3 ms·

Upload Speeds are Killing Innovation and Wasting Our Time

1 points by busterc 13y ago

As much as I'd like to think that symmetric broadband is the solution; it probably isn't. After all, for everything uploaded (pics, vids, files) there is likely to be several times the demand for it's download (otherwise, it probably isn't very important race up anyhow). However, there has to be a better way! Upload speeds from my provider, U-Verse, haven't changed in the last 5 years. Yet, I upload a lot more than I did 5 years ago; don't you? In the meantime, nothing changes with upload speeds. Will it ever change, or, are we doomed to forever allow slow upload speeds dictate how we utilize bandwidth?

dalke 13y ago
The US is falling behind in terms of network bandwidth to the home. This is attributed to many factors. Personally, I'm most empathetic to the duopoloy argument. Where I live - in a small city in Sweden - we can get 300-500 Mbit/s download and 30-50 Mbit/s upload for under US$150 per month (says https://www.comhem.se/bredband/bredbandspaket https://www.comhem.se/bredband/bredbandspaket ). On that scale, AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet, with a 'Max Turbo' download speed of 24 Mbit/s at $66/mo (says http://www.att.com/u-verse/explore/internet-landing.jsp?fbid=WiZ4HAzVwNH http://www.att.com/u-verse/explore/internet-landing.jsp?fbid... ), is rather slow. For the same price we can get 30-50 Mbit/s download. Which is what I have, since 500 Mbit/s is a lot more than we need. This is the first time in my life I've ever not gotten the highest bandwidth option. Unfortunately, it looks like the best choices for you are either to look for alternative and/or get involved with politics. At the very least, complain to your city and state representatives, since that has the most impact on your local service providers. Can you quantify how much time is wasted, and how much that is worth to you? This would help strengthen your complaint, and perhaps help you understand which alternatives might be more worthwhile. Wicked! I just learned about 3G/4G cellular bonding. "The LiveU solution bonds up to 14 cellular (3G/4G – LTE/WiMAX) modems over multiple carriers, as well as multiple LAN and even BGAN satellite connections. This creates a reliable, broadband video uplink pipe over multiple narrow-band pipes." So if you have the money, there are solutions for getting higher bandwidth.

1 points by busterc 13y ago

dalke 13y ago

The US is falling behind in terms of network bandwidth to the home. This is attributed to many factors. Personally, I'm most empathetic to the duopoloy argument. Where I live - in a small city in Sweden - we can get 300-500 Mbit/s download and 30-50 Mbit/s upload for under US$150 per month (says https://www.comhem.se/bredband/bredbandspaket https://www.comhem.se/bredband/bredbandspaket ). On that scale, AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet, with a 'Max Turbo' download speed of 24 Mbit/s at $66/mo (says http://www.att.com/u-verse/explore/internet-landing.jsp?fbid=WiZ4HAzVwNH http://www.att.com/u-verse/explore/internet-landing.jsp?fbid... ), is rather slow. For the same price we can get 30-50 Mbit/s download. Which is what I have, since 500 Mbit/s is a lot more than we need. This is the first time in my life I've ever not gotten the highest bandwidth option. Unfortunately, it looks like the best choices for you are either to look for alternative and/or get involved with politics. At the very least, complain to your city and state representatives, since that has the most impact on your local service providers. Can you quantify how much time is wasted, and how much that is worth to you? This would help strengthen your complaint, and perhaps help you understand which alternatives might be more worthwhile. Wicked! I just learned about 3G/4G cellular bonding. "The LiveU solution bonds up to 14 cellular (3G/4G – LTE/WiMAX) modems over multiple carriers, as well as multiple LAN and even BGAN satellite connections. This creates a reliable, broadband video uplink pipe over multiple narrow-band pipes." So if you have the money, there are solutions for getting higher bandwidth.