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Comcast Now Offering 50Mbps For $100 In Some Areas

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:02:19 -0500

Just recently Comcast dropped the price on their “Extreme 50” Internet package (for those that are also subscribing to their Digital Voice or cable TV) from $139.95 to $99.95.

This new Extreme 50 package was just launched in Washington, DC and surrounding areas today, but the price for the $139.95 service is dropping nationwide. Along with this deployment, Comcast plans to get DOCSIS 3.0 to 65 percent of their territory by the end of this year.

According to Comcast spokesperson Charlie Douglas, “We already have a bundled incentive with our other tiers, so this is similar. It was just a matter of time before we introduced a bundled incentive price for Extreme 50.”

With this drop, Comcast now offers the cheapest 50Mbps broadband in the United States.

Image Credit: Comcast

Rumor: Comcast to Offer 100Mb Service Soon

Andy Salisbury — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:00:36 -0500

According to the rumor mill, Comcast is going to release a 100Mb service sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Currently, the fastest available service from Comcast is 50/20Mb, and will run consumers roughly $189 per month. There’s no word yet on how much this rumored service will cost, but going from the current model, we can gather that it will be costly.

We’ll be sure to keep our eyes on this as it develops.

Image Credit: Comcast

Verizon Pshaws Cablevision's Blazing Fast Broadband

Paul Lilly — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:12:32 -0500

So here's the deal: You don't want 101Mpbs broadband. And because you don't demand ultra high-speed internet, you're not the least bit impressed with Cablevision's recently announced Optimum Online Ultra, which will offer Long Island, New York residents uncapped 101Mpbs starting May 11 for $99 per month. Heck, if you cared at all about such high speeds, Verizon would have been offering a similar package two years ago, but you just don't.

Don't agree? Tell it to Eric Rabe, senior VP of Media Relations for Verizon, who posted a blog downplaying Cablevision's high-speed announcement. Rabe had some interesting things to say, essentially calling the service a sham.

"With today's technology, you don't have to break much of a sweat to deliver 100Mbps to a few customers," Rabe wrote. "But given the inherent limits of the cable platform, a cluster of bandwidth junkies living near each other could be a real problem. One estimate is that a single 101Mpbs customer would use some 60 perent of the capacity in a neighborhood. Other users? Outta luck."

Rabe went on to ask "How many customers have been storming the castle, asking for 101 megabits per second bandwidth?" Considering the lack of demand and scope, Rabe called Cablevision's announcement a "parlor trick."

And why stop at 100Mpbs? Rabe points out that Verizon's FiOS network has the capacity to deliver 400Mbps to a single home, along with the muscle to carry the load. It also has "plenty of room for more" upstream bandwidth than the 20Mbps it currently offers.

Too bad you don't it.

Image Credit: icanhascheezburger.com

Uncapped 101Mbps Broadband? Yes, Please!

Paul Lilly — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:38:05 -0500

With all the hubbub surrounding bandwidth limits and tiered internet, it would seem that dark days lay ahead for broadband. So excuse us if we refer to Cablevision as a beacon of shining light, as the cable company today became the fastest cable ISP in the US with its Optimum Online Ultra service.

Optimum Online Ultra takes advantage of the multi-channel DOCSIS 3.0 standard, and by doing so, Cablevision is able to woo customers with up to 101Mbps peak downstream and a more than respectable 15Mbps upstream. On paper, that make's Cablevision's service more than twice as fast as Comcast's 50Mbps package, but it's the lack of a bandwidth cap that may ultimately prove to be the biggest draw for consumers.

Long Island, New York residents will get first crack at the new service starting May 11, which will run $99 per month.

Congressman Pledges Anti-Bandwidth-Cap Bill

Paul Lilly — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:26:27 -0500

Newton's third law of motion states "to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction," which might help explain why ISPs feel compelled to offer increasingly faster broadband, yet place bandwidth restrictions as low as 40GB/month. It hardly seems fair considering that streaming HD content is finally starting to take hold, along with downloadable games, an increased interest in Linux, and other ways to use up that monthly allotment. New York Congressman Eric Massa doesn't think it's fair either and has pledged to introduce a bill called the "Broadband Internet Fairness Act."

"I am taking a leadership position on this issue because of all the phone calls, emails, and faxes I've received from my district and all over the country," Massa said in a statement. "While I favor a businesses' right to maximize their profit potential, I believe safeguards must be put in place when a business has a monopoly on a specific region."

Massa was referring to Time Warner Cable (TWC), who said it plans to test tiered internet service in Rochester, New York, which resides in Massa's district. Even more startling is AT&T's plans to test its 20GB data cap in the same town where TWC began its pilot program.

It remains to be seen what, if anything, will come from Massa's proposed bill, but the lesson here is that if you take the time to write, email, or call your Congressman, someone just might listen.

Time Warner's Puny Bandwidth Caps Break out of Texas

Andy Salisbury — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:03:47 -0500

Bandwidth caps are the latest and greatest ways for ISPs to keep people in check, and while some ISPs do have admittedly sizeable caps (such as Comcast’s 250GB/month and AT&T’s slightly less impressive 150GB/month), Time Warner’s is a pathetic 40GB/month, and starting soon, those living in the Lone Star State won’t be the only ones subject to it.

Austin, San Antonio, Rochester, NY and Greensboro, NC will be the next cities that will have to deal with the diminutive bandwidth cap. And, a note to people in these locations, every gig you go over your cap, it’ll cost you a buck.

Now, that’s not to say that a buck all on its own is a big deal, but when you consider that downloading four conservatively sized HD movies, at 5GB a piece, takes up half of your monthly allotment, there’s something to ponder. And, if you enjoy the perks of HD video on Hulu and YouTube, there’s more to worry about. And gamers, if you like to buy your games on Steam, you’d better watch yourselves too! Those megabytes sure can add up quickly, and so can your bill.

Image Credit: Time Warner Cable

Internet Provider COX to Begin Selectively Throttling Internet Traffic

Paul Lilly — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:51:56 -0600

Pretty soon select high speed internet subscribers in Kansas and Arkansas will learn how their ISP got its name. That's because Cox Communications, the third-largest cable ISP in the country, said it will start testing a new method of throttling internet traffic on its high-speed network in the two states, starting in February.

This isn't a bandwidth limit like Comcast and AT&T have implemented. Instead, Cox breaks down internet traffic into two categories -- time sensitive and non-time sensitive -- and when the traffic becomes congested, non time sensitive traffic will take a back seat to higher priority packets.

Not surprisingly, save for the software updates, lower priority traffic will include:

File Access (Bulk transfers of data such as FTP
Network Storage (Bulk transfers of data for storage
P2P (Peer to peer protocols)
Software Updates (Managed updates such as operating system updates)
Usenet (Newsgroup related)

That's right, the latest security patches and Windows system updates will take a backseat to the following:

Web (Web surfing, including web-based email and chat embedded in web pages)
VoIP (Voice over IP, telephone calls made over the internet)
Email
IM (Instant messages, including related voice and webcam traffic)
Streaming (Web-based audio and video programs)
Games (Online interactive games)
Tunneling and Remote Connectivity (VPN-type services for telecommuting)
Other (Any service not categorized into another area)

Take solace in knowing that while your unpatched system may be a sitting duck to a new exploit, at least your neighbor's IM conversation won't be interuppted.

Cox claims its new congestion management plan won't serve as replacements for upgrades to the company's network. However, the ISP says "simply adding capacity is not enough." That means that even as Cox continues to upgrade its network infrastructure, don't expect this test to go away.

Read the full plan here, then tell us what you think below.

USB 3.0 Blazing Speeds Only Theoretical, For Now

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:27:56 -0600

Though many people are keenly awaiting the commercial launch of USB 3.0, it is advisable that they subdue their alacrity a touch as it will take some time for the technology to warm-up. A prototype USB 3.0 hard drive being showcased at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show is only able to manage read speeds up to 1320Mb/s and writes speeds of up to 1000Mb/s, which is around a quarter of what is possible with USB 3.0.

A representative for the USB Implementers Forum also confirmed to TG Daily that it will take a bit of time before devices begin to fully tap the potential of the new technology.