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Sprint ION's $100/mo, 8Mbps Home Service Tanks
Dr. Zowie writes: "In the current gloomy high speed connection market, a ray of light was Sprint's ION service. For $100/month, they would provide local phone service, long distance service, and 8mbps down, 1mbps up DSL-like digital connection. I've been waiting for the service to turn on to write a review about it -- but the service has been discontinued and all orders are being cancelled. Too bad -- ION was like a geek dream come true." ION was only available to a relative handful of people, but it sure sounded good. Anyone have suggestions for this sort of combination service?
I get 8Mbps down/1Mbps up with their new cable modem service in Brooklyn, NY. Why would I want to pay almost 3 times that for Sprint's service?
Uhm.. Well, where I live, I pay $90 for 1.5 down/384 up for DSL. I also pay an additional $20 for phone and $15 for long distance.
But what is this 8Mbps? or 8mpbs? or what? Someone want to fix the caps on that? If I could get 8Mbps/1Mbps for $100, HELL YEAH that would be a good deal.
$100 for more bandwidth vs $135 for less.
Where's the question?
Okay, under my current set up I pay:
$89/month for 1.5/384 DSL
$30/month or so for phone service
$5-10/month for long distance service
So for $100/month I could get:
8Mb/1Mb data
local calling
500 minutes long distance included (and rest being at like 7-10 cents/minute)
For a power user it was definitely a deal because you get more bandwidth and a consolidated bill.
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I don't want this to sound like an obituary, but ION really was a great idea. Though it never came to my area, it was just like some of the other FTTH services that we saw earlier in the 90's - voice, data, and eventually video all on one line, through one provider. Admittedly, ION had issues, but overall, the service was good, with plenty of bandwidth, and you got everything from one provider. Plus, as I recall, their TOS/AUP was not as bad as most DSL providers - that is, you could run servers, and add routers/home networks.
In short, it was spectacular service with high prices and low demand. So, it died. Oh well.
Nice play with semantics.
Now, seriously.. Not many people really need this 'service'. Sure, it's nice to have less-than-zero ping times for Q3A (or whatever massively multiplayer game thou hast the time to waste playing), or for *loading kernels, but outisde Silicon Valley in the more 'traditional business' areas, not too many people would really need it.
The worst part is that those bandwidth would have to be peak bandwidths, as that much pipe costs an awful lot of money. (Have you priced T3's and OC's lately?)
The dot-bomb implosion, the fall of Nasdaq, the recessionary economy, and the 11-9 aftermath killed 'em. People with the money to spend started to cut their personal costs, and this sort of service went poof.
I believe that the only way to get reliable fat pipe for the forseeable future is from the established telcos, and it's going to be a little more expensive.
I used to be someone else. Now I'm someone better.
Real life is underrated.
http://www.ftthcouncil.com/
This is in early field test now in Palo Alto,
also I think in a couple of countries in Europe.
Subscription prices being mooted are in the
$40/mo range. A shakedown test rig simulating
live TV feeds through it is running in a lab here.
Getting the content providers on board is the
biggest if at the moment...
But I refuse to do business with Sprint because they screwed us up once, and caused a lot of damage to my credit history.
Two years ago, we moved to a new house, and thought that we had notified our long distance carrier. But after a month, we figured that Sprint long distance jumped in to take our account, without our consent, and charged us $2.71/min to call NYC. The total charge was about $70. After 6 months of phone calls and tons of frustrations, Sprint even dare to give that to a collection company. And that put a nasty spot on my credit history. Eventually, we tried to get over it and paid the god-damned amount.
However, we swear not to give any business to Sprint anymore. We immediately cancelled all our PCS accounts (two of them, and at an average fee of $180/mo, as we were always over the limit) which we had for more than 2 years.
And we discover Sprint did this to a lot of people, including their long-time customers.
So, even if Sprint can provide any high-speed access at a low cost, and even if I don't have any other alternative, I'll give shit to Sprint.
This ION thingy is born dead, and good for them.
MMDS is a superior wireless technology that has been around for over 30 years. It's currently used mostly for wireless analog CATV service, but all sorts of manufacturers (ie Cisco) are making gear that uses this spectrum. It sits right above that unlicensed 2.4Ghz stuff at 2.5Ghz. MMDS BTA's are generally include a 35-mile radius from a central POP.
We're a small rural ISP in New Mexico and we're looking at teaming up with an MMDS CATV provider to combine our services to provide digital cable along with digital wireless internet at speeds up to 45mbits/s. There is also gear to do VoIP, so we can eventually team up with a CLEC or become one and provide dialtone as well. All over the same pipe. Neat eh?
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
--Ambrose Bierce