Comments on: Beware of broadband speed overkill

Cable operators and phone companies are increasing speeds of their broadband service, but the average consumer may not need the boost.

[BlinkMM182]

FACT ERROR IN ARTICLE

Cablevision service (OptimumOnline) is 15/2 not 15/1. It was 10/1 until they upgraded everyone to 15/2/ OOL Boost is 30/2.

[BlinkMM182]

FACT ERROR IN ARTICLE

Cablevision service (OptimumOnline) is 15/2 not 15/1. It was 10/1 until they upgraded everyone to 15/2/ OOL Boost is 30/2.

[Anon-Y-mous]

Problem Is, They won't lower rates, just add bandwidth

Our local cable company (CableOne) charges me $53 a month for a $39.95 advertised service. (extra $10 fee for NOT subscribing to overpriced/under quality cable TV, thank you very little, plus city fees/state taxes)

I started 4 years ago with 512K down, 128K up. Now as all the wireless / DSL competition have come in with cheap $22-$30 options, their response? Simply up the bandwidth to a huge 4 MBit down and 512K up.

Problem is, I don't need more than 1 Mbit down and 256K up. (I don't download video or anything for that matter) Do they offer such a package? Why Yes they do... but it's their "$29.95" scam package to get new customers for the first 3 months, then they force them to the $40 package and "give them" 4x the thruput.

Once you're a customer you can't get that package.

Unfortunately, I'm too far from the phone company's switches to get DSL, and too many trees to get wireless, and that is the way most of the town is, and they know that and how they can get by scamming.

[Anon-Y-mous]

Problem Is, They won't lower rates, just add bandwidth

Our local cable company (CableOne) charges me $53 a month for a $39.95 advertised service. (extra $10 fee for NOT subscribing to overpriced/under quality cable TV, thank you very little, plus city fees/state taxes)

I started 4 years ago with 512K down, 128K up. Now as all the wireless / DSL competition have come in with cheap $22-$30 options, their response? Simply up the bandwidth to a huge 4 MBit down and 512K up.

Problem is, I don't need more than 1 Mbit down and 256K up. (I don't download video or anything for that matter) Do they offer such a package? Why Yes they do... but it's their "$29.95" scam package to get new customers for the first 3 months, then they force them to the $40 package and "give them" 4x the thruput.

Once you're a customer you can't get that package.

Unfortunately, I'm too far from the phone company's switches to get DSL, and too many trees to get wireless, and that is the way most of the town is, and they know that and how they can get by scamming.

[tori_live]

Doesn't seem terribly relevant

In the DSL world, the ISP is also part of the backbone (ATT, Verizon, Bell South etc). So if they're paying outrageous fees to themselves, it's just funny money.

If I was dealing with some independent, it'd be a different story.

That said....and I'll may post this someplace else seperately, every Cable contract I've seen says "UP TO <insert bandwidth max>."

[tori_live]

Doesn't seem terribly relevant

In the DSL world, the ISP is also part of the backbone (ATT, Verizon, Bell South etc). So if they're paying outrageous fees to themselves, it's just funny money.

If I was dealing with some independent, it'd be a different story.

That said....and I'll may post this someplace else seperately, every Cable contract I've seen says "UP TO <insert bandwidth max>."

[johnnyis42]

missed the point

if people don't have the spare cash, they aren't going to consider upgrading to a faster service. the only time people consider upgrading to the faster service is when they need it, whether they are imagining they need it or they actually do.

the arguement about FIOS only effects a small hand full of markets. as for the folks who upgrade to "premium" cable packages who don't really need them, it's better for everyone because the less bandwidth they use, the more there is available to folks who do need it.

but download speed is rarely the reason people who understand whether they need more speed or not will choose to upgrade. upload speed is the comodity that is at a premium, and has always been the high dollar item those who know crave. ADSL and cable reserves lower bandwidth frequencies for their upload signals, so there is a realistic cap there, but when you look around none of the companies are ever willing to increase upload speeds unless their competitor already has.

but in the end, the person who barely uses their 6Mbps downstream connection and chooses to upgrade to an 8 or 10 Mbps connection is going to be the same person who buys a V8 extended cab pickup to drive to and from work, never hauling more than the groceries or kids to soccer practice. they just like the idea of "more" and as such fall victim to simple marketing schemes. or, this may be a case of the guy who lives in a flood plain, who never needs the power of the truck until the recurring floods come to his area, and then when that happens he has exactly the vehicle he needs to get through the problems the floods bring. in the broadband vane, a user who never uses their full pipe until that criticle moment they need to download a very large file from a very fast server... could be the difference between making a deadline or not when there's a 20 miknute difference in the total download time of said large file.

either way, a user with more bandwidth is never unhappy with their service, but someone with not enough bandwidth definitely has problems. it wasn't even 6 years ago i heard my uncle say "isdn is fast enough," which he recanted as soon as he got DSL.

[johnnyis42]

missed the point

if people don't have the spare cash, they aren't going to consider upgrading to a faster service. the only time people consider upgrading to the faster service is when they need it, whether they are imagining they need it or they actually do.

the arguement about FIOS only effects a small hand full of markets. as for the folks who upgrade to "premium" cable packages who don't really need them, it's better for everyone because the less bandwidth they use, the more there is available to folks who do need it.

but download speed is rarely the reason people who understand whether they need more speed or not will choose to upgrade. upload speed is the comodity that is at a premium, and has always been the high dollar item those who know crave. ADSL and cable reserves lower bandwidth frequencies for their upload signals, so there is a realistic cap there, but when you look around none of the companies are ever willing to increase upload speeds unless their competitor already has.

but in the end, the person who barely uses their 6Mbps downstream connection and chooses to upgrade to an 8 or 10 Mbps connection is going to be the same person who buys a V8 extended cab pickup to drive to and from work, never hauling more than the groceries or kids to soccer practice. they just like the idea of "more" and as such fall victim to simple marketing schemes. or, this may be a case of the guy who lives in a flood plain, who never needs the power of the truck until the recurring floods come to his area, and then when that happens he has exactly the vehicle he needs to get through the problems the floods bring. in the broadband vane, a user who never uses their full pipe until that criticle moment they need to download a very large file from a very fast server... could be the difference between making a deadline or not when there's a 20 miknute difference in the total download time of said large file.

either way, a user with more bandwidth is never unhappy with their service, but someone with not enough bandwidth definitely has problems. it wasn't even 6 years ago i heard my uncle say "isdn is fast enough," which he recanted as soon as he got DSL.

[luke3rd]

I agree but it Just shows that america is inferior to some countrys in Europe like Germany and the uk or we would not have to fight over Bandwidth.