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Yes he can, havent your seen the windiz update via firefox?

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18713447-Windiz-U pdateHas-anyone-used-this-for-FX

Everyone,

I wrote a guide for Comcast users on how to test whether, and how much, you are being affected by this problem.

Please visit this page http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18901881-#1890188 1

The page explains how to test for it manually, and also gives you a Windows XP batch file that can automate the testing.

Hi All,

It's kinda neat to see something that I started show up on Slashdot!

At the bottom of the original TorrentFreak article is a link to my post http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18323368-Comcast- is-using-Sandvine-to-manage-P2P-Connections on DSLReports.

I encourage you to read my original post and, if you can take it, the pages that follow. It explains exactly what is going on, and on page 7 or so of that topic, I try to clear up some misconceptions left by the TorrentFreak article. Uploading isn't impossible, but it clearly is being "managed" -- probably to reduce the cost or load on their network.

Go Slashdot! This is exactly the right crowd to view this issue and understand what is happening!

-Robb (funchords)

Regardless, the last thing I want from an ISP is them deciding what I get to see on my computer.

From DSL/Broadband Reports' security forum thread, robotic flies created.

AT&T Trying to stop opening 700mhz spectrum auction. Ofcourse they are. Why would they want everyone to use cheaper access bypassing their $$$ service.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Hints-At-FC C-Lawsuit-85784

Gov wants to open access 700mhz

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Martin-Wants-Op en-Access-700Mhz-85622

AT&T Trying to stop opening 700mhz spectrum auction. Ofcourse they are. Why would they want everyone to use cheaper access bypassing their $$$ service.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Hints-At-FC C-Lawsuit-85784

Gov wants to open access 700mhz

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Martin-Wants-Op en-Access-700Mhz-85622

Correction...they are running Cat6 to homes...not using existing copper. Cat6 surely supports more than 6Mpbs?

They're running Cat5e from the box on the house into the house, if they don't use the existing telephone wire or cable TV coax. See the DSL Reports U-Verse Forum or uverseusers.com. They're using existing copper from the node to the home. Now, people are reporting that many lines test to 70-100Mbps, if they're close to the node (within 1400 feet or so). Unfortunately AT&T is using lowest common denominator specs, which is driving the handful of people with FTTH nuts.

Maybe they are just getting priority because the rest of their time on the net is browsing, Comcast could have detected your large downloads and enabled their special boost mode service:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/75298

Those are burstable rates, not sustained. The fact that this is even being posted on slashdot based on this ONE guys SINGLE speedtest using powerboost is kinda funny, shame on kdawson. Ask anyone in the DSL Reports forums, this is a joke if anyone is to take this seriously.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/comcast

This is also an ad for Comcast, "OMG CRAZY FAST SPEEDS FOR SAME PRICE AS SLOWER SPEEDS!!", you just dont know it. Say basically, in one day, we have one post slamming Verizon for taking residents copper away and another praising Comcast for super fast speeds (Take that FIOS!!). Doesn't seem strange to anyone else?

Here are some number from the UK Vodafone GPRS (non-Edge) network collected on a typical Cambridge to London Commute:

Just chatted with an Earthlink Sales-Bot:

Andy P.: Thank you for using EarthLink's live Sales chat. How can I help you today?
Scott: I'm considering switching to Earthlink Cable from Time Warner Cable, but I'm wondering if TWC's newly announced packet shaping policy will be affecting Earthlink customers? See http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18468495~da ys=9999~start=100 for some details regarding their announcement.
Andy P.: One moment while I get that information for you.
Andy P.: No, this does not affect us.
Scott: How sure of of that answer are you? No offense, but I don't want to subscribe, then later find out you were wrong.
Andy P.: The Topic on the Forum itself says "TW Officially Announces Packet Shaping for All RR User" It does not mention EarthLink and If this was the case with us we would definitely have received an update on this by now.
Scott: Thanks! Appreciate your time.

Could be the news hasn't trickled down to Sales, but I guess I'm hopeful. Only other option here is DSL, which has a higher total cost if you don't already have a phone line.

Guess you haven't heard the news about them starting to throttle everything but but basic web and email. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18468495

Here are some speed test results. myvzw.com is the domain for all Verizon Wireless internet access: 1xRTT (slow), EVDO rev 0, and EVDO rev A.

Well, a lot of people seem to get pretty good speeds from Verizon's EVDO. The whole first page of test results is >600 kbps - 50% more than EDGE's theoretical maximum.

Maybe the network is just slow in your area?

Wait your neighbor is going to call you to tell you there is a fire and a prowler?

How fucking out of touch are you people around here and especially common sense thing.
You don't sit across the street watching your neighbors house burn while you try to call them; fuck no you run across and start banging on their door trying to save them.

Anyways the babysitter is most likely to just be talking on the phone anyways with her boyfriend so she is not gonna know there is an incoming call, whats wrong with running to a neighbor next door to use the phone anyways or get some help.

Also if you are parents of a kid with no home line; than most likely majority of both parents will have cell phones and you can leave one behind for the babysitter. Anyways most babysittersA(teenagers) have cell phones these days and even than you would sometimes bring your kid to the person house to babysit.

Your whole argument is pointless and you are using examples that are like 1 in a 100.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/83801
CLECs Worry About FiOS 'Copper Retirement'
But would FiOS customers really want to downgrade?
Posted 2007-05-14 14:11:14 by Karl

As we've previously discussed, Verizon either pulls or just stops supporting last mile copper infrastructure when they install fiber at your home, making it "impossible" to switch back to Verizon DSL or competing services if you ask. That's a big deal to CLECs, who are concerned that the move strips them of potential customers as incumbents snag FTTH customers and lock those households in to FiOS (even with a change in owner).

How you got modded +5 insightfut I have no idea besides the copper nut huggers around here but it seems you do not have kids or any real world experiences with an emergency.

I would love to say that Landlines are staying but that is far from reality.

The fact is they have basically ripped out all the copper infrastructure at least here in Southern California and many other places NY,MA, etc...
I work as a general contractor and every new building project I have come across recently residential/industrial there is no copper or landlines being layed as we used to as of 2-5 years ago. You have TWC coming out and doing all VOIP to the structure what was told to me by the foreman.

Every person who transits to work I know usually has to get a cell phone to survive out here and usually these days you get a cellphone number instead of a home line because nobody seems to manage their time right these days; remember how message machines used to be so popular well they are now collecting dust at the stores as you see that section usually gets smaller when you have a mobile message machine.

DSLreports.com usually follows this type of stuff and know more about it than anyone here most of the time.
Specifically a recent article titled 'CLECs Worry About FiOS 'Copper Retirement'
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/83801
Quote from Verizon
Verizon had this to say on the subject to CNET back in 2005:
"Once we install fiber to a home, it stays there. We aren't going to take down the fiber and reinstall copper, but people can still get their single-line, no-frills Verizon phone service over the fiber network for the same amount as the folks still served by copper, if that's what they want. Our FTTP network is likely to be even more reliable than their already-reliable Verizon copper-based phone service."

More discussion at DSLreports to get an understanding of how copper is dying and even ask technicians who worked for companies, anyways the fiber is being laid and the copper is being torn out so you are going from basically copper to fiber(voip) back to copper. So as much as you argue that VOIP is not as reliable I believe the ones who actually operate this seem to know more than you 'most likely'.

Cheers though to all the old school guys who love copper, analog and commodore; but move to the side as the young ones or H1-B take over your jobs and carry the torch.

Look at the horribly bad promotions for BlueBeat here:

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/83391

Same guy posts more than a half dozen times under different names to say positive things about BlueBeat.

Pump and Dump scam, most likely.

also little followup and borrow some quotes from some threads at dslreports.com
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16625116
"Current docsis 1.1 systems can already deliver 34 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps uptream. docsis 2.0 can already deliver 34 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream. docsis 3.0 hasn't been deployed yet of course and tests at 100 Mbps by bundling 3x34 Mbps.
Basically, cable can ALREADY deliver a FIOS speed package, and they are doing just that (15/2) in many FIOS areas."

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15693667
"Correct, upload per unit is currently about 10 Mbit/s if you use docsis 2.0 - For docsis 1.x its lower, I think about 4 Mbit/s.
Either way, on current technologies they can easily do 1 Mbit/s or 2 Mbit/s on the upload side without a whole lot of difficulties.
It should also be noted that when the analog channels disappear from Cable TV in 2008, there is going to be more space available for use in data communications. The digital TV channels are on a much higher and different type of frequency."

As I remember also basically most cable companies skipped over DOCSIS 2.0 and just used the 1.1 upgrade.
Adelphia though has widespread DOCSIS 2.0; which might mean in turn they may get 3.0 a little later than the rest of the cable companies (RR,Comcast,Charter).

I am with RR and currently pull in 10/1 on the Docsis 1.1, but from what I get word from field technicians and contractors is that they are making upgrades nationwide and especially in Southern California for the upgrade of the 'last mile' and firmware upgrades to modems capable in next 5 years.

also little followup and borrow some quotes from some threads at dslreports.com
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16625116
"Current docsis 1.1 systems can already deliver 34 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps uptream. docsis 2.0 can already deliver 34 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream. docsis 3.0 hasn't been deployed yet of course and tests at 100 Mbps by bundling 3x34 Mbps.
Basically, cable can ALREADY deliver a FIOS speed package, and they are doing just that (15/2) in many FIOS areas."

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15693667
"Correct, upload per unit is currently about 10 Mbit/s if you use docsis 2.0 - For docsis 1.x its lower, I think about 4 Mbit/s.
Either way, on current technologies they can easily do 1 Mbit/s or 2 Mbit/s on the upload side without a whole lot of difficulties.
It should also be noted that when the analog channels disappear from Cable TV in 2008, there is going to be more space available for use in data communications. The digital TV channels are on a much higher and different type of frequency."

As I remember also basically most cable companies skipped over DOCSIS 2.0 and just used the 1.1 upgrade.
Adelphia though has widespread DOCSIS 2.0; which might mean in turn they may get 3.0 a little later than the rest of the cable companies (RR,Comcast,Charter).

I am with RR and currently pull in 10/1 on the Docsis 1.1, but from what I get word from field technicians and contractors is that they are making upgrades nationwide and especially in Southern California for the upgrade of the 'last mile' and firmware upgrades to modems capable in next 5 years.

You don't have a choice of internet service providers.
Gotta call bullshit on this one.

You have whoever has a monopoly on your phone service in your region and whoever has a monopoly on your cable service in your region.
Do the letters DSL ring a bell? I just checked my local exchange number in DSL Reports and learned that there are over 50 companies who are willing to set me up with DSL service. Sure, they actually resell DSL circuits from a handful of providers, but if DSL Company 1 pisses me off, I can always contract with DSL Company 2 and possibly not even incur any downtime over and above having to change my IP address. I even have a choice of a couple dozen wireless providers.

It's not just cable and voice-phone service out there.

Doesn't anyone live where there are local providers?
Have you have looked at http://www.dslreports.com/ ?
I got one thru them , a local in Portland, that provides a bare DSL connection, to Qwests line.
One fixed IP and always on bridge connection.

It doesn't have to be a billion dollar corp to provide you with good DSL service.

The closest US equivalent is http://www.dslreports.com/

This raises the question as to whether there are any reasonable alternatives to Speakeasy left?

Are you looking for a net connection, hosting/co-location services, or both?

If you're looking for a net connection, check out DSLreports, which has ISP ratings.

If you're looking for either, and are in California, check out sonic.net -- they provide home/business DSL service, as well as web hosting/co-location services. Check them out in DSLreports. (Disclaimer: I have no connection to sonic.net, aside from being a satisfied customer.)

I'll second the recommendation for sonic.net (I have no connections to them, aside from being a happy customer). They're a regional ISP (California, and Arizona?), and so they don't serve everyone (although dial-up might work, but most people probably don't want that). However, if anyone's looking for a new ISP, and they can serve you, you really should check them out.

Also, don't take my word for it. Check out their DSLreports entry. Also, see how they compare to other regional ISPs (at the bottom of this page).

I'll second the recommendation for sonic.net (I have no connections to them, aside from being a happy customer). They're a regional ISP (California, and Arizona?), and so they don't serve everyone (although dial-up might work, but most people probably don't want that). However, if anyone's looking for a new ISP, and they can serve you, you really should check them out.

Also, don't take my word for it. Check out their DSLreports entry. Also, see how they compare to other regional ISPs (at the bottom of this page).

I am also a current Speakeasy customer. I'm also a Seattle native, so I'm biased towards local biz. I wanted to point out Drizzle (http://www.drizzle.com/). I have no affiliation with them and have never used their service, but someone else pointed me at their website this morning and they look and seem reasonable. http://www.dslreports.com/ is a great resource for finding a new ISP as well.

Hmmmm....you mean kind of like what http://www.dslreports.com/ does? 8)

There have been some great posts before over at Broadband Reports.

In particular are these posts detailing how a Comcast employee harassed a user's elderly parents. The thread is quite good. All the http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15937695">q uestions that are being asked in this thread were asked by the user in question. There is no hard limit at Comcast and you're guilty until proven innocent. The best part was when the user posted proof that the computers weren't transferring as much data as the Comcast Abuse department claimed. Regardless, there is a real problem out there that needs to be addressed.

There have been some great posts before over at Broadband Reports.

In particular are these posts detailing how a Comcast employee harassed a user's elderly parents. The thread is quite good. All the http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15937695">q uestions that are being asked in this thread were asked by the user in question. There is no hard limit at Comcast and you're guilty until proven innocent. The best part was when the user posted proof that the computers weren't transferring as much data as the Comcast Abuse department claimed. Regardless, there is a real problem out there that needs to be addressed.

Horseshit and worse terms.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16813058
What a joke. I too spent days trying to figure out what was going on with "my" laptop and "my" VPN connection. I even went as far as rebuilding my system thinking I was hijacked. A "dead domain" to Earthlink does NOT equal a dead domain on my company's intranet but Earthlink makes it so by redirecting you to their own earthlink-help.net site. Needless to say, my email and internal chat was not working either, leaving me dead in the water.

Broken DNS services pull stuff like the above. And that is the fault of an ISP when they violate the standard way DNS is implemented. You can apologize for morons like Earthlink and Charter 'till you're blue in the face, but that does not change the fact that they have altered the way their systems work to the detriment of their users and the Internet as a whole. When your systems don't work the same way as everyone else's in order for you to scrape a few bucks out of people who are already paying you a monthly fee for services, you are wrong.

If this "improves DNS server performance" and is so bloody grand, why does it also intercept pings, ssh, ftp, and other non-http transmissions?

Oh, wait. Because that's...right, right, that's improving performance.

>Where's the US version of whirlpool?
Here

So I'm in Knoppix now. Knoppix appears to have approximately the same maximum network bandwidth as Vista (on my computer.) Running a speed test at dslreports, I can get 19.83 Mbit/sec:
http://www.dslreports.com/im/22307322/3521.png

I'm big enough to admit I was wrong...sorta. :) The way I read it, it's not that Vista is so great...it's the fact that XP's network stack is bad...or at least slow. But then we probably all knew that already. Which is why Microsoft rewrote it for Vista. So now it is as good as Linux's network stack...at least as far as: sustained download speeds from newsgroups using Comcast. Who knows if it's as good in any other way. Time will tell. My point in posting in the first place was to say: I was getting drastically better download speeds using Vista, so Microsoft definitely did at least one thing right - but YMMV. I think I'll keep Vista, it works for me.

It seems like it's pretty obvious now that both Vista and Knoppix are exploiting Comcast's speed boost somehow. Because I don't pay for a 20 Mbit connection, I pay for 8 Mbit, and 8 Mbit is all I was getting in XP...with the occasional boost up to 12 Mbit. When I was doing sustained downloading in XP using NewsBin, I would get a constant 8 Mbit/sec. But in Vista, I can sustain 20-24 Mbit/sec, for days at a time, while downloading from newsgroups. Don't know if I would be able to do the same from Linux...maybe, maybe not. I can't really test it since I'm using a live cd, and I don't think NewsBin is compatible with Linux...although I understand it runs fine under Wine.

I'd still like to hear from any other Vista users. Anyone else's internet speeds dramatically increase while using Vista? Or is it just me? (And thanks to those that responded to my posts. It was educational. :)

1) So my XP is so horribly misconfigured that I was able (and still am able, my XP is still installed as dual boot) to download at the supposed maximum limit of my Comcast cable connection? That makes sense. ;)

I'm paying Comcast for a 8 MBit connection. Comcast does have some kind of turbo deal where it speeds up some downloads. I was occasionally able to get 12 MBit/sec in XP, but it always only lasted a minute or two at the most.

Ok, some data. I timed a newsgroup download with a stopwatch:

11 50.0 MB RAR files = 550 MB
3 min 32 sec
2.59 MB/sec = 20.75 Mbit/sec

You and one other poster suggested a Knoppix cd. Ok, I'm game, I'm on the Knoppix site now. I'll download a copy and try it out, and go to dslreports and get a speed rating from there...or do you have a better suggestion of a download site that should be able to max out a 20-24 MBit connection?

BTW, here's a dslreports url for a test I just did, in Vista:
http://www.dslreports.com/im/22303118/7336.png
Not sure if that url is persistent, but it's working right this second at least. The Atlanta, GA server seems to be the fastest. Not as fast right now as earlier at 3 am, when I was getting 23 Mbit/sec. Didn't save the png url like above though, sorry.

Ok, downloaded the 696 MB ISO in about 9 minutes. Off to burn this cd and go to dslreports from within Knoppix. I'll post back with my results.

Long ago, I posted up a picture about Vonage 911 and a screenshot for dslreports.com long ago.
You'll find it here:
http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/800075~433b0 c31ec1520970b77229393b7d713/vonage.png

Now, unless you know what mosaic settings I used, I don't see anyone cracking these numbers anytime soon. I think this sounds good in theory, but no good in practice unless everyone is using the exact same software to do the mosaic modification.

Judging by the comments on Broadband Reports they sound just as bad as wireless phone companies in the contract department -- automatically resubscribing people to another year of service and charging $180 to break out of "contracts" early.

Rogers and Bell in Canada have WiMAX services using OFDM Non-Line-of-Sight NLOS wireless service. The modem is a (RSU-2510-FV) NextNet Expedience Broadband Wireless Modem which you have to rent (can't find anywhere to buy one) from either carrier. I've tried it and it works well.

The reason why this *MAY* pan out for these companies is that even in major urban areas in Canada, you have problems getting xDSL because you're too far away from a CO and they haven't dropped a RDSLAM in your subdivision. However, the above services are available up to 5KM or so in any direction from a broadcast tower. I also suspect it's cheaper for telcos to deploy, plus they get the revenue from the modem rental.

if yuo have comcast and a router (this sets your ip to the correct range) then follow the hints on http://www.dslreports.com/faq/7363 to peek at your modem
this of course puts the problem in their turf.
the correct restart drill is depower all the stuff (cable modem router computer) then wait five minutes restart the cable modem wait five minutes restart the router wait five minutes and restart the computer.

Probably v6.0 according to Broadband/DSL Reports.

In the last 6 months Rogers (www.rogers.com) has been actively throttling P2P to the point where I can't use eMule, bittorrent... etc. Bell (www.bell.ca) has also been sending updates to their policies discouraging users from downloading copyrighted material.

Read all the horror stories here: http://www.dslreports.com/forums/23

Verizon is paying $9650 per install on its FiOS rollout. If that keeps up, $18B pays for 1.9M customers. To reach 7M customers, they'd have to spend 2571 each, which is about 1/4. Since most of the cost is pulling fiber to homes, labor intensive, followed by operations staff, again featuring high labor costs, I don't believe Verizon will drop costs by 25% every year for 4 years.

Of course, "I don't believe Verizon" is a default policy unopposed by any evidence to the contrary. Many of the 7M they're claiming to target with FiOS are people in less profitable areas who Verizon says it will serve, in order to protect the subsidies and monopoly exceptions our government has handed "Verizon" (and its former names) for a century.

I do believe that I will get at least 20:5Mbps in my NYC apartment, maybe 100+ symmetrical, in the next 4 years. A friend in Long Island has his 20Mbps filled with torrents 24x7, so I believe it. But I wish everyone across the country would expect their Congressional reps and president to make an FCC that gives at least universal broadband service, if not quite FiOS yet, to everyone across the country. Just like "universal service" for mere POTS telephone service, the government always has to force telcos to fulfill their promises, so the country can operate in the modern world these telecoms create.

For one example: If you're using Verizon FIOS and -- as is typical for such installs -- your copper has been replaced by the fiber, the battery backup is just to continue providing telephone service (to fulfill E-911 requirements, if memory serves). It doesn't continue to allow either Internet or (where available) TV service. [A peripherally related Broadband Reports forum thread: here.]

BroadbandReports has a more critical review of the USA Today story.

And today's Slashdot featured news that Freescale's "other projects" turning its attention might just be giant leveraged buyout attack, not any intrinsic business.

But apart from corporate media war fog, why not blow fibers through these pipes, directly to homes? That seems like a cheap, reliable way to deliver lots and lots of broadband with tech that can join multiple compatible WANs into sites. Without digging or deploying new, specialized "gas radio" equipment in a separate development/deployment/maintenance niche with smaller scale economy.

Your home could become a NAP for multiple carriers not only competing for your business, but getting distributed routing among their backbones around outages. If your block's "telco" WAN is down, they could still get to the Net bridged through you to your "gasco" WAN. Much like solar homes which "run the meters backwards" to supply power to the grid when they've got surplus. You'd sell surplus connectivity to your neighbors, billing the WAN you covered for.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15701298?hi lite=vista My router just killed the entire network, after I was on Vista for like 10-20 minutes.

O-M-G, I see smart people.

We do need to hold ISPs responsible to police their own neighborhoods (fat chance really).
For you that say this will infringe on your privacy ... check your TOS, your DSL/cable contracts are written by people that make mazes seem straightforward.

Brave New World
Corporations, ISPs, Spammers, Crackers - think: circlejerk
No ones gonna do nothing about anything and they'll inforce it too.
ref: scewed-blued-tattooed, NO CARRIER joke

http://www.macrovision.com/

http://www.softsummit.com/index.shtml

Old examples (where do you think you stand now?)

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,2122413~roo t=comcast~mode=flat

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20030922-2852 .html

http://wiki.phoenixlabs.org/wiki/Type's_of_Infring ement_Letters

I hope I'm wrong, this internet thingy could be really cool if we could just find a really good "front door" of sorts and quit chaining down ALL THE FURNITURE, Something we could run *anything* - completely unpatched behind, tele-commute with bunnie slippers on - like God intended.
That freedom alone would contribute to ending dependence on oil.

Incidentally, by reading this you're agreeing to:

just kidding.

"it's only after you've lost everything that you are free to do anything"
Fight Club

An excerpt from "Senator Stevens: How the Internet Works" at dslreports.com

"They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material."

And these guys are writing the laws.

You can go here: http://www.dslreports.com/ and do a quick search for setting up ATT/Yahoo without using the installation CD and all the crap it installs. This works on all platforms and with whatever software you use now.

Have you all noticed every time there is an article about Net Neutrality around here the first post is always an opposing view very well written and moderated +5?
DSLReports reported that paid cable & telco PR reps are posing as consumers and spamming forums about Net Neutrality with their opposing views. I wonder if the telcos got to ./ admins
</tinfoilhat>