MysticGogeta
The Robot Devil
Premium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX
clubs: |  Gives False Hope of a Faster Connection
I think its a great idea but I would much rather have a uncapped service then a short "boost" in speed. This will just make people who do speeds tests happy.
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Team Discovery-Join the fight |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Oh it's absolutely brilliant in a marketing perspective in that regard... |
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koitsu
Premium
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
| reply to MysticGogeta
I both agree and disagree.
Agree:
The core of the problem is that, for absolutely no justified reason (in my opinion), residential bandwidth has gone the asymmetrical route. A lot of networking equipment *does not work this way*, so honestly you have to go out of your way to make things asymmetrical.
There's really no technical reason that I know of for cable being asymmetric like that. I realise cable television was originally engineered with the concept of upstream data being very minute, but has the cable network not evolved since then?
Disagree:
As a Comcast user myself, I can tell you my #1 complaint has been with the upstream rate. I pay the outrageous price of US$72/month for my broadband service just so I can get something higher than a 384kbit upstream (the faster downstream is nice too, but that's not why I pay for the higher tier service).
So, from a residential user perspective, Comcast offering something like speedboost on upstream is absolutely wonderful. 2000kbit upstream? Awesome. You're NOT going to find DSL offering that anytime soon, because hardly any (basically none) of the DSL providers in the United States are going to re-engineer their networks and buy into ADSL2+ just to give customers that. Let's not forget that ADSL2+ only gives you decent speed improvements if you're an incredibly short distance from the CO, too.
Now, from a marketing perspective, Comcast offering speedboost on their upstream gives them another thing they can hold over the head of DSL.
Do I like DSL? Absolutely! I hate cable for the fact that it's a "shared bandwidth" medium; all it takes is one of my neighbours to be a w4r3z kiddie and my speeds are basically shot, since he'll be chewing up the pipe 24x7. I also hate how flippant latency is on cable. DSL gives each user what they pay for, and the latency is much more consistent/stable. If I had a choice of technology, DSL or cable, I'd pick DSL. But I'd want cable speed/bandwidth on DSL. 
But honestly I don't see DSL winning this war until telcos agree to upgrade their existing networks, and that's never going to happen in the United States.
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Making life hard for others since 1977. |
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JSRoman
Premium
join:2005-03-10
Callahan, FL
| reply to MysticGogeta
said by MysticGogeta  :I think its a great idea but I would much rather have a uncapped service then a short "boost" in speed. This will just make people who do speeds tests happy. We all know that Mr. Average Joe spends all their time doing speed test. Can you at least admit it will benefit majority of folks who uploads pictures or short videos? How much is Comcast charging again for this? Say it with me, FFFFFreeeeeeeeee!
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www.seabee.org |
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DSHIELD
join:2006-05-27
Micmac, NS | reply to koitsu
You pay 72 month for cable connection wow dammm why so high.
But now look very nice upload speed and download looks awesome but it's still too high 72 dammmmmm |
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BabyBear
Keep wise ...with Night-Owl
join:2007-01-11 | reply to JSRoman
Haha, As always Beware of FFFFrreeee!  |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
 ·AT&T Midwest
| reply to JSRoman
Comcast advertises almost exclusively on speed, so it is natural for them to try to rig the results of speed tests. This succeeds admirably at that, and you've got to give their marketing department credit for coming up with the perfect ad scam.
I think some would disagree with your "free" assessment though. Last time I checked, Comcast HSI was far from free.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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china crisis
join:2003-05-28
| said by RadioDoc :Comcast advertises almost exclusively on speed, so it is natural for them to try to rig the results of speed tests. Comcast doesn't need to "rig" any speed tests to show its faster than DSL. |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | Who said anything about "faster than DSL"? They can't compete on price so they come up with some ethereal product attribute to concentrate on--"highspeed"--which means nothing. Then they use it to differentiate themselves. It's classic marketing.
But now that you mention it, they can't seem to break 4 megabits in this system, and my DSL is 50% faster than that, with twice their 384 kbps upload. So I laugh every time I see those commercials.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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Loker
Premium
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND
clubs:
| reply to MysticGogeta
said by MysticGogeta :I think its a great idea but I would much rather have a uncapped service then a short "boost" in speed. This will just make people who do speeds tests happy. power boost on download has really been a god send for me....if I am in a hurry I can download anything under 100MB's really quickly thanks to power boost....like yesterday 50MB video driver downloaded in 10-15 seconds....
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"While preceding your entrance with a grenade is a good tactic inQuake, it can lead to problems if attempted at work." -- C Hacking |
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devnuller
join:2006-06-10
Hollis, NH
| reply to koitsu
said by koitsu :Do I like DSL? Absolutely! I hate cable for the fact that it's a "shared bandwidth" medium; all it takes is one of my neighbours to be a w4r3z kiddie and my speeds are basically shot, since he'll be chewing up the pipe 24x7. Why share with only your neighbors when with DSL you can share with your whole town?
The "neighborhood sharing" issue is old, tired and mostly marketing FUD. With EVERY technology sharing is a factor. It is just where and how you manage capacity |
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MysticGogeta
The Robot Devil
Premium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| reply to JSRoman
said by JSRoman :said by MysticGogeta :I think its a great idea but I would much rather have a uncapped service then a short "boost" in speed. This will just make people who do speeds tests happy. We all know that Mr. Average Joe spends all their time doing speed test. Can you at least admit it will benefit majority of folks who uploads pictures or short videos? How much is Comcast charging again for this? Say it with me, FFFFFreeeeeeeeee! The "Average Joe" so to speak when he sees this boost he will believe that there speed is higher then it actually is. Don't get me wrong I think Power Boost is a great idea but I see the "Average Joe" calling and complaining when they don't have the boost running 24/7
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Team Discovery-Join the fight |
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LeftOfSanity
join:2005-11-06
Felton, DE
| reply to koitsu
said by koitsu :I both agree and disagree. Agree: The core of the problem is that, for absolutely no justified reason (in my opinion), residential bandwidth has gone the asymmetrical route. No justified reason? In case you haven't been around for a while all this broadband explosion eats up ALOT of bandwidth. You want symmetrical? Get all your friends and neighbors who refuse to get digital from the cable co's to either cancel or upgrade that tired analog service.
said by koitsu :I both agree and disagree. Do I like DSL? Absolutely! I hate cable for the fact that it's a "shared bandwidth" medium; all it takes is one of my neighbours to be a w4r3z kiddie and my speeds are basically shot, since he'll be chewing up the pipe 24x7. I also hate how flippant latency is on cable. DSL gives each user what they pay for, and the latency is much more consistent/stable. If I had a choice of technology, DSL or cable, I'd pick DSL. But I'd want cable speed/bandwidth on DSL. You obviously need to read up on the subject. As noted above DSL is shared at the DSLAM, so they are both a "Shared" service. It's all about how the area plans and maintains for capacity. It's not "oversold nodes" or because cable is "shared". |
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LeftOfSanity
join:2005-11-06
Felton, DE | reply to RadioDoc
How is it a scam? Does it only work on the speed tests?
No, you benefit from the higher speeds, so what's the problem?
I assume you are one of those who refer to the multi-product discount as a penalty correct? |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to RadioDoc
said by RadioDoc :Comcast advertises almost exclusively on speed, so it is natural for them to try to rig the results of speed tests. This succeeds admirably at that, and you've got to give their marketing department credit for coming up with the perfect ad scam. It is more than an ad scam. Powerboost actually gives value by providing a better browsing experience for the 90% of their users that aren't so-called "POWER Users". And an upload powerboost will help speed up the very occasional upload of pics and small videos that most of their customers do. Will it satisfy people who download tons of movies or who upload backups of their hard drive every day? Well no, but it will help the large majority of their customers.
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My BLOG
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| It's a marketing gimmick. Those 90% that aren't "power users" don't even know what it is or what it does. Most don't even know what speed they're getting. Comcast could slow them to a relative trickle and they would not care.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to devnuller
said by devnuller :The "neighborhood sharing" issue is old, tired and mostly marketing FUD. With EVERY technology sharing is a factor. It is just where and how you manage capacity Precisely. And cable companies have a horrid track record of managing capacity.
There are precious few comments here or anywhere (if any at all) of anyone's speed being killed by the neighborhood warez kiddie on DSL. It is far too easy to do on cable, and no matter how much you want to deny it, it is an issue that DSL simply does not have.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:
1 edit | reply to RadioDoc
It appears that my Comcast connection is trickling along at about 20,400/738k this evening.
All I can say is God help the phone company.
Your assertion that this is simply a "marketing gimmic" couldn't be further off the mark.
Many files that we all download on a regular basis fall within the limits that powerboost allows to see these kinds of speeds. Comcast was ingenious in devising this type of network which allows the majority of users to get on and off the network quickly when downloading files which fall within these limits. And, even for files which exceed that, it certainly gives users a very fast start.
And so, what happens after the 20,000k speeds disappear for me? I fall back to a "measly" 8000k instead.
Comcast is kicking A$$ and taking names..and it won't be long until they completely dominate the high speed world and DSL is just a distant memory.
Unfortunately, AT&T's only answer to date is their 7000 customer strong uverse service.
Which doesn't even deliver on 1/3rd these speeds.
What an absolute disaster in the making that is. |
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Obliteration
Premium
join:2005-09-18
Somewhere
| reply to MysticGogeta
said by MysticGogeta :I think its a great idea but I would much rather have a uncapped service then a short "boost" in speed. This will just make people who do speeds tests happy. Comcast doesn't give a damn about gamers or other more knowledgeable people who know that you can do more with the Internet than e-mail.
A little boost in upload for a picture and such is great. When it comes down to gaming or uploading though, a short boost doesn't do much.
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"The constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper."-George W. Bush, Nov. 2005 |
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devnuller
join:2006-06-10
Hollis, NH
| reply to RadioDoc
said by RadioDoc :There are precious few comments here or anywhere (if any at all) of anyone's speed being killed by the neighborhood warez kiddie on DSL. Relativity. It is really hard to tell when the Internet is slowing down, when it starts that way. |
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