NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Subject: Re: [IP] "Entry level pricing"
i agree. i'm paying 50.00/month for 10mb. i consistantly get between less than 1mb to between 1-2mb. this is from verizon fiber. i consistantly have issues on youtube and other video sites. i often have issues on pages with java. most consumers have no clue. one of my clients calls every so often that verizon calls about a great price for broadband - only whatever dollars. i ask what bandwith? client reply - broadband. his client uses dsl now with better connectivity than i receive with fiber. another example = related - to consumers (and small biz owners) not knowing: i receive calls that the client complains their computer (or network) is not working - totally broken. after further questions on my part it always turns out to be a problem related to internet connectivity, never anything else. many cablecos, when one calls tech support on these issues and it cannot be resolved on the phone, advises of a charge to come to the site for diagnosis anf repair if it is the customer's problem. this scares many many customers who end up putting up with lousy service because they are afraid the actual charges will be much higher than quoted. of course if it is the fault of the provider no compensation that is fair is given to the customer for potentially waiting for up to 8 hours for a tech to arrive, then diagnose and repair. on top of that, most consumers have no idea if the issue was actually resolved correctly. most techs don't even know the difference between ping and tracert if they even know tracert exists. it's more than a bandwidth issue although that is a place to begin. > > I am not exaggerating - I was sold a "3Mbps" DSL connection and YouTube > video (or any other type of video for that matter) was consistently > choppy, buffering and other such impairments. The question of whether it > really was a 3Mbps connection comes down to expert knowledge that the > vast majority of consumers (even businesses) wouldn't have the remotest > idea of how to begin testing. I was also unable to use vnc (in low > bandwidth connection mode, of course) for remote desktop work due to > latencies of several seconds - and in this case the problem was > identified as not my employers network. > > I realised after some time that I had never once observed anything close > to the rated maximum speed on my 3Mbps DSL connection that I was paying > $50/month for (in Canada). In fact I was consistently getting 1/5 of > that speed. I have since downgraded to a 256kbps link for $25/month and > have largely observed almost no difference in performance. > > Based on your testimony, George, apparently you have an ISP of the > highest integrity who deliver close to what they said they would. This > seems to be inconsistent with the experience of the majority of people > on this list. My suspicion is that this maps to general consumers as > well, except that they have no means of characterising what they are > delivered by their ISP - nor even consumer savvy to know that they > _should_ test the performance. > > Russell. >