Text 11471, 85 rader
Skriven 2006-06-10 12:21:52 av Geo (1:379/45)
  Kommentar till text 11410 av /m (1:379/45)
Ärende: Re: Comcast gives broadband users a speed boost
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From: "Geo" <georger@nls.net>

"/m" <mike@barkto.com> wrote in message
news:kjdh821tttb53uj88160sli02edpvsgiob@4ax.com...

> A Comcast official said the company is not boosting speeds for
> particular applications or content, a situation that would likely get
> Comcast into hot water with Net neutrality proponents, who want network
> operators to provide the same level of service to all content providers
> on the Net. Instead it's supercharging speeds for all customers
> downloading any content--whether it's music, e-mail, pictures or
> movies--when the network is not being used at maximum capacity.

Net neutrality is dead
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/06/09/net_neutrality_defeated_in_house_vote/

> "The Comcast network is really content-agnostic," said company
> spokeswoman Jeanne Russo. "We hope the PowerBoost feature will provide a
> competitive advantage for us with customers who are interested in doing
> a lot with their broadband connections."

Bullshit, if they were serious it wouldn't be "one way" they would give you
upload speed when it's available. By that I mean if you have a 6mb/384K dsl
line and you currently have nothing downloading but something uploading, why
not switch the bandwidth over to the upload side as a boost?

it's because they know you can't get 6mb downloads, so giving you more there is
very unlikely to actually prove benefital (as in nobody can use it) except in
very rare circumstances. It's a marketing gimmick.

> How is Comcast able to do this? Like most broadband service providers,
> Comcast has designed its network to guarantee speeds when usage levels
> are at their peak.

Yeah right, that's why their 6mb service says "speeds UP TO 6mb" because they
are designed to guarantee you that speed..

> Unfortunately for customers who frequently upload pictures and videos,
> Comcast's bandwidth boost applies only to downloads. This may frustrate
> some consumers who say they are happy with the speed of their download
> service but would like to see faster uploads.

what a surprise, it's not something they need and they know it? Wow imagine
that.

> "Right now our customers say our current upstream speeds meet their
> needs," Russo said. "But we'll continue to monitor what our customers
> want, and PowerBoost for uploads could be something we offer later."

And of course Russo contradicts what the users just told the writer..

> price increase to customers. And while upload speeds have increased
> incrementally as well, they haven't caught up to download speeds.

Caught up? There is no catching up, they are deliberately limiting upload speed
because the dsl vendors knows if they provide it then it will get used.
Especially when they can charge you 2X more for the dsl line to go from 384K up
to 768K up.. obviously they know this is important to customers or why else
would they charge so much for it?

> I think there's more to Comcast's PowerBurst than the off-peak speed
> increase they mention.  For example, when I started to download the
> Vista beta, the speed was over 1.3MBytes/sec.  However, after a few
> minutes, it slowed down to my more usual 770MBytes/sec.

Time based bandwidth management. Burst technology means you can burst to a
higher speed but if you actually use it for any period of time then you get
throttled back. It's a feature in the packetshapers we use and that's exactly
how it works, the burst is only for a few minutes then the shaper clamps back
down on you.

> I'm wondering if Comcast's PowerBurst feature slows down to normal rates
> if the download goes for more than a couple of minutes.  Or maybe the
> less the network load, the longer it stays around 1.3MBs.

it's based on a average usage over time, initially there is say 30% extra
capacity so burst gives you that capacity but if you start using it then at the
next average spare bandwidth measurement there is only 5% extra capacity
because you're using it so the burst feature is shut off. It's slightly better
than nothing but it's really nothing to write home about.

Geo.

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