News FCC quadruples requirements for basic broadband service — 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload are now the base standard

[Admin]

The FCC released a new report which sets the broadband benchmark from 100 Mbps download speed while emphasizing the slow internet deployment in villages and

FCC quadruples requirements for basic broadband service — 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload are now the base standard : Read more

 

[coolitic]

So, just changing the legally-enforceable meaning of a word regarding a service provided, regardless of what the word actually means.

 

[ezst036]

I was wondering why my monthly price went up. Thanks FCC punks!

 

[punkncat]

Unless I missed it, I didn't see anything about the 'when' this requirement will need to be met by?

The so called internet at my mother's house is so abysmal it is impossible to watch YT video. With the ongoing issues she is having with her Dish service this would be a welcome change if not so welcome on what is sure to be hefty price hike in conjunction with it.

 

[Order 66]

Maybe I'm missing something, but couldn't ISPs just not increase their minimum speed and stop calling their internet "broadband"? Also, how are ISPs in rural areas supposed to meet these demands? I live in a rural area, and the best speeds we can get with our current ISP (that we have a contract with preventing us from switching) are 60/6 and we currently have 30/3.

 

[USAFRet]

Maybe I'm missing something, but couldn't ISPs just not increase their minimum speed and stop calling their internet "broadband"? Also, how are ISPs in rural areas supposed to meet these demands? I live in a rural area, and the best speeds we can get with our current ISP (that we have a contract with preventing us from switching) are 60/6 and we currently have 30/3.

Eventually, you will see better speed.

All this is is a redefinition of what "broadband" means.

"60% of our customers have broadband available"
NOTE: available does not mean actually given that speed. A household can always opt for a slower speed, at less cost.

 

[YouFilthyHippo]

Yeesh, and to think 0.056mb was once good enough for everybody. Scary

 

[Order 66]

60% of our customers have broadband available"
NOTE: available does not mean actually given that speed. A household can always opt for a slower speed, at less cost.

Sure, but even having the option to have 100/20 without having to switch ISPs would be amazing.

 

[jonathan1683]

Unless I missed it, I didn't see anything about the 'when' this requirement will need to be met by?

The so called internet at my mother's house is so abysmal it is impossible to watch YT video. With the ongoing issues she is having with her Dish service this would be a welcome change if not so welcome on what is sure to be hefty price hike in conjunction with it.

Get her starlink

 

[punkncat]

Get her starlink

You paying for it?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

In Ireland, we have a National Broadband Plan. Providers and the Government dedicated to a nationwide rollout.

Last year, we got in SIRO, which is a system that provides broadband through the electricity cables going into your house. It works really well, and 500/50 down/up is available even in rural areas (like my town where I currently live).

Last week we switched to a Fibre to Home setup, which works on the older Fibre system. However, the older fibre system used to be maxed at about 90/20 down/up. They've added some tech to that old system, and now we are on the same 500/50 as before with SIRO.

Is it not possible to get similar tech in the US?

 

[USAFRet]

In Ireland, we have a National Broadband Plan. Providers and the Government dedicated to a nationwide rollout.

Last year, we got in SIRO, which is a system that provides broadband through the electricity cables going into your house. It works really well, and 500/50 down/up is available even in rural areas (like my town where I currently live).

Last week we switched to a Fibre to Home setup, which works on the older Fibre system. However, the older fibre system used to be maxed at about 90/20 down/up. They've added some tech to that old system, and now we are on the same 500/50 as before with SIRO.

Is it not possible to get similar tech in the US?

It VERY much depends on where you live. Sometimes, even down to what side of the street.

I have 100/100 fiber to the home from Verizon. Have had fiber since maybe 2008(?) Started with 15/15.

I could easily bump that up to 500/500, or 1000/1000, as Verizon is continually suggesting.
If I choose to pay whatever extra it costs.

For the 2 of us here, the 100/100 is just fine. And I'm quite sure anyone reading this would consider me a "power user".

 

[JoBalz]

Here in southwest AR, fiber cables are finally being said, but so far the only areas where fiber is actually available are rural areas. No towns have active fiber according to the latest map I viewed today. Supposedly the cables should be in place and the project finished late this year, but I'll believe it when I see it. The good thing though was the ISP was showing the prices for fiber, It appears the slowest package will be nearly 7 times faster than our current DSL, and cost $20.00/month less. For what we currently pay, the speed would be 40 times faster. Since everyone in the house uses the Internet and streams video and movies, it will be a major improvement (fingers crossed).

 

[Eximo]

The US has very odd laws and they vary from state to state. Like one ISP/Utility owning the utility poles vs the other. For a while there it was illegal for municipalities to put internet service in place on their own. When Google started rolling out internet service they had to fight in court often to get into places.

Since we have no truly unified government and most government efforts to increase general internet access and bandwidth basically ended up handing money to our telecom companies, we are kind of stuck with whatever. Greater distances mean greater costs to roll out a network. A lot of people are switching to mobile data plans for all uses because it is faster than hard wired connections that are available.

 

[Eximo]

Maybe I'm missing something, but couldn't ISPs just not increase their minimum speed and stop calling their internet "broadband"? Also, how are ISPs in rural areas supposed to meet these demands? I live in a rural area, and the best speeds we can get with our current ISP (that we have a contract with preventing us from switching) are 60/6 and we currently have 30/3.

This has already happened. They started using the term "High Speed Internet" instead of broadband.

 

[Pierce2623]

Well I live in a town of 30,000 and can’t get fiber in my neighborhood, I’m on 125Mb down/25Mb up. However, at our second home, which is on 94 acres in the middle of nowhere, bordered on three sides by National Forest boundaries, I get 2Gb down and 1Gb up because of government programs to push fiber into rural areas. So in a big subdivisions in a average town I get garbage internet, but, literally in the middle of the mountains, I have super fast fiber that’s even significantly cheaper.

 

[Geef]

There is a big reason for keeping upload low. High download will only go so fast with low upload.

Next time you download a game off Steam, take a look at your task manager and you'll see that your download isn't maxing out but the upload is.

They say you have high download, but not really since you can't take full advantage of all of it with low upload.

 

[USAFRet]

There is a big reason for keeping upload low. High download will only go so fast with low upload.

Next time you download a game off Steam, take a look at your task manager and you'll see that your download isn't maxing out but the upload is.

They say you have high download, but not really since you can't take full advantage of all of it with low upload.

Downloading a game, the traffic is NOT symmetrical.

The upload part is simply to tell the server "Yes, I received that packet. Send the next."

If you look at a connection with an actual equal down/up....100/100 or 500/500, the upload need is vastly smaller than the download.

 

[Geef]

Downloading a game, the traffic is NOT symmetrical.

The upload part is simply to tell the server "Yes, I received that packet. Send the next."

The point I was trying to make is with low upload your PC can only say "Yes, I received that packet. Send the next" so fast. Since the download isn't getting enough 'send the next' messages it will only go so fast.

 

[USAFRet]

The point I was trying to make is with low upload your PC can only say "Yes, I received that packet. Send the next" so fast. Since the download isn't getting enough 'send the next' messages it will only go so fast.

And 20megabit UP is more than enough to send ACK packets.

Except for recent fiber, Upload/Download has never been equal.
And it does not need to be, unless you are hosting a server at home.

This is downloading a game from Steam, on a 100/100 FiOS line.
The dotted line at the very bottom is "upload"

 

[bourgeoisdude]

The US is big. Really big. Getting broadband everywhere is much more difficult than most other countries because there are literally hundreds of square miles where there are just a few thousand people. West Texas for example.

Of course, in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York City, etc., there's usually plenty of Broadband, in smaller towns in the middle of nowhere it is not cost effective for providers. Or worse, in the outskirts of busier areas you can literally be across the street from broadband. My church for example is right in between one larger city (>150,000) and a smaller metro (>100,000) but it has no broadband. Literally a mile one direction or one block the other has a 1gbps symmetric and 400mbs down/25mbps up options. But not there.

So not the same as Ireland.

 

[hotaru251]

The US is big. Really big. Getting broadband everywhere is much more difficult than most other countries because there are literally hundreds of square miles where there are just a few thousand people.

would be a acceptable answer...if the ISPs of nation took literal millions and millions in gov funding to improve it and then never did anything with it except line their pockets...

and this was over 20yrs ago iirc...by now we SHOULD have had nationwide accessible speedy networking...

And it does not need to be, unless you are hosting a server at home.

which is a growing trend among people.

even not using server yourself if you have a family all using upload it can easily saturate it. (especially if anyone in your household is streaming content as 4k streaming can use a ton of ul)

I have comcast and gigabit net and upload is a mere 40 Mbps. I'd gladly give up some dl for more ul. (wish fiber was in my area x_x)

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

The upload change was the most needed, 8mbps (375KB/s) wasn't anywhere near fast enough for remote work and video calls, and even at the new 20mbps (2.5MB/s) requirement it's still really pushing it, especially for households which have two or more internet connected devices at the same time, such as a parent who is teleconferencing or working on a project remotely while a kid is doing schoolwork.

 

[Order 66]

The upload change was the most needed, 8mbps (375KB/s) wasn't anywhere near fast enough for remote work and video calls, and even at the new 20mbps (2.5MB/s) requirement it's still really pushing it, especially for households which have two or more internet connected devices at the same time, such as a parent who is teleconferencing or working on a project remotely while a kid is doing schoolwork.

3mbps is 375KB/s. 8mbps is 1MB/s and you’re correct with 20mbps.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Cool. What this had done now is Kickstart price hikes and elimination of lower speed (150-450Mbps) plans that were on the cheaper side and allow companies to justify the increased cost by only offering say 500Mbps and 1Gbps plans.

@hotaru251
Not asking you to dox yourself but are you in a state where Comcast is allowed to implement a data cap? Besides hating Crapcast, that aspect always scared me.