. Instead of 1 channel you have 4, but what good is all that bandwidth if you're still sharing it with everyone in your neighborhood?

Besides, the average person has absolutely no use for that much bandwidth considering Comcast actively filters torrents. Behind torrents the most bandwidth is being consumed by video streaming sites and even slow DSL lines can buffer the video faster than you watch it.

[Blues]

When you say they actively filter torrents what do you mean I just want to know we are on the same page before I make any comment on that issue.

[MHCG]

They actively limit bandwidth for torrents, whether they are legal or not.

[Blues]

That is what I figured but I have never seen anything on mine to suggest it as I get as much or more speed on my torrents then anything else. I also thought that he may have ment they monitor for illegal file sharing type use which I wouldn't be able to comment on as I have no experience and I don't recall much news that mentioned them as an ISP that did this. My real beef with comcast is they don't equalize the volume on thier broadcast and the commercials are often 2x as loud as the shows.

[Jory]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=comcast+bittorrent+filtering&btnG=Google+Search

You have probably noticed that once your torrents finish you are not able to seed. That's because Comcast is using software to forge packets convincing your computer that the person downloading from you is resetting the connection. This type of filtering isn't limited to just torrents either, but a wide range of applications/protocols with most of them being perfectly legit. I've seen reports of it killing network features in Lotus Notes for example.

It'll affect your download speed because your upload is severely limited. The torrent protocol works by sharing more with the people who share the most, or at least that's my understanding of it.

[Blues]

I rarely seed but I see no issues on my upload when I have seeded nor have I seen issues in my downloads that appear to be cuased by the lack of uploading.