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FCC releases its first-ever “Measuring Broadband America” report

4049 Views 54 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  PJ_Rage
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Hot off the presses! This was released today.


Read the actual report here: http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/measur...eport_Full.pdf


Summation from GigaOM....
http://gigaom.com/broadband/fcc-cablevision-report/


Bottom line: if you are on Cablevision you are getting screwed.





*Notice at how EVERY providers speeds suffer at night EXCEPT Verizon Fiber*




The FCC’s report is based on data gathered by special routers sent to 9000 consumers in March 2011. The agency notes that the speeds mentioned in the report are national averages, and do not reflect specific speeds in any given market. One should also keep in mind that advertised speeds differ by access technology and broadband tier, meaning that someone with a slow DSL line may still be worse off than someone with a top of the line Cablevision package.


Update: A Cablevision spokesperson disputed the findings in an emailed statement: “Cablevision delivers some of the fastest Internet connections in the country, on our basic tier, two higher levels of service and our WiFi network and this report simply does not reflect the experience of our nearly 3 million broadband customers. Our high-speed Internet product leads the nation in consumer adoption and has consistently won top ratings in much broader and more extensive consumer surveys conducted by J.D. Power & Associates, PC Magazine and others.”


Update 2: The FCC’s final report features a slightly tweaked chart depicting the sustained download speeds over a 24 hour period. We updated the article with the new chart. For reference, the original chart can be found here.




(This is XBL related since we all rely on solid download speeds to play games, watch Netflix/ESPN/Hulu, etc...on XBL.)
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Now if only I can figure out how to get an open NAT with the Verizon mandated router, my gameplay experience would be much better. It's always a tradeoff it seems. With Time Warner, I had ul/dl speeds that would seem consistent with the chart but I was able to have an open NAT and connect with any of my friends. Now with FIOS, once again, the charts reflect what I am getting but I just can't get an open NAT to save my life preventing me from joining some party's and chats.
I have an open NAT on FIOS. Did you configure all of your ports or drop the Xbox into the DMZ? I have the Actiontec MI424WR for a router.


I'm surprised to see Comcast near the top of the chart. Comcast always felt all over the place throughout the day for me.
FiOS can certainly be switched to open NAT. I did it for my unit ~2 years back, there are YouTube vids explaining how to do it. There are more than one things you might have to do, so follow a vid that explains all that there may be a few steps to try.


That reminds me, I should check if my kids' XBOXs are open NAT for BlOps...
Put the IP address for the Xbox in the DMZ. Easiest way to open the NAT on any router.
I just do port forwarding on my fios router, open NAT, no issues. The router they provide is actually pretty good.


FIOS ftmfw!


This doesn't even show actual up/down bandwidth either, which FIOS kills at as well. This is really only showing if you're getting what you're paying for or not. I can attest to FIOS constantly delivering above advertised though. My connection is capped at 19.5% above what I'm paying for, and sustains that at any time of day or night, with any size file, no matter how big or small. My downloads are way more dependent on the host than my connection.
FIOS is the first service I have had that actually gives me the speed they advertise. Not even Cablevision's 50mbps service did.
I never had a problem with comcast for a lot of stuff, loading webpages and stuff, but they always seemed to be throttling my connection at times. Sometimes a download would start out really really fast, but then stabilize at a speed 10x lower than the start, or vice versa. That's what drove me nuts, the inconsistency. With FIOS, I know exactly what I'm getting at any given time, and they don't mess with it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PJ_Rage /forum/post/20774534


I never had a problem with comcast for a lot of stuff, loading webpages and stuff, but they always seemed to be throttling my connection at times. Sometimes a download would start out really really fast, but then stabilize at a speed 10x lower than the start, or vice versa. That's what drove me nuts, the inconsistency. With FIOS, I know exactly what I'm getting at any given time, and they don't mess with it.

If I remember correctly, that's how "Speed Boost" is designed to work. They basically front-load any data transfer to give you faster speeds during the first 10MB of transfer (or some fixed size) and then slow the connection back down after that.

For typical use you'll see faster speeds. Email, web browsing, basic file downloads everything looks to run fast. It also beats a lot of the speed testing sites this way since many only transfer a small data file to determine speeds.
I want to try FIOS..
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FIOS won't be in Wisco. anytime soon.

AT&T has spent a $hit-ton of money lobbying/buying state politicians and writing legislation via ALEC to make sure that they maintain a near monopoly in our neck of the woods.

Free market competition? Ha!


Here's something you should all be concerned about, the "video francise" law, and how it effects your local gov't/state/university internet....

Quote:
AT&T reportedly is fighting a federally-approved and funded effort by the University of Wisconsin’s to build a broadband network connecting health, education and public safety facilities. The university’s project already has been granted broadband stimulus funding, but AT&T says it’s a waste of money and duplicates AT&T’s existing BadgerNet service. However, DSL Reports reports that AT&T’s opposition comes after it used a heavy hand to guide video franchise reform and other telecom law changes in Wisconsin that have not paid off for consumers in the form of better service pricing.



DSL Reports has more:

“In other words it [the U of W network] would be good for the local economy and residents — it just wouldn’t be good for AT&T, given they couldn’t overcharge those institutions via the local AT&T-fueled BadgerNet service. Given BadgerNet charges local institutions $814 a month for 1 Mbps Internet connections, you can fairly quickly figure out exactly what AT&T’s looking to protect — and it isn’t “community investment.”


It’s possible to see this two ways: If the purpose of federal stimulus is to put broadband coverage where there is none, then how does the university’s effort qualify? AT&T certainly would like more attention to be paid to that question. This seems to also fuel the argument that federal efforts to get involved in broadband—if even necessary—need to focus more on encouraging competition and ensuring better pricing for consumers (though AT&T probably doesn’t want you think that far ahead).


That brings us to the second way to see this issue: AT&T is fighting the type of competition that could bring better pricing to consumers. Telcos got the video franchise law they wanted in Wisconsin, but according to DSL Reports, it hasn’t resulted in what had been promised—more competitive prices. Having had the chance to discourage new competitive developments by offering lower prices, and having let that chance pass by, AT&T has left the door wide open for the university’s new effort and others.
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You should live in UK, then you could complain about how bad ISP's are, the worst speeds outside of Africa?



How much on average is Verizon Fiber and the rest? So I could compare
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$164 a month all said and done for FIOS with the HD cable package that includes every channel except the movie channels (and proably at least 200 of them are HD channels, I can't think of any that are not HD, except, funny enough, BBC for my top gear
). This also includes 1 whole house HD DVR, 2 HD boxes, which can access the whole house DVR, and one simple box which accesses all channels, but no guide or DVR. Also includes internet that is advertised as 35mbps down and 35mpbs up.


I think they claim the package is $99/month, but once you add the DVRs, boxes, and taxes, it goes up a bit. I think the whole house DVR is $20/month, each HD receiver is $10/month, and the simple reciever is $6/month. Too much in boxes, I think, but the overall price is reasonable and about if not less than we paid with comcast for less.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daekwan /forum/post/20774705


I want to try FIOS..

They have wired quite a bit of Arlington. I'm sure you could find someone around the corner who has it if you want to get a feel for it.
I think Verizon stopped rolling out FIOS to new areas. So, basically, if you don't have it, you won't have it. It sucks because these cable companies could use the competition. Of course, Cablevision responded by giving people movie tickets and checks, not improving their service or upgrading their crappy cable boxes.


edit: my package is similar to PJ_Rage's. $160 a month, but I have HBO/Cinemax instead of faster internet with 2 HD DVRs and 1 whole house one.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PJ_Rage /forum/post/0


$164 a month all said and done for FIOS with the HD cable package that includes every channel except the movie channels (and proably at least 200 of them are HD channels, I can't think of any that are not HD, except, funny enough, BBC for my top gear
). This also includes 1 whole house HD DVR, 2 HD boxes, which can access the whole house DVR, and one simple box which accesses all channels, but no guide or DVR. Also includes internet that is advertised as 35mbps down and 35mpbs up.


I think they claim the package is $99/month, but once you add the DVRs, boxes, and taxes, it goes up a bit. I think the whole house DVR is $20/month, each HD receiver is $10/month, and the simple reciever is $6/month. Too much in boxes, I think, but the overall price is reasonable and about if not less than we paid with comcast for less.

Damn. I want that package. I have crappy Dish Network and ATT.
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Comcast does well, much better than AT&T who I dumped for Comcast. I don't think anything else is a choice for myself.


I pay Comcast $45/month for VOP and 12Mbps. I don't have TV service.
I'm on Charter. 25MB down/5MB up for $50/mo under 2 yr. contract.

Been with them for 11 years w/o a complaint *but* that's because I'm internet only. (I don't believe in bundling on cable/DSL as it leads to problems, see "moxi box dvr" for evidence, and it's expensive.)


I was with Dish Net. for 10 years for my TV viewing, cancelled it 2 years ago when it got to be $120 a month for expanded and HD.

Now I get my programming via OTA, streaming, or *cough* other means.



My dream is gigbit speeds for under $100.
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A lot of computers hard drives wouldn't even able to tap out a true gigabit line, they'd choke on it
Someday, though, by the time we have it.
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I have cablevision at the 30mbps tier, and I frequently get near 3MB a sec downloads, the advertised speed. I haven't noticed it drop down at night, but I haven't paid particular attention either. I still get to be host most of the time.


The main thing preventing me from getting FIOS is the contract. They have non contract option that are more expensive than cablevision. I just refuse to sign my ability to switch providers at will away.
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