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Dump Broadband, Dig Out Your Modem!
wilstephens writes: "Found this article on CNet about the latest trend of people dumping broadband in favour of their modems. Cheaper, and more reliable service, apparently! 'Katy Ling, a software consultant who had her home wired for high-speed Internet access last year, did what many technology analysts said would never happen: She bailed out of broadband...'"
It still amazes me the # of users of my websites that still use modems. We are now planning to install mod_gzip for Apache to help modem users download our larger pages faster. It didn't seem worth it at first with folks moving to broadband, but we still found many of our users listing 'modem' as their primary access method when they register. Plus it'll reduce our bandwidth demand for users who have broadband - they'll get larger files faster too. Yeah, it adds overhead on teh server CPU, but for us its worth it since we have headroom to spare.
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We must be lucky where I live. I have had DSL for over 2 years now, and I have had almost no problems (well, one modem did die). Almost 100% uptime, on the DSL line and with the ISP (Open World Inc.) Course, now that I've said this, I'll probably get home and find it dead. Some basic info on where my DSL is coming from: Lexington, KY. DSL line provider: Verizon DSL service: 768 down, 256 up ISP: Open World Inc www.stdio.com
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Once I actually found a reliable provider who could install it I have never had a problem with broadband.
I first got a cable modem about two years ago via RCN. Recently I moved to a new place which is not wired for RCN, so I switched to SBC (Ameritech) DSL. Surprisingly I really have had no major problems with the speed or reliability of their services (though I do take issue with the price).
I did have problems getting DSL service from a few providers, the standard DSL Hell - but they are both now in bakruptcy proceedings or already bankrupt - so go figure.
To go back to a regular modem is just unthinkable for me. Maybe my experience is atypical because I live in a large and competitive urban broadband market.
-josh
How strange. Up here in Canada, where Ma Bell still has a sanctioned and legally-enforced local-service monopoly, ADSL is more popular than the Beatles. Simply put, there *is* no reliability problem -- my service has worked perfectly since the day I installed it (although there *was* a one-month waiting list, IIRC.) Cable-internet is popular too, but generally more expensive (on the order of 17%) and slower to boot. Many of my friends have it, even the nontechnicals. It's the new 'cable' -- a somewhat-premium service that everyone desires.
;)
Price is $40CD/mo. , which is $30US.
Perhaps (and as a linux zealot I say this reluctantly) there's a place for limited (and legally enforced) monopolies in *some* markets (just not the OS market no thank you bob
- undoware.ca
Is that the people there to serve are incompetent. Just yesterday I called asking where to FTP to for my web space, since that info was never given to me. The guy on the other end of the phone said "Uhhhh.... FTP? You lost me."
When it was installed, the dude who set up my computer was a complete moron. I have AT&T Cable, BTW. Of course, they wouldn't allow me to do it myself, so this dude takes my case apart, and boots up my computer. Before I can say anything he puts the PCI NIC in while the machine is on. HE said "They saw you shouldn't do this, but its okay." Then he was surprised when Windows did not auto-detect it.
[FromTheMorning]
Your numbers are a bit exaggerated. For my dialup:
56k ISP: $13/mo
2nd Phone line: 0
Download time/Mb: ~6 minutes
Time to connect: ~10 seconds (wvdial is great)
Busy signals: Never.
ISP downtime/problems: 0
Plus, my ISP (hevanet.com), whom we've been with for over 7 years, runs BSD, so they provide a shell-login, and have always been Unix-friendly. From what I read here on Slashdot, lots of the broadband companies seem to go out of their way to make life difficult for non-MS users.
The always-on argument also invalidates the cost argument for dialup. To even have half the uptime people associate with broadband, you can spend $30-$35/month easily (large number of hours, extra phone line), which is only about a $10 difference from broadband.
Wrong. I currently use Juno (cost $0) on my normal phone line (cost $0). Up until August I had a DSL connection (cost $45). That is a $45 difference. How many people do you really know that have a phoneline that they exclusively use for the internet? That is a marketing literature fabrication designed to make a broadband appear cheaper.
You are missing the entire point of the article. People are cancelling their broadband connections because the whiz-bang! effect has worn off. The average consumer has no need for large bandwidth because he gets bored with it.
When I had DSL, I downloaded about 50-60 CD's off of napster. Then I ran out of music that I wanted to download. I don't play video games, but even if I did, I would probably use a playstation. I had no more use for my internet connection other than checking my e-mail.
The fact is, broadband access at home is currently little more than a toy. And toys get tiresome. If I need to do research or use the internet for some other reason, I can use my T1 at work. Besides, I sit in front of a computer for 8 hours day. The last thing I want to do when I get home is sit in front of a computer.
I'll never go back to dialup. Ever.
Why?
Simple, both my wife and I use it to connect to each of our corporate intra-nets using VPN. And if you want to do any real work, NFS mounts, Windows junk, remote compiling - anything - you really have to have enough speed to make it worthwhile.
It's not different for non-technical people either. If you use accounting programs, inventory tracking, anything else using a client-server model, broadband speeds are the only way to go for any real work at home.
I talk to my friends in Europe and they have some exceleent broadaband in areas over there.
In Sweden they have 10Mb for around $20.
Belgium is loaded with excellent broadband service for cable and dsl. Germany has dsl. They are also getting the Powerline super high speed internet connection going in Germany and Scandinavia. There prices are cheaper for high speed internet than the U.S. I pay $40 for 8Mb,640k ADSL in Korea. While I still pay $40 1Mb,128k in the U.S. We need to get competition in our broadband in the U.S. They are too monopolistic in their prices. One hikes their price and the rest follow suit. My ISP sent me an email saying they were do to the others were. We may I hate to say need government regulation back in some things. I rather they work it out before the government needs to intervene. I only had one problem with my DSL where it was out for 16hours the rest it has been up the whole time.
bzztt..
Sorry. Wrong. Try again later.
What in God's name makes you think that a modem connection doesn't need a firewall?
It's still tcp/ip...
t_t_b
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
Lucky me that doesnt live in US. :)
I always love to tell people what I pay for my internet lines
Why do I got two lines? I use alot of bandwidth, have many computers.
Bonet ADSL: 2.5 Mbit down, 760 Kbit up, real static IP.
250 SEK/$20 per month
Telia ADSL: 512 Kbit down, 700 Kbit, DHCP (almost static, never changes)
325 SEK/$33 per month
Yes, they have MORE upstream than downstream. The worlds only ISP that
have that? U got a 50% chance to get 700 Kbit in upstream instead of
512 kbit if u get Telia ADSL.
All ports are open, servers allowed (but not commercial servers).
Other ISPs in Sweden:
Chello: 512 Kbit/128 Kbit: $25 per month
Bredbandsbolaget (translation: Broadband company):
10 Mbit (old installs): $20 per month
100 Mbit (new installs): $20 per month
(no, im not kidding! Ethernet rules!)
Telenordia: 512 Kbit/128 Kbit: $33 per month
Misc other ISPs: $20-$35 per month
Ok, I hear you all going nuts about how your :). My
.8 seconds more for DNS res :P. Ahhh... if
broadband connection sucks for DNS res. or what
ever else. I have to tell you that you are nuts.
This is coming from someone that hasn't had the
experience of broadband, except for the 2.5 RL
friends I actually have that have it
friends that have it also complain about down time
and whatever else. But are you people not doing
the math here??? Lets see.... most of the people
I know with cable get average of 30kb sec. I get
at most 5... and they are down maybe for average
of 4 hours or so a week.... even though they are
down that much, they still get more online than I
just because of the speed difference. I just
can't understand why we just can't be happy...
instead of going wow look at the tech involved or
whatever else, you get angry because it takes a
whole
I could only afford to pay for crappy broadband.
L8r