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Is Faster Access to the Internet Needed?

online.wsj.com — When it comes to Internet access, is there such a thing as too fast? That's a question U.S. Internet providers are grappling with as they place strategic bets on whether or not to upgrade their networks to offer high-priced, superhigh-speed Web connections.

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  • ThaKstylez, on 04/10/2008, -72/+1I feel For work yes but home No...
    People need to spend more time with Family
    • liljay2k, on 04/10/2008, -8/+44but if the internet is slower, u will be spending more time online waitin for ur pages 2 load
    • dafragsta, on 04/10/2008, -2/+26The moral police thank you for your donation of rhetoric that would be imposed on those who believe differently.
    • supermanred, on 04/10/2008, -2/+31Grandpa, get off the computer.

      Now, for the rest of us with decent computers, YES we want faster internet. I want HDTV through iTunes and torrent stites, and I want it NOW! It's nice to be able to buy a show on iTunes and start watching it 2 seconds later, but with faster internet all around that would be 1080P starting 10 seconds later.

      Same for everything else, even games would be less "laggy" and could include physics information and such...it would make online gaming a lot more robust than it is now.
      • locojones, on 04/10/2008, -2/+10Steve Jobs will give you HDTV through iTunes when he decides that it's something that you should want. Then he'll spend millions on hip looking commercials so that you too can decide that you just have to have it.
      • Monarch818, on 04/10/2008, -2/+3Most games that are laggy have nothing to do with the amount of bandwidth, but with the hardware on the server you are connecting to. Bandwidth can play a factor. But remember, the other end has to have enough bandwidth to upload for you to download from. And the ones that do have the bandwidth that have files they are uploading on a consistent basis, will have window session sizing enabled in their routers to prevent a few from using up their bandwidth.
        • metalwolf, on 04/11/2008, -1/+0I agree with you but there is no reason why I should have the 150 ping when other gamers have a 20-70 ping on the same server(lets ignore the face that at the time I only had 1.5MB download).
          • qwertydvorak, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1past a certain point, ping isn't affected by a faster connection. distance and physics plays a role. don't forget the number of times your packet is sent through a router along the way. there are plenty of times when the limit isn't your personal connection, but a connection along the way.
    • tonyscha, on 04/10/2008, -1/+18Spend more time with your family?and your the first post on this topic.
    • NathanielJ, on 04/10/2008, -2/+18i feel Random capitalization Is Fun
    • SniperGX1, on 04/10/2008, -1/+11The Internet is more than email, IM, and HTTP pages. Uploading/downloading video, audio, and software. Automatic updates for every damn thing in ur house which seem to have larger updates every time one is needed. Videogames with an online component. Purchasing digital goods online. Streaming online goods. Running simple servers for remote management of your desktop and whatever other devices you have, home hosted web services. And all this with more users sharing a connection than ever before. In america we don't have the luxury of a large bandwidth connection. We have medium bandwidth at best, not to mention services like concast are half duplex. Once you try out a real Internet connection you will understand what all the fuss is about.
    • wellyuk, on 04/10/2008, -0/+13All my family Live at least 5000 miles from me. With faster internet Access at home, which is where I keep in touch With my family, I'd be able to speak to them And see them with higher Quality audio and video.

      You didn't think your Comment through very well, Did you?
      • NathanielJ, on 04/10/2008, -0/+8you Like random capitalization Too?
        • wellyuk, on 04/10/2008, -0/+4no, i Don't know What you're Talking about.
    • mt4055, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3but I Work from Home.
      I guess that's Better than living at Work like I used to do.
  • NateDog, on 04/10/2008, -1/+119It's like money, isn't it? You can never have enough money and you can never have enough bandwidth. If you make 10x the money, you suddenly find yourself spending 10x as much. If super highspeed connections were available, then you'd see a lot more super-bandwidth online apps and services ... it never ends! Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing ... just the way it is.
    • CrazedLeper, on 04/10/2008, -0/+6Can't argue with that--but the MPAA can. F- 'em.
    • dannyboy3020, on 04/10/2008, -0/+5Too bad money cannot bring true happiness :( You are right. The more you have, the more things you want.

      However...my 15/15 FiOS connection keep me rather satisfied :)
      • bhavinp, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3You're only saying that because its hi-speed fibre optic connection. What if there was something faster?
        • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1SONNET
        • codewater, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1"What if" ??? This comment traveled at 100mbits from me to Digg...
      • wellyuk, on 04/10/2008, -3/+3Tell that to the millions of homeless people around the world. Money would bring them a stinking great big grin on their face, a roof over their head, a bite to eat and a shower at least once a week.
        • jamesdew, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1but then eventually they would become used to having things and want more money and more things
        • afruff23, on 04/10/2008, -0/+4"Money would bring them a stinking great big grin on their face"

          Is that an objective fact or your stereotyping? Of course, money makes most people happy to a certain extent. But there are other things in life more importatnt. And this is coming from a full-blooded capitalist.
        • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Its too bad that our money literally means nothing to the millions of poor people around the world huh?Sure you could support them through some agency, but last time i checked almost every relevant agency spent about 70% of that money on advertising and marketing.
        • qwertydvorak, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2that grin stinks because of stale booze and rottten teeth.
      • tj111, on 04/10/2008, -0/+10True, but money buys a waverunner. And have you ever tried to frown on a waverunner?
        • RubberBinder, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1Yes, I was afraid of them when I was younger.
        • dlinkwit27, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3You can't. I did once see a homeless guy skipping, until a bottle hit him in the side of a the head. Yea, I threw it, but I have more money than him and he was happier than me. That's what happens when you break the rules.
    • deltaandroid, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3It like something I heard a while back, ever since early windows computers have advanced a great deal, yet the end user barely notices a difference, its all just taken away by bloated apps and OSes. I guess thats what linux is for eh? :)
    • dollar0dot02, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1I have enough money.
  • Veni_Vidi_Vici, on 04/10/2008, -6/+90TV companies such as NBC are putting their shows online. Many are going hi-def. As cable TV dies, everything is being moved to the internet. And consumers want high-def. So the fact of the matter is that yes, we do need to upgrade our infrastructure. Doing so will also allow people to continue using the peer to peer services, which many startups rely on as they cannot afford big servers. (Thus, we can have network neutrality without slowing down our networks.) While 4Gb/week is way more than enough for me to surf, I am constantly torrenting 4 or 5 GB linux distributions, among many other open source files, etc. I don't want to have a quota of downloads, thats like a government regulation on how many books I can read each week.

    IMO: We need a new government that understands these liberties and is willing to protect them.
    • salomejones, on 04/10/2008, -9/+71If you're constantly torrenting 4 or 5 gig linux distributions, then one of two things is the case:

      1. you're lying, and its pr0n and warez
      2. you need to ***** pick one already
      • fkr3, on 04/10/2008, -4/+1You'd be surprised how many thousands of terabytes a day the worlds' least popular operating systems account for in the P2P world, even though the most popular of the least popular only offers direct downloads on it's homepage. Go to any "pirate" P2P site and you'll quickly see, the most popular torrents are linux distros every minute of every day.

        And that's why nobody wants to massively increase bandwidth for us. Whatever they throw to the public will instantly be consumed by people adjusting their bittorrent client settings for "linux distros".
        • Rahodeb, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3But they generally aren't all going to the same person.
        • phort99, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2Dunno what "pirate" P2P site you browse, but the most popular on The Pirate Bay right now is the South Park episode "Eek! A penis!" followed by 8 movies and a game. A quick search of the top 100 torrents for "linux" reveals nothing.
          • fkr3, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Yes in hindsight I should have made it more clear I was being sarcastic. Piracy is going to cost us our privacy, then it's going to hinder the commercialization of home connections. Congratulations kids, that'll show the MPAA/RIAA for trying to make you pay for ***** you won't pay for but "have" to take.
      • noerrorsfound, on 04/11/2008, -0/+3You're assuming by "constantly torrenting" he means downloading, but he could mean uploading (seeding).
    • Barbarino, on 04/10/2008, -3/+18"as cable tv dies" Um Cable tv is not dying... People are not hooking their new HD tvs to the internet any time soon... People on digg need to get out more often..
      • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -0/+4Cable tv isnt dieing, but analog tv is (in Canada by this time next year). Maybe he is confusing the two?
        • fkr3, on 04/10/2008, -0/+11No this is digg... he would have meant cable tv was dying because he watches tv on his laptop, and also old media is dead because he reads blogs instead of newspapers.
      • kualla, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1From a marketing viewpoint I would have to say that once analog signals disappear there will most likely be a very large number of consumers who dont have an HDTV and have high-speed internet and could easily take advantage of getting their media over the net onto their computer. If even 10% of the population doesn't own an HDTV or converter box that is still a very large amount of people.

        Sounds like internet TV might just gain some major momentum right about when the analog to HDTV switch happens...
    • Ninjapope, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3Cable TV isn't dying, but a lot of cable companies are offering internet service right now, as well as phone services (such as MediaCom around here). If anything, they'll start sending everything through one pipe, which is where higher bandwidth will be needed.
    • mattearle, on 04/10/2008, -2/+3Cable TV is definitely dead in my house, except for sports. It may be hard to see it now but a computer is a better interface for choosing what content you want to watch, than a cable box. Audiences are becoming more and more segmented as they get closer to watching exactly what they, in particular, are interested in. The fact that the picture quality isn't perfect right now is something that will change rapidly over the next few years. That has been proven time and time again - look at video game graphics as a function of time.
    • MvTCracker, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1cable TV voip calling newspapers or rssfeeds that look like news papers and even magazines and books
    • stoanhart, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1Cable TV is dieing, just very, very slowly.

      It makes no sense to have 3 or 4 different cables running into a house when essentially they all carry information. It's still a long ways out, but eventually all of those cables will be consolidated into a single cable. Sooner or later, all things will be transmitted over the Internet.
      • ukblacknight, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Cable is a single cable, TV, Internet & phone.
      • stoanhart, on 04/12/2008, -0/+1Exactly - all of those services except TV are delivered by IP. The subset of frequencies your coax cable can carry that are dedicated to Internet is tiny; the majority of the bandwidth is dedicated to very inefficient TV broadcasting. If the entire spectrum were used for IP, a single coax cable can carry several Gbps. Considering most households only watch a few streams at a time (about a max of 10mbps), it only makes sense to eventually move to pure Internet distribution.
    • Quicksilver4648, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Lol, you have a limit on how much bandwidth you can use. Sucks for you. I bet you have Comcast.
  • Vegabondsx, on 04/10/2008, -3/+176Yes
    • breckinshire, on 04/10/2008, -5/+7*****, you beat me to it.
    • DiggzDE, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2This is the only answer to that kind of question.
  • breckinshire, on 04/10/2008, -10/+99Yes.
    • FlipSpiceland, on 04/10/2008, -0/+22Dugg for the period.
      • springo, on 04/10/2008, -0/+15The time it took him to write it is actually what prevented him from coming first.
  • santaliqueur, on 04/10/2008, -5/+30Is anything beyond basic food and shelter really *needed*?

    Our broadband may be relatively fast now, but yes, we need it faster.
    • tcpip4lyfe, on 04/10/2008, -1/+11Personally I need shelter, electricity, internet, food, beer in that order. Any disruption in my needs will be noted and frowned upon.
      • jamesdew, on 04/10/2008, -1/+0internet before food?
        • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2When you can easily go without food for 4 to 6 hours, but will go crazy from boredom; yes. Internet does come before food.
        • Speed, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Food's never saved my ass when a college essay is due in two hours.
  • mark076h, on 04/10/2008, -2/+23as long as i continue to battle to keep my share ratio on bittorrent above 1.0 for private trackers than the answer is YES!
  • TheBogie, on 04/10/2008, -10/+3Sometimes I don't mind that the internet isn't that fast. How else can I blame lag for my poor KD?
    • DeFex, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2Thats easy, just say your little brother was playing. you were eating, or cat jumped on the keyboard.
    • Disease, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1Learn2play
  • FireXtol, on 04/10/2008, -8/+1Faster than fibre? No I don't need anything faster than light speed. I can settle for photon transmission. Really, I can... but I want the impossible!!!!
    • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -2/+3Just because the data is transmitting at the speed of light, does not mean you are getting information at the speed of light. For instance, an asynchronous fiber connection with many users will be SIGNIFICANTLY slower than a fiber channel synchronous connection. So even though you are technically able to transmit at the same speed there are still improvements that can be made over how it travels.

      That doesnt even mention that repeating and switching light is extremely difficult to do at the same speed light travels. There are more improvements than simple fiber channels that need to be made.
      • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -1/+2I think i might have messed some stuff up. my poor brain is overworks coming to the end of the semester. If you want an example, compare your simple aDSL connection to a SONNET connection. I was not talking about 10/5 u/d vs 10/10 u/d
        • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -1/+0Electricity has very little lag behind light for the purposes of data transmission. Its all in the bandwidth as to how much data you can send/receive at any given time.
  • walkingdogs, on 04/10/2008, -3/+15YES!!!! There cant be too much bandwidth.
    • andrew522, on 04/10/2008, -1/+2until it is faster than your router or harddrive.
      • alexforcefive, on 04/10/2008, -0/+5Then your hard drive is too slow, and the cycle continues. Asking "do we need more bandwidth" is like asking "do we need better cancer treatment?" Of ***** course we do!
  • eggsovereasy, on 04/10/2008, -5/+28Yes
  • darkism, on 04/10/2008, -3/+58Upstream, yes.
    • andrew522, on 04/10/2008, -1/+15I wholeheartedly agree. *****, I have 15 megabits downstream, but only 768 kilobits upstream.
      • locojones, on 04/10/2008, -12/+7Oh man, that must really be a buzzkill when you want to upload lame youtube videos of your life.
        • Cabal, on 04/10/2008, -1/+7or if you don't want to be a leech
        • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -2/+5Upstream kills yoru connection. Bittorrent is an excellent way to show this. Put your max upload speed to 0(unlimited) and max your connections upload capabilities. You can pretty much kiss any downstream seed goodbye when your upstream is maxed out.

          At least, i experience this on my 10/.7 mbit connection (and so should you since you can no longer make requests for data)
          • locojones, on 04/11/2008, -1/+1I don't know what program you're using, but I've never had a problem topping out my download speeds on a torrent when my upstream was maxed.
        • ForkySpoony, on 04/10/2008, -2/+1You can also kiss your account on the torrent site good bye when you don't upload
      • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Ouch, my 1.5 Mb connection has the same upstream as yours. I use my school's connection to upload large files to my server. They have a matching 5 Mb up and down.
        BTW, I live in a small town.
        • andrew522, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1yeah my school has a 10/2meg but I don't need to upload huge files to my server (too often) so I'm fine.
  • Owned1Up, on 04/10/2008, -1/+15Depends how much you are going to charge me for it...
    • minorthreat, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1exactly. Here when you want cable Cox charges you 39.99 a month. You get a 10Mbps connection, They also sometimes advertise their 15Mbps connection for 49.99. I called to cancel because 40 bucks is to much imo.. They said, oh... we have a 25.99 a month plan that is 5Mbps.
      • IllBeBack, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1The "Value Internet" tier at less than $30 per month is available in many Cox areas, but you do have to search carefully on their website to find it.
      • m1zl3d, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Seriously? I would love to pay $50/month for a 15Mbps connection. I currently pay $60/month for 5Mbps. =/
    • pox05, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2i dont see why internet acess should ever get more expensive, it should only get cheaper right?
      • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+0As the network's mainframe gets used more, yes, it begins to make savings returns to the company, but because of our demands for faster internet, the company has to invest the saved money in newer equipment to meet demands. In the best case scenario, internet prices will hold steady, and continue to get faster.
  • BOFH2, on 04/10/2008, -9/+3Where does it end though? Instant gratification is a problem that creates unhappy people. They expect everything now. They want what their parents took until their 40s or 50s to get when they are 32.
    • supermanred, on 04/10/2008, -3/+9Yeah, we should go back to the days when you had to walk 3 hours to the local store and stored all our meat in blocks of salt because we had no fridges.

      Get off the internet, Grandma!
    • Monarch818, on 04/10/2008, -5/+1He's not talking about going back to the olden days, he's talking about immature GREED. You know, the main reason the economy is in the tank now. F'ing Moron!
    • MarrowMan, on 04/10/2008, -3/+1I don't know about you, but I've worked ***** hard for what I have, no silver spoon in this mouth, no rich parents to buy me Audi's or pay for Private School, I'm 32 and take great offense to your ignorant comment, your lack of sagacity is repugnant, and your intelligence is infinitesimal. Go die.
    • samssf, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Why is he being dugg down? Sure he is generalization about people who are 32 wanting everything now... but he is absolutely correct that instant gratification creates unhappy people. In fact, most of the decisions most people make, and the things they want, are counter-productive when trying to "obtain" happiness. The act of pursuing a challenging goal is actually what creates joy in many people. Also, people want more choices in life, but actually the more choice one has, the more likely the person will be satisfied with their choice. In the end though, as long as you have basic needs met, happiness is something you choose to have. External things such as money can only affect your success and freedom. Anyone can choose to be happy with what they have, as long as they are healthy, etc.
      • samssf, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Gah, I meant to say: "...the more choices one has, the more likely the person will NOT be satisfied with their choice."
  • LunaticFringe, on 04/10/2008, -2/+22We need to fully overhaul our infrastructure.
    • kupa, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3weren't they given money to do this a few years ago and supposed to have it done by... well now? and now they are asking for me?
    • cphelps, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1This is the comment I was going to post. I don't see how it can be a bad idea to not increase bandwidth. Why don't we make it so that there is more than we can possibly use. Imagine the possibilities and the opportunities that would arise if we didn't have to worry about keeping things small and "lite" and had the capability to use super-advanced features without bandwidth slowing us down.
  • serif69, on 04/10/2008, -2/+48When I had 14.4k, I thought it was fast enough. Then I tried 28.8k. Then I had 28.8k, I thought it was fast enough. Then I tried 56k. Then I had 56k, I thought it was fast enough. Then I tried ISDN. Then I had ISDN, I thought it was fast enough. Then I tried DSL...
    As long as something exists that is faster, I will feel as if my current connection is too slow.
    • nydwarf, on 04/10/2008, -0/+6I remember starting out with a 300 Baud modem and I thought that was way too slow. Until I got a broadband connection I have always thought the speeds were too slow. If the big internet companies don't think people want more speed they are wrong.
    • outkaster, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3Me and my friends call it the Martin syndrom. We play guitars and once you play a nicer guitar it is hard to go back to the lesser one. Same thing with technology.
      • redington, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2I have a Martin and I'm never going back. On the other hand, I had a fast Comcast connection that was too expensive, so I ditched it for city Wifi for a fraction of the price and I'm only pulling about 150k/second. I'm perfectly fine with this connection, I can still stream TV from Netflix and hulu and it looks decent enough, and now I'm never going back to Comcast.
        • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+0Really, 1-1.5Mb is all thats needed. More is icing on the cake.
      • serif69, on 04/11/2008, -1/+1I know exactly what you mean. I picked up an American Strat to augment my semi-hollow body and I haven't touched the semi since. The Strat is so creamy.
        Martin is next on my list since I've never owned a decent acoustic.
        /hijack
      • ukblacknight, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1That's just the same with anything though, cars, drinks, food, computers...
    • SoundScape, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1By the time 56.6k modems came out, the web was out in force. Web pages sucked back then. I don't know anyone else who thinks 56.6k was ever fast enough. But I agree with your point.
    • Culyt, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2I never though 56k was fast enough.
      Then again I spent 2 days downloading VCD's from hotwire (or whatever it was called)...
  • salomejones, on 04/10/2008, -13/+10Why does it need to be so fast? It's not like you have to hurry up and download that Lost episode before your big date tonight.
    • Disease, on 04/10/2008, -0/+17You've clearly never had to download a Lost episode in 720p before a big date.
      • jamesdew, on 04/10/2008, -0/+4ah the dilema, "should I watch it now in standard res or wait a while and enjoy the 720pness"
      • salomejones, on 04/11/2008, -1/+1Wow, I really cant believe that neither one of you understood that I was implying that the sort of person who wants that kind of bandwidth is the same sort of person who never gets laid.
        • Disease, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2Girls like Lost too.
        • Kloud, on 04/11/2008, -1/+1Wow, I really can't believe you don't understand that they were implying SARCASM.

          Welcome to the internet, why don't you have a seat right over there...?
    • DCstewieG, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Of course not, that would be silly. Lost wasn't new this week.
    • IllBeBack, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2Video on demand in High Definition needs all the bandwidth that can be made available.
      • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+0In the cruddy compression rates of streaming formats. I've seen a Bluray movie put on a DVD-R in identical quality and the DVD-R had plenty of extra space. .mkv FTW
      • Twee, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Cable companies current offer this on the fly. HD programming on demand.
  • Terminaltor, on 04/10/2008, -1/+22The Whole world is building faster more efficient networks and our nation's leading business newspaper is still asking the question "Do we need faster internet ?" Just the fact that they're asking this question put them way behind the curve....and for some weird reason I'm thinking about Ted Stevens now. Our leaders are failing us
  • Wargalas, on 04/10/2008, -4/+5Hell yes! Hi def porn is on the horizon! I need to see the stretch marks of a woman who's a step above a worn out hooker!
    • supermanred, on 04/10/2008, -1/+5Step below, they make less usually.
    • MillionsLivio, on 04/10/2008, -0/+4Horizon? It's already here.
      • allahuakbar, on 04/10/2008, -2/+1Where?
        • Kloud, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1www.empornium.us
          www.puretna.com
          www.isohunt.com
          www.thepiratebay.org
    • genepooldesign, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2Eww. Where the hell are you getting your porn?
  • megaton, on 04/10/2008, -4/+9"Web connections"?

    The WWW != the Internet!
  • jp12380, on 04/10/2008, -1/+16How about offer us connection speeds that Asia is getting at reasonable prices like them, vs 150 a month for 50 mbps when they are getting 100 mbps for at least half the price.
    • Purkake, on 04/10/2008, -0/+6Here in Estonia I get 12Mb internet along with digital television for like $40 a month. Plus I got a free router when I joined.
      • jp12380, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2Better then what I get.
      • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1lol @ free routers that start dropping requests because it cant handle more than 3 people browsing at once.
        • Purkake, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1It is not just some random junk router. It is a Thomson SpeedTouch 780WL and I haven't had any trouble with it.
        • jamesdew, on 04/10/2008, -1/+0thats a high quality router that is /sarcasm
          • Purkake, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1It is good enough. If I needed more, I'd get a Linksys
          • thallium205, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1I'm having problems in determining if you are being sarcastic or not.
          • jamesdew, on 04/11/2008, -0/+0i used to do support for an ISP that used that router. It's configuration pages were terrible and the wireless dongle that came with it just dropped out all the time for no reason
    • magixx2, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1In soviet Canada (Ottawa) you can only get 5mb/s for 30$ with 200GB cap and Bittorrent throttled at 60kb/s all the time (Bell Sympatico) or 10mb/s for 55$ and 95GB cap (Rogers). Thats it, any other company is actually reselling Bell and torrents are still throttled at 60kb/s. People in the US need to stop complaining.
      • dakine42, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0Possibly the only time I have ever and will ever agree with anyone from Ottawa. America, quit complaining about your speeds and costs until you have to deal with a monopolized ass pillaging that we get here.
      • Purkake, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Luckily we don't have a cap or bittorrent throttling (yet). Having a download cap would really suck
    • lilsis, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2i wish i lived in the asia you're talking about... in china the internet is piss poor.
    • Kloud, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1I love when people talk about ***** they know nothing of. You know why they have such high speeds? Half of their populations are living like ***** sardines. And it's not really "Asia" that's getting these speeds, it's the most densely populated cities/countries, and that's because the cost associated with bringing the new technologies to such a small region is NOTHING compared to laying it across the whole US of A. Why do you think half of us don't even have fiber yet?
  • Cronikeys, on 04/10/2008, -1/+5Absolutely.
  • AppleGeorge, on 04/10/2008, -4/+20I feel that my Comcast is extremely fast. The only problem is I want to stop being throttled.
    • feliks2, on 04/10/2008, -0/+8That's definately far from the only problem with Comcast.
    • Culyt, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1The simple solution is to take your money else where.
      Otherwise you can try those encrypted bittorrent systems.
      Also look out for class action lawsuits against them, you might be entitled to money.
      • AppleGeorge, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1There's nothing else as fast in Houston. The next best thing is AT&T DSL, and it's slow as hell.
        I have my client encrypted, but that should be needed. It should work fine.
    • svtspeed, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1It's called encryption. Use it. Or just get smart and stop using torrents - UseNet FTW!
  • asskicker32, on 04/10/2008, -5/+3oh god yes. 5mb is not nearly fast enough for me... Whats shocking to me is that now, speeds at home are going up and speeds at work stay the same. A T1 now is the same as a T1 then. A DS3 now is the same as a DS3 then, but cable modem now is not the same as 56k then.
    • aelias, on 04/10/2008, -1/+5They do make faster business connections, you know.
    • andrew522, on 04/10/2008, -1/+8Yeah. thats because a T1 is defined by its speed, unlike a cable modem. I think (I might be slightly wrong) that a T1 is 1.544 megabits per second. you can have fractionals, and bondeds, but a T1 is still a local-loop connection to the telco. T1's are also available anywhere there is a phoneline, because it isn't reliant on different short transmission frequencies like DSL is.

      It is also because that is dedicated bandwidth, not shared, like most residential connections nowadays. A cable company might have several gigabit connections, and then just split it to the customers by limiting bandwidth on the Customer Premise Equipment. In other words, I could "uncap" my modem and get like 30meg, because all that speed is piped through my neighborhood (I have 15meg btw). You cannnot "uncap" a T1 or a DS3 because the connection is not split before the telco.

      hope I didn't confuse anyone
      • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -1/+0I think T1 is faster than that. My 1.5 Mb connection maxes out at 180-190 KB/s whereas my school's T1 maxes out at 300KB/s
        • andrew522, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1then thats not strictly a "T1". yeah a T1 would only ever hit like 192 KB/s. your school might have just a business DSL or Cable connection (like mine - it has a 10/2meg RoadRunner Business line)
  • NathanielJ, on 04/10/2008, -2/+34"Broadband was instrumental to the success of Google, Amazon, eBay, YouTube and all other graphics- and video-rich Web services we now take for granted,"

    I'm sorry, in what world was the success of Google dependent in any way on broadband? A large reason for Google's success as a search engine back then was the fact that it was extremely minimalist, so dial-up users were able to use it quickly and easily.
    • yoshman, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1He was probably talking about Youtube I imagine.
      • NathanielJ, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Then why separately mention YouTube?
    • Kloud, on 04/11/2008, -1/+1Google is more than just a search engine genius.
    • graystar, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Broadband was "always on internet" which meant google became your always on resource. Would you "google" something if you needed to wait for a dialup to connect?
  • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -4/+4You dont realize the necessity of faster internet until you actually have it. I have 10mbit right now and i could NEVER move back. It would almost deter me from moving somewhere else if they couldent at least match my current speed.
  • Atom, on 04/10/2008, -4/+3When are people EVER satisfied w/ what they have? You wont find one person who doesnt wish that his car was a little faster or house a little bigger. If you build it they will use it. If for nothing else at least downloading full length HD pron...
    • CrazedLeper, on 04/10/2008, -1/+15Because no idea or invention was ever born of satisfaction.
      • ZaZ2137, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Well said.
      • tiuk, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1That's a great quote. Did you just come up with that? Couldn't find anything with google.
    • jamesdew, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0i find HD porn reveals things i would rather left blurry
    • BlackJackJester, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2Its called the status quo, and people never, ever want to go backwards, as that is a sign of failure.
    • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -1/+0I've driven very fast, nice cars. I like my smaller car because it doesn't stab me in the back for gas or insurance.
    • Testiculese, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1Surprise! I am satisfied. I don't need a bigger house (though a garage would be nice), I don't need a faster car (Have a Maxima), and my broadband doesn't need to be any more than the 4mb/1mb it is now. (I don't p2p).
  • maxwalter, on 04/10/2008, -2/+0the internet will always need to be faster until its no longer the bottleneck for transferring files from one computer to another. and then once that threshold is reached, they will need to concentrate on making those speeds affordable for the average US household.
  • protodon, on 04/10/2008, -1/+2How about this, make it fast and commonplace then you won't have to charge high-prices for it.
  • lotrtrotk, on 04/10/2008, -1/+8If we can get to a point where I can get consistent bandwidth to reliably stream HD content over the net.... then I will be content.
    Perhaps x2 or x3 so it can be done on multiple devices at once.
    • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+0Until HD is redefined, like the quad HD monitors dell sells... or the 4K digital theater projectors.
      HD=1920 pixels wide, quad HD=2560 pixels wide, 4K=4096 pixels wide.
  • designerutah, on 04/10/2008, -5/+0Too fast would be when botnets fill your email before you even plug your computer in. Otherwise, being able to move more data in less time seems like a great idead.. always!
    • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1I generally install all my safety nets before plugging to my router. I only did that because i once installed a windows XP SP2 and 3 SECONDS after turning it on while plugged in i had 4 porn pop ups.
      • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -1/+0I've ran brand new xp installs online for hours before thinking to install avg free stuff. I never had popups because I wasn't browsing the web. What were you doing in those 3 seconds?
  • Slimem88, on 04/10/2008, -12/+2Think about this in regards to speed, though. Let's say that you're checking out some porn; we all do it, no need to beat around the bush (pun intended). You click a torrent to download and *bam!* It's downloading. Only problem is ... you didn't actually intend to click that torrent. I've dealt with this so many times. Not just in porn, but in other ways, too. I click a link that I didn't actually mean to ... I can hit that "x" on Firefox and stop it. I'm downloading a song that I didn't mean to. "X" is my friend. With faster and faster speeds, it's going to be increasingly difficult to use the power of "stop" in browsers and apps. I'm all for faster speeds; the question is how MUCH is needed, really, for practical use.
    • acmecorps, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0WTF?
    • kooftspc, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2x is the mark of a moron. how the hell do you accidentally download all of this *****? maybe somebody should x your head
  • supermanred, on 04/10/2008, -5/+4And OH GOD YES so nobody can claim "lag" when I am shooting them above their left eye in Rainbow 6 Vegas 2.
    • locojones, on 04/10/2008, -0/+6Then you need to put the controller down and learn the difference between bandwidth and latency.
      • bejayel, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3Faster internet = lower latency speaking generally.
      • ForkySpoony, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Yes but, someone in China is going to lag with someone in Texas regardless of bandwidth. Electrical/Light transmission can only travel so fast.
        • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+0If he was trained so well onto the guy's skull, those 3 ms weren't going to matter.
  • gplpark92, on 04/10/2008, -2/+3People will never be satisfied.
    I will though, once Google brings back the ability to search exact cases by using quotation marks (try it, it doesn't work)
    • NathanielJ, on 04/10/2008, -1/+3What are you talking about? Typing in:
      "Cheese Monster"
      brings up different results than typing in
      Cheese Monster

      And besides that, even if quotes for some reason weren't working, you could just go to the advanced search and fill in "this exact phrase or wording" box.
      • raynevandunem, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2He's probably referring to the removal of searching exact quotes with at least one quotation mark in front of the phrase rather than requiring one on both ends of the desired quote.

        If that's the case, then I've personally found the change annoying as well.
      • SteveMax, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1However, for example, "Off Topic" gives the same results as "off topic". You can't search for exact capitalization, which is what I think the GP wants (and yes, it used to be possible years ago).
      • Kloud, on 04/11/2008, -1/+1cAsE sEnSiTiVe
        At least read the comment twice before opening your mouth.
    • acmecorps, on 04/10/2008, -1/+0or you could try "Cheese.Monster", with a dot in the middle.
  • Ninjapope, on 04/10/2008, -3/+6The internet just needs more seeders.

    Damn leechers.
  • motionb, on 04/10/2008, -2/+5What the heck kinda question is that!?!?!?! Do we NEED faster internets?!?! HA thats like saying do we NEED oxygen, or porn or what not......
  • Yarrrr, on 04/10/2008, -5/+4I don't see why the average person needs such a fast connection, I'm a power-user and rarely get close to maxing out my 8mbit.

    If anything I'd like to see an upgrade of upload speeds on home connections.
    • Kronos6948, on 04/10/2008, -1/+6Stream some Hi Def video.
      • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+08Mb can do that easily. You are probably being bottlenecked by a busy server sending the same data to 100+ other viewers.
    • LoneThistle0, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1You aren't downloading from the right places...nub. My 100/100 maxes at 12mb/s for everything I dl. :p
  • struckanerve5, on 04/10/2008, -7/+0i don't think we really need those speeds at the moment. i use comcast and have there best package. on speedtest.net i sometimes get around 25MB down and around 2.5MB up. and i don't even get to use close of that bandwidth when I'm downloading files off the Internet. most servers have caps which is usually on avg like 10MB. and i cant really see pages load up faster then they are right now. just my opinion.
    • ApeInago, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1no, tahts comcast fuk'n wiht you with their speed boost technology.
  • insllvn, on 04/10/2008, -0/+20"640K should be enough for anybody!"

    I don't know what we will think of to do with all this new bandwidth, but I know someone will think of a use. No one envisioned you tube, bit torrent, Google Maps, Skype, video chat, etc when we had 56k modems, but give us the bandwidth and we will use it.
    • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -1/+0My website needs 1Mb as a minimum for streaming it's files.
  • kreatre2007, on 04/10/2008, -0/+8Internet service in this country needs to be a lot faster if we are to ever truly transition television onto the Internet. I have a decent connection through AT&T U-Verse but, most of the bandwidth is going to the TV and only 10Mbps is going to my internet connection. They can do better than that. They just don't want to. Instead, internet service providers jack up prices and give us slower connections than are found in countries like Japan and in Europe.
    • Kloud, on 04/11/2008, -1/+1Compare the sizes of the regions in relation to their average internet speed.
  • ezran, on 04/10/2008, -0/+17Maslow's Thesis on human basic needs:

    1. Food
    2. Shelter
    3. Social expression
    4. Internet connection
    • TomTruelle, on 04/10/2008, -0/+25. Beer
      • scyon, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1counterpoint: sudo apt-get install Beer.

        Given that apt-get can calculate missing dependencies, if you are missing Food, Shelter, Social expression or Internet connection it should be able to install them automatically. However, if you do not have Internet connection installed, you had best have a CD with it handy.
  • nikstr, on 04/10/2008, -3/+3Does a bear ***** in the woods?
  • tehjarvis, on 04/10/2008, -0/+11Either increase the speed, or stop making new porn until I catch up.
  • RaiderWolf, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2I will always need faster but I wouldn't want it if it were metered access (charging by the megabyte or gigabyte).
  • cyclades, on 04/10/2008, -0/+14To question whether it's needed is like reading those old magazines where Bill Gates et all questioned whether faster CPUs were needed and saying that 128k memory was all you were ever going to need.

    Anyone betting against faster speeds is sinking their company down the road and should be fired now.
    • lilsis, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1yeah it sounds like time warner is really punching itself in the dick on this one
  • gridbread, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1I'd be fine with the current if they would stop capping/throttling.
  • digitallysick, on 04/10/2008, -0/+7Yes of course, but, once we get faster internet we will end up with HD flash Ads, and etc garbage to slow it down.
    • coollettuce, on 04/10/2008, -0/+4AdblockHD FTW!
    • mt4055, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1FlashblockHD FTW!
    • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -2/+0Flash can be scaled to way bigger than HD, its screensize is not a factor, other than for cpu usage.
  • nikomo, on 04/10/2008, -3/+3Here's my short answer to the question:
    YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
  • unrealmp3, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2I'm using Videotron in Quebec, and the speed is relatively good compared to other ISPs in the region. The only drawback: 20GB of download/10GB of upload per month. For 40$ per month, that's a bit ridiculous. I don't need a faster connection, I need more allocated bandwidth per month..
    • LoneThistle0, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2Holy ***** *****! I go through 11tb a month for $115 a month. The same thing would cost you $14666 dolars a month. ***** THAT! You are getting screwed my friend. :(
  • mark239, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3How much is internet access in the US? Some providers in the UK offer 'up to' 24 mbit for around 30-35USD per month.
    I pay $20US for 16 mbit uncapped at present.
    • Kronos6948, on 04/10/2008, -1/+2For around that price, we get 768k DSL.
      • dudeguy1234, on 04/10/2008, -2/+2***** Verizon....I pay like 25 bucks/ month for "up to" 3 mbps and i get like 100 kbps. When I do speedtests it says 1000kbps (1mbps) but i NEVER get above 150 kbps....so gay.....
        • Jereso, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3Its called KiloBits, not kilobytes. KB is kilobytes. Kb is kilobits. A (#)bit is 1/8th of a byte. You're getting a 1.5 Mb connection.
        • Zaeboes, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1I have a problem with this "up to" nonsense.
        • amigiac, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1The up to is because telephone lines degrade the signal the further it travels, so if you are within a quarter mile of the exchange you could very well receive the maximum, but any further away and the signal gradually degrades. They cannot guarantee the quality of the line (or the connections) as it was prolly installed decades ago.
    • BuryIt, on 04/10/2008, -2/+1*****.
    • amigiac, on 04/11/2008, -0/+2In city centres you can get upto 24Mbit, I live in London, a couple of miles north of the city/west end and have the 24Down/1.3Up deal for £18 a month, due to no being very close to my exchange I connect at 14Mbit down 1.3Mbit up.
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