I signed up with Comcast for, I think, 30 megabit cable internet. I had a service problem a while back so they upgraded "for free" to 50. I just ran a speed test and it's 920+38 Mbits. This is with a CAT5 cable right from their modem. At work, we have a MonkeyBrains dish. We pay for 50+50 and get 500+500. This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits.
speed test
Started by ●September 12, 2023
Reply by ●September 12, 20232023-09-12
On 12/09/2023 15:18, John Larkin wrote:> I signed up with Comcast for, I think, 30 megabit cable internet. I > had a service problem a while back so they upgraded "for free" to 50. > I just ran a speed test and it's 920+38 Mbits. This is with a CAT5 > cable right from their modem.Is that a fibre to premises circuit? Mine out in the wilds could only supply ~300M on a nominal 500M line on a "free" trial so I opted to fall back to the 150Mbps service that I had ordered (I get 100% of that).> At work, we have a MonkeyBrains dish. We pay for 50+50 and get > 500+500. > > This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, > same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits.I'm surprised that they upgrade you 10x for free. In the UK they invariably try to extract extra money out of you for such speed upgrades which means a lot of people are still on rather slow legacy speeds. Likewise with phone contracts they try to extract constant or ever increasing amounts of money from you by increasing mobile data. -- Martin Brown
Reply by ●September 12, 20232023-09-12
On 9/12/2023 10:18 AM, John Larkin wrote:> I signed up with Comcast for, I think, 30 megabit cable internet. I > had a service problem a while back so they upgraded "for free" to 50. > I just ran a speed test and it's 920+38 Mbits. This is with a CAT5 > cable right from their modem. > > At work, we have a MonkeyBrains dish. We pay for 50+50 and get > 500+500. > > This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, > same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits.A lot of those multi-hundred megabit connections will go to a wireless router where all user devices are connected to it via 802.11n or 802.11ac in a super-cluttered RF environment, and topping out at 50 or 100 megabits throughput on a good day
Reply by ●September 12, 20232023-09-12
On Tue, 12 Sep 2023 11:23:54 -0400, bitrex <user@example.net> wrote:>On 9/12/2023 10:18 AM, John Larkin wrote: >> I signed up with Comcast for, I think, 30 megabit cable internet. I >> had a service problem a while back so they upgraded "for free" to 50. >> I just ran a speed test and it's 920+38 Mbits. This is with a CAT5 >> cable right from their modem. >> >> At work, we have a MonkeyBrains dish. We pay for 50+50 and get >> 500+500. >> >> This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, >> same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits. > >A lot of those multi-hundred megabit connections will go to a wireless >router where all user devices are connected to it via 802.11n or >802.11ac in a super-cluttered RF environment, and topping out at 50 or >100 megabits throughput on a good dayWe have a coax into the house, cable TV and internet and POTS. My household WiFi is much slower, 7+3, downstairs in my office. There's steel and concrete in the way.
Reply by ●September 12, 20232023-09-12
On Tue, 12 Sep 2023 15:33:31 +0100, Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote:>On 12/09/2023 15:18, John Larkin wrote: >> I signed up with Comcast for, I think, 30 megabit cable internet. I >> had a service problem a while back so they upgraded "for free" to 50. >> I just ran a speed test and it's 920+38 Mbits. This is with a CAT5 >> cable right from their modem. > >Is that a fibre to premises circuit?No, cable TV coax.> Mine out in the wilds could only >supply ~300M on a nominal 500M line on a "free" trial so I opted to fall >back to the 150Mbps service that I had ordered (I get 100% of that). > >> At work, we have a MonkeyBrains dish. We pay for 50+50 and get >> 500+500. >> >> This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, >> same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits. > >I'm surprised that they upgrade you 10x for free. In the UK they >invariably try to extract extra money out of you for such speed upgrades >which means a lot of people are still on rather slow legacy speeds. > >Likewise with phone contracts they try to extract constant or ever >increasing amounts of money from you by increasing mobile data.It seems like suppliers here are upgrading for free to keep up with competition. We could use cable, a microwave dish, or a couple sources for Gbit fiber. We had an AT&T internet connection over the traditional phone twisted pairs, but it was slow and expensive and died when it rained. Comcast threw in POTS telephone service for free when we got their internet service. I unplugged the phones because all the calls were spam.
Reply by ●September 12, 20232023-09-12
On 9/12/2023 8:23 AM, bitrex wrote:> A lot of those multi-hundred megabit connections will go to a wireless router > where all user devices are connected to it via 802.11n or 802.11ac in a > super-cluttered RF environment, and topping out at 50 or 100 megabits > throughput on a good dayLike running POTS via a SLIC96. *Unused* bandwidth doesn't buy the provider anything. Better to let customers THINK they have a good deal and talk it up to their friends (cheaper than PAYING for advertising) and, when the fixed bandwidth eventually gets consumed by those referrals, they can fall back on the contract language: "*UP* *TO* x Mbps" We downgraded our (microwave) link -- but, keep it running at advertised speed 24/7/365 (much to the chagrin of our provider who would rather we pay for a fatter pipe that we use intermittently)
Reply by ●September 13, 20232023-09-13
On Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 11:24:03 AM UTC-4, bitrex wrote:> On 9/12/2023 10:18 AM, John Larkin wrote: > > I signed up with Comcast for, I think, 30 megabit cable internet. I > > had a service problem a while back so they upgraded "for free" to 50. > > I just ran a speed test and it's 920+38 Mbits. This is with a CAT5 > > cable right from their modem. > > > > At work, we have a MonkeyBrains dish. We pay for 50+50 and get > > 500+500. > > > > This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, > > same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits. > A lot of those multi-hundred megabit connections will go to a wireless > router where all user devices are connected to it via 802.11n or > 802.11ac in a super-cluttered RF environment, and topping out at 50 or > 100 megabits throughput on a good dayI don't find speed tests to be very useful, because they are not measuring anything I use often. What I find, is that I can get a very high speed on the test, but when using the web for the things I mostly do, the delays are caused by latencies. A web page may have many MB or even GB of graphics involved, but they are all separate files. So they get downloaded when they get downloaded. Web pages often show up at a much lower speed number than the streaming speed tests show. A streaming speed test might show something useful for watching videos. But I never need more than 12 or 15 Mbps for that. So, web based speed tests are not particularly useful to me, other than telling me there's nothing wrong with the connection. -- Rick C. - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
Reply by ●September 14, 20232023-09-14
On 12/09/2023 17:57, John Larkin wrote:> On Tue, 12 Sep 2023 15:33:31 +0100, Martin Brown > <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote: > >> On 12/09/2023 15:18, John Larkin wrote:>>> This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, >>> same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits. >> >> I'm surprised that they upgrade you 10x for free. In the UK they >> invariably try to extract extra money out of you for such speed upgrades >> which means a lot of people are still on rather slow legacy speeds. >> >> Likewise with phone contracts they try to extract constant or ever >> increasing amounts of money from you by increasing mobile data. > > It seems like suppliers here are upgrading for free to keep up with > competition. We could use cable, a microwave dish, or a couple sources > for Gbit fiber.That seems very socialist. It surely makes more sense for them to extract at least some additional income for increasing your speed. UK telcos are considerably more mercenary about upgrading their customers.> We had an AT&T internet connection over the traditional phone twisted > pairs, but it was slow and expensive and died when it rained. Comcast > threw in POTS telephone service for free when we got their internet > service. I unplugged the phones because all the calls were spam.I presume the POTS phone service is actually a POTS connector on an all digital VOIP service offered over their backhaul. This is causing a lot of trouble in the UK with BT rolling out "Digital Voice" over an unwilling population of mostly elderly people who depend on features of copper based POTS for living independently. Notably that POTS phones still work if the mains fails and various alarms and care on call services will only work correctly with a true copper physical line. ADSL in its various forms shouldn't be that unstable unless there is something fundamentally wrong with the local wiring (as there is in my village - no-one past me gets more than 2Mbps ADSL on copper). However since I now have a fibre connection I don't care. The failing junction box (think black plastic policeman's helmet with multicoloured wire knitting and joints inside) is buried in the verge in front of my house. If the water table rises it floods and shorts out circuits. When the guys come to sort it out it sounds like maracas when they shake it! In theory I think it is supposed to be water tight but in practice rodents do for the catches or seals and after a few years it isn't. -- Martin Brown
Reply by ●September 14, 20232023-09-14
On 9/14/2023 1:35 AM, Martin Brown wrote:> That seems very socialist. It surely makes more sense for them to extract at > least some additional income for increasing your speed. UK telcos are > considerably more mercenary about upgrading their customers.Your *guaranteed* speed usually doesn't increase. Your "up to" (maximum) speed can be increased for zero cost -- because they don't have to GIVE you that bandwidth if they can find another buyer!> I presume the POTS phone service is actually a POTS connector on an all digital > VOIP service offered over their backhaul.Exactly. You can even find "home phone service" that's a fixed-in-place cell phone wired to your home's internal wiring.> This is causing a lot of trouble in > the UK with BT rolling out "Digital Voice" over an unwilling population of > mostly elderly people who depend on features of copper based POTS for living > independently. Notably that POTS phones still work if the mains fails and > various alarms and care on call services will only work correctly with a true > copper physical line.Yes. People move away from a dedicated pair to <whatever> and then wonder why their *phone* is out. City workers came out to install "speed humps" (broader than "humps") in the neighborhood. The outer edges of each are to be marked with an upright post, carrying "warning" markings (for drivers who can't see the bright zebra-stripes painted on the ELEVATED hump). These are supposed to be fastened to the asphalt in the gully (allows water to flow around the hump) on each side of the hump as that's so close to the edge of the road that no driver should be that far over (except those who want to avoid the hump with their OUTER set of wheels). Joe Rocket Scientist opted to drive the post into the soil in the "hell strip" alongside the hump (<https://www.ecolandscaping.org/05/designing-ecological-landscapes/native-plants/hellstrip-plantings-creating-habitat-in-the-space-between-the-sidewalk-and-the-curb/>) And, because they aren't supposed to work too hard, he uses a pneumatic impact driver to ram the metal post through the soil (which, admittedly, is VERY hard, here). EXACTLY *through* the CATV feed for the neighborhood, taking out every subscriber's TV, phone and internet service! Of course, the pneumatic driver didn't flinch at the obstruction so there was no way for Joe Rocket Scientist to realize what he'd just done...> ADSL in its various forms shouldn't be that unstable unless there is something > fundamentally wrong with the local wiring (as there is in my village - no-one > past me gets more than 2Mbps ADSL on copper).(All) Our services are below grade. And, after 40 years, water infiltration means things like phone go to shit. (even the power cables are overdue for replacement) Was a time when you couldn't carry on a VOICE conversation on our pair; the noise floor... wasn't! <frown> The solution, of course, is to just move you to a different pair that *seems* better... *now*. The cost of actually running new cable (or fiber) is just not in the cards for the folks who are just trying to squeeze every last gasping nickel out of a rundown technology. [Which is amusing as their biggest asset *is* the last mile!]> However since I now have a fibre connection I don't care. The failing junction > box (think black plastic policeman's helmet with multicoloured wire knitting > and joints inside) is buried in the verge in front of my house. If the water > table rises it floods and shorts out circuits. When the guys come to sort it > out it sounds like maracas when they shake it! > > In theory I think it is supposed to be water tight but in practice rodents do > for the catches or seals and after a few years it isn't.Our "network access points" aren't particularly watertight but the connections between the house and network are behind rubber seals and high in the box (which would never be able to HOLD water). The problem is always somewhere other than at YOUR access point ("If we have to send someone out and we discover its a problem in YOUR wiring, we will bill you for the service visit!" "Well, the house is disconnected from your network and you'll note the test YOU just ran shows a fault so I'm REALLY confident this is on your dime!")
Reply by ●September 14, 20232023-09-14
On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 4:35:14 AM UTC-4, Martin Brown wrote:> On 12/09/2023 17:57, John Larkin wrote: > > On Tue, 12 Sep 2023 15:33:31 +0100, Martin Brown > > <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote: > > > >> On 12/09/2023 15:18, John Larkin wrote: > > >>> This seems to be a trend, much faster internet than we signed up for, > >>> same price. The backbone fibers must be moving petabits. > >> > >> I'm surprised that they upgrade you 10x for free. In the UK they > >> invariably try to extract extra money out of you for such speed upgrades > >> which means a lot of people are still on rather slow legacy speeds. > >> > >> Likewise with phone contracts they try to extract constant or ever > >> increasing amounts of money from you by increasing mobile data. > > > > It seems like suppliers here are upgrading for free to keep up with > > competition. We could use cable, a microwave dish, or a couple sources > > for Gbit fiber. > That seems very socialist. It surely makes more sense for them to > extract at least some additional income for increasing your speed. UK > telcos are considerably more mercenary about upgrading their customers.That's one of the strangest comments I've heard anyone make... even here. Competition is the core of capitalism. If they are upgrading the neighborhood, it may well be they simply don't have the slower speed anymore, or that they've changed their rate structure so that the higher speed is the same price as the old lower speed.> > We had an AT&T internet connection over the traditional phone twisted > > pairs, but it was slow and expensive and died when it rained. Comcast > > threw in POTS telephone service for free when we got their internet > > service. I unplugged the phones because all the calls were spam. > I presume the POTS phone service is actually a POTS connector on an all > digital VOIP service offered over their backhaul.Maybe for new installations, but this is an area where the rule applies, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!". The POTS home connection works very well once in place. Even if they install fiber, they don't remove all the POTS wiring.> This is causing a lot > of trouble in the UK with BT rolling out "Digital Voice" over an > unwilling population of mostly elderly people who depend on features of > copper based POTS for living independently. Notably that POTS phones > still work if the mains fails and various alarms and care on call > services will only work correctly with a true copper physical line.Yeah, a friend moved into a retirement community some years ago and they use fiber to the home, but he's actually has voice with his cable service. No 911 location info and when power goes out, so does the phone. I gave him a UPS for his cable box, and a non-powered phone plugged directly into the unit. So, as long as the rest of the cable system works, he can get a call out. But, they've also given him an emergency alert unit that is supposed to work in a power failure. I just don't know who it summons. -- Rick C. + Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging + Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
