4 ms·

I was recently fortunate enough to upgrade to 1Gb symmetrical fiber. I can say that it is absolutely fantastic. You really can do things you never did before:

I was recently fortunate enough to upgrade to 1Gb symmetrical fiber. I can say that it is absolutely fantastic. You really can do things you never did before: 1. I can host time-machine backups for my entire family on my home server, allow them to have off-site backups. 2. I can provide openVPN service for my entire family when they're outside of the home. I can also browse full-time on my own openVPN client at full-speed. 3. I can seed legitimate torrents for far, far longer than I normally would. For example, new Ubuntu releases. 4. I "donate" some of my bandwidth to other people and projects, allowing them to host files from my home. 5. I can test and host my own websites/services from my house. If it gets a little traction it won't destroy my entire internet. These are all things that simply were not possible when I was with Comcast, with only 10 Mb/s upload and bandwidth caps. If we completely deregulate internet I'm afraid they will be impossible for most everyone.

mistersquid 9y ago
Your list of things is fantastic and I could see the benefit of each and every one of them. But here's the issue. When you tell non-tech-savvy people about "provid[ing] openVPN service for [your] entire family" they go wall-eyed. That's the best-case scenario. In the worst case scenario (e.g. politicians and telecom execs), people become suspicious about what you might be hiding. Increasingly (for going on 50 years now), the US is an authoritarian state with low tolerance for people who insist on exercising the rights granted them in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. (I'm thinking of the right be secure against illegal searches expressed in the 4th Amendment and the use of cryptography as a munition protected by the Second Amendment.)
- orbitingpluto 9y ago
  All odd, because the argument ultimately boils down to, "I don't want to wait for X to download."
voltagex_ 9y ago
>1. I can host time-machine backups for my entire family on my home server, allow them to have off-site backups. What upstream speed do your family have? I've got the equipment and the bandwidth to do this, but my family have <1 megabit upstream available.
- snewk 9y ago
  they said 1 gig symmetrical
  - voltagex_ 9y ago
    Doesn't necessarily mean that's what their family are connected with (to the backup server).
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- matt_wulfeck 9y ago
  They will need to do the backups while they're over if they aren't also on fiber.
twothamendment 9y ago
If I had a connection anywhere near that fast I'd do (and have done) many of the things listed. The problem for me and many others is that many ISPs don't allow those activities. I work from home and value a solid connection, but I'm on the slowest fiber offered, 20Mb both ways. I don't need more speed, I need more freedom to use what I have.
jaggederest 9y ago
I think the largest difference for me is in QoS, not in bandwidth. I generally use 802.11ac so I'm capped at 450mbps of the ~1000 available. The service is always on, it's always stable, there's no weird routing or congestion latency at peak hours, it's just... functional. That's what's miraculous about it to me - basically never needing to reset the router or reconfigure things. Internet as reliable as electricity. I literally don't even think about it. Also the total cost difference is $45 a month for a far more satisfying experience.
- 4ad 9y ago
  > I generally use 802.11ac so I'm capped at 450mbps of the ~1000 available. How come? I generally get between 800-1200Mbps on 802.11ac, real, measured speed with iPerf3.
  - randie63 9y ago
    he only has one wifi antenna , so max 433Mbit. If your Router/Access Point and your client has more then you will also have more speed. 867Mbit with 2 antennas and so on
  - matt_wulfeck 9y ago
    What wifi router do you use? Also, do you use custom firmware?
    - 4ad 9y ago
      I use Mikrotik access points: https://routerboard.com https://routerboard.com I use several models, check out the dual concurrent triple chain ones like: https://mikrotik.com/product/RB962UiGS-5HacT2HnT https://mikrotik.com/product/RB962UiGS-5HacT2HnT I wrote a little bit about my set-up here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14743866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14743866 > Also, do you use custom firmware? No, just standard Mikrotik firmware.
      - jaggederest 9y ago
lnx01 9y ago
Careful - your ISP ToS might explicitly forbid you from hosting internet facing services over your connection.
js2 9y ago
6. lightning strikes nearby won't enter your home over fiber like happened to me 4x over coax, losing your modem at best. NC summer thunderstorms are brutal.

mistersquid 9y ago

Your list of things is fantastic and I could see the benefit of each and every one of them. But here's the issue. When you tell non-tech-savvy people about "provid[ing] openVPN service for [your] entire family" they go wall-eyed. That's the best-case scenario. In the worst case scenario (e.g. politicians and telecom execs), people become suspicious about what you might be hiding. Increasingly (for going on 50 years now), the US is an authoritarian state with low tolerance for people who insist on exercising the rights granted them in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. (I'm thinking of the right be secure against illegal searches expressed in the 4th Amendment and the use of cryptography as a munition protected by the Second Amendment.)

orbitingpluto 9y ago
All odd, because the argument ultimately boils down to, "I don't want to wait for X to download."

voltagex_ 9y ago

>1. I can host time-machine backups for my entire family on my home server, allow them to have off-site backups. What upstream speed do your family have? I've got the equipment and the bandwidth to do this, but my family have <1 megabit upstream available.

snewk 9y ago
they said 1 gig symmetrical
- voltagex_ 9y ago
  Doesn't necessarily mean that's what their family are connected with (to the backup server).
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
matt_wulfeck 9y ago
They will need to do the backups while they're over if they aren't also on fiber.

twothamendment 9y ago

If I had a connection anywhere near that fast I'd do (and have done) many of the things listed. The problem for me and many others is that many ISPs don't allow those activities. I work from home and value a solid connection, but I'm on the slowest fiber offered, 20Mb both ways. I don't need more speed, I need more freedom to use what I have.

jaggederest 9y ago

I think the largest difference for me is in QoS, not in bandwidth. I generally use 802.11ac so I'm capped at 450mbps of the ~1000 available. The service is always on, it's always stable, there's no weird routing or congestion latency at peak hours, it's just... functional. That's what's miraculous about it to me - basically never needing to reset the router or reconfigure things. Internet as reliable as electricity. I literally don't even think about it. Also the total cost difference is $45 a month for a far more satisfying experience.

4ad 9y ago
> I generally use 802.11ac so I'm capped at 450mbps of the ~1000 available. How come? I generally get between 800-1200Mbps on 802.11ac, real, measured speed with iPerf3.
- randie63 9y ago
  he only has one wifi antenna , so max 433Mbit. If your Router/Access Point and your client has more then you will also have more speed. 867Mbit with 2 antennas and so on
- matt_wulfeck 9y ago
  What wifi router do you use? Also, do you use custom firmware?
  - 4ad 9y ago
    I use Mikrotik access points: https://routerboard.com https://routerboard.com I use several models, check out the dual concurrent triple chain ones like: https://mikrotik.com/product/RB962UiGS-5HacT2HnT https://mikrotik.com/product/RB962UiGS-5HacT2HnT I wrote a little bit about my set-up here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14743866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14743866 > Also, do you use custom firmware? No, just standard Mikrotik firmware.
    - jaggederest 9y ago

lnx01 9y ago

Careful - your ISP ToS might explicitly forbid you from hosting internet facing services over your connection.

js2 9y ago

6. lightning strikes nearby won't enter your home over fiber like happened to me 4x over coax, losing your modem at best. NC summer thunderstorms are brutal.