http://tidbits.com/ After being disappointed with the performance of his Internet connection, Adam Engst spent several weeks getting a new cable, upgrading to a higher service level, and swapping cable modems before Time Warner was able to provide the bandwidth he had been promised. It’s worth checking your Internet connection and making sure you’re getting what you’re paying for — read on for Adam’s advice on the best way to proceed. en-us Copyright 2012 TidBITS Publishing Inc. Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:00:00 EDT Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:00:00 EDT editors@tidbits.com (TidBITS Editors) editors@tidbits.com (TidBITS Editors) http://tidbits.com/images/tb_logo_152x55.png http://tidbits.com/ 55 152 TidBITS badge http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_15402 Sun, 19 Aug 2012 17:49:03 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_15402 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_15039 Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:41:54 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_15039 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_15038 Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:40:18 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_15038
Of course in the dorms you have of people all competing for that bandwidth. Universities often have to do things to manage dorm network traffic to make sure there's enough to go around that they don't do on the non-residential parts of the network.

From my university office, connecting to speedtest servers hosted in the same city, I got 209Mbit/s on one and 535Mbit/s on another!
]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_15036 Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:38:52 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_15036 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_15035 Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:30:40 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_15035
According to New America Foundation, cost of connectivity in the US is high, while speeds are low, http://is.gd/0iwHxj-. DSL could support 20-40Mbps service--even up to 80Mbps--but Verizon only offers up to 2Mbps here for $35+ and claims it's impossible to get faster speeds on DSL. They won't install FIOS because "nobody lives around here". We've had the tech out here a half dozen times to get our DSL up to 500Kbps.

Broadband in the United States is both pathetic and exorbitantly expensive. No matter what the techs do, it will not improve price/speed when the providers care more about their bottom lines than the customers.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14943 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:16:08 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14943 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14942 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:15:13 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14942
In this case, I was certain there were no gas lines (since we don't have gas in the neighborhood) so the main question was the electric lines. I wasn't very impressed with the guys doing the trenching - they just had a cheap metal detector for finding wires and they never really found the electric, so they just got lucky missing it or not going too deep.

They did cut the wire to our driveway buzzer (this great thing the previous owner put in that tells us when someone is coming down our driveway, so we can ignore car noises coming up the road outside) but were luckily able to find the break and fix it. It took hours, and a lot of my time as well.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14941 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:47:13 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14941 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14937 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:03:52 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14937 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14936 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:02:13 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14936 In regard to trenching, there is the 811 number to call and have buried utilities identified. See http://www.call811.com/state-specific.aspx for specific state info.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14935 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:58:06 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14935 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14932 Tue, 17 Jul 2012 08:51:51 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14932 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14925 Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:20:48 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14925 ]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14923 Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:36:44 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14923 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14908 Sun, 15 Jul 2012 10:21:56 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14908 It's hard NOT to feel that we're falling behind....when the carriers are not offering the current technology (ie; 100mbps down for home, Unlimited for 4G mobile) thanks for keeping the discussion going , i appreciate.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14906 Sat, 14 Jul 2012 17:27:38 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14906 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14905 Sat, 14 Jul 2012 12:18:21 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14905
Google/Chrome has been experimenting with an improvement to the HTTP protocol known as SPDY ('speedy') which claims to improve web page load times. It's a double-ended protocol - both the browser and the web server have to implement it. Both Chrome and Firefox V11+ support SPDY. It remains to be seen whether it will garner widespread adoption on the web servers of the world.

http://www.chromium.org/spdy/spdy-whitepaper

As Adam points out, what you read on speedtest.net was an ad. However, you might detect faster load times with Chrome (compared to Safari) IF you have SPDY enabled on Chrome AND if you are connecting to SPDY-enabled websites. Personally, I've never noticed any difference over my 20/0.5 Mbps Rogers internet service.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14901 Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:46:22 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14901 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14896 Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:54:05 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14896
Nevertheless, that's why I asked Kirk McElhearn to write about Free in France - good to make sure those in the US release what it could be like.

http://tidbits.com/article/12969]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14895 Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:51:57 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14895 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14894 Fri, 13 Jul 2012 08:16:22 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14894
Should this matter? Bandwidth is bandwidth right?]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14893 Fri, 13 Jul 2012 05:54:55 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14893
check out what VirginMedia broadband offers in the 100Mb/down category my friends! it's $26/mo for six months then goes up to $50 full price! That hurts and makes me queasy as well. No one in this country is getting 100mb/down ....it's not for sale. Nope.

We're getting bled dry like hydraulic brake lines and nothing can be done about it. Ill shut up now and go back to my 32mpbs/down connection which i know i should be greateful for. Thank you Time warner. please dont censor me or throttle my bandwith!
]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14892 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:38:19 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14892 http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/

It not only tests upload/download speeds, but measures network latency, jitter, health of your DNS servers, and even verifies accuracy of your computer's clock.
]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14891 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:38:56 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14891
Originally, I had DSL service from the phone company. I upgraded twice, first from basic/starter 1.5 meg service to (quoted) seven meg, and finally to the "12 meg" service, which was the fastest available, due to my long distance from the telco switch. Fortunately, I had an outstanding sales rep at Qwest, who advised me on the need to upgrade my DSL modem, each time I upgraded my connection speed.

About four months ago, my wife's medical chart analysis job was outsourced -- to our home. Her new boss sent her an email indicating we would need 8 megs down, and two up. My (now) CenturyLink DSL, which routinely clocked DL speeds between 8-10 megs, was woefully inadequate for uplink, at around 3/4 of a meg. And due to my line distance from the CO, it was not going to get any faster!

With some trepidation, I called Comcast and inquired about their Business Internet service. The sales rep was friendly and knowledgable, and sold me their basic package of 12/2, for around sixty bucks a month. (My wife's job reimburses her; I was able to cancel DSL and save $65/month.) I have to say, I have been VERY impressed with Comcast Business. I've had "truck roll" two service calls, the first to replace the gateway box (a/k/a cable "modem") with a more robust model, and recently to have the outside cable from the pedestal to the house replaced. (I wonder how long I will have to wait for burial services?)

The best part is, I am receiving download *and* upload speeds around 17 megs! To borrow an ad slogan from McDonalds, "I'm lovin' it!"

- Dave in Denver, Colorado]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13113?rss#comments_14890 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:25:48 EDT http://tidbits.com/article/13113#comments_14890
One of the greatest things I did regarding my DSL service was to switch from AT&T to a local reseller. The service is still through AT&T but whenever I have an issue I call the reseller and talk to Bax. If the issue involves anything at AT&T he deals with them. Plus, AT&T said the fastest plan I could get was 1.5Mbps down/320kbps up (I live in a rural area). When I switched, the reseller set me up with 3Mbps/640kbps.]]>