Internet connect speed?

[Guest]

Am relocating & when I asked one property rep about internet he proudly stated that "fiber optic" from AT&T was in the area.

Is this worth $49. per month & a new modem or should I stick with 56K over my existing phone line for $10. per month?

The internet is only as fast as both ends of the connection, so fast at my end is only good if the other guy is fast at his end, Right?

 

[scarecrow]

I would say go for it. Even if it's only twice as fast as your dialup 56k you'll never want to go back. Just my 2 cents.

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[Arrow]

AT&T's service shouldn't be too bad, but I would also consider DSL services.

Rob
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[Guest]

This is just my opinion, but any high speed internet line of any sort, especially one that doesn't have to dial an isp, will change your perspective on the internet. Everyone will treat it differently, but here is how I have changed. I no longer back up shareware apps, I can just download when ever I want to. I use email way more. Just recently I have started making long distance phone calls over the net. With my dsl line, sound quality is great and I will never pay for long-distance again.

Those are just a few of the ways it has affected my, and I assure you there are thousands of others.

pill128

Take your pill, and get some sleep.

 

[scarecrow]

Do some research, there are a lot of ISP's out there. <A HREF="http://www.dslreports.com/" target="_new">DSL Reports</A> has some reviews on providers. Do the research will be worth it.

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[mpjesse]

Holy crap!!! I know of only one place right now that offers fiber optic- and that's atlanta. BellSouth is doing a field test on fiber optic broad band in some small rich suburb. Go for it man. Fiber Optic is like phenominally fast- you have no idea. Take a T3 and like multiply it by 10 and you'll have some vague idea. I read that it's a pain in the ass to install though and you have to have some pretty heavy equipment to use it.

-MP Jesse

 

[Fa1c0n]

If you can afford the fiber then go for it! It actually shouldn't be too hard of an install. I am certified to install fiber and it's not very hard to do anymore. The technology has become relatively mature and easy to terminate.

To give you some idea of just how fast fiber can be:

Singlemode fiber using a laser source has a potential bandwidth of 100 Thz (100 trillion hz), but is probably only usable up to 1 Thz. There is really no multiplexer capable of using even 1 Thz bandwidth yet, so the fiber is not a limiting factor. It's bandwidth is essentially infinite. In addition to that, the distance that the signal can propagate (travel) is about 10,000 kilometers if soliton-pulse lasers are used in conjuction with erbium-doped fiber optical "pumps". That means the signal essentially never loses strength over distance, and needs no repeater stations.

All this means that it's possible to have data rates like 20Gbs or more over unlimited distances, and without any interference since glass fiber is dielectric. It's also very difficult to tap/spy on.

Pretty cool huh?

I'm sure that the "guys on the other side" will have good enough equipment to make the fiber worth it's $49.


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[Guest]

Fibre optic is awesome, so fast, I envy you your connection

 

[Guest]

A word of caution: just because some property rep says that fiber optic is "in the area" doesn't mean that you are going to be able to get it. Granted, fiber can travel much farther distances than DSL, but you still have to get the wire to your house. Don't count on everything being set up for you as soon as you move in. I would check on DSLreports.com before you set yourself up for disappointment.

The other guy you are referring to is usually going to be much faster than you are, unless you are making a direct connection with that person (peer to peer connection). Most often though, you're going to be a site where you are downloading some cool videos or listening to music, or maybe getting some shareware or something. These sites will be able to deliver a lot of bandwidth. The good sites will have as much as you can take. $49 for Fiber optic?! That's a dream for most of the world. I don't really see what's faster than that for now or 20 years from now. You can't get much faster than light!


- Every private citizen has a public responsibility

 

[Jarablue]

Dude lemme tell ya, I would pay 150 a month if I had to to keep my cable modem. There is nothing like broadband. I don't know how I used 56k for 2 years and before that I had 2600. Once you see what high speed is like you could never ever ever go back. I remember when I lived in Columbia SC and they installed Road Runner the tech went to Cnet downloads and downloaded Adobe Photoshop 5.5 in like 8 minutes, my jaw dropped and pretty much since then on broadband has always had an impact on where I moved to. 49 bux? Hell yeah spend that on it you will see how having a phat conncetion is. Make sure to go to www.speedguide.net and get 2 patches one for your tcp/ip settings and the other for your web page loading. You'll be all set )


In the immortal word's of Bob Marley, "Let's get together and feel alllright..."

 

[Guest]

I would gladly pay $500 a month for a cable modem!!!

I had mediaone (200 Kbps) but moved so I'm back to 33.6 (4 Kbps) with absolutely no other options for now