24 Mb Consumer Broadband Launched 389
twilight30 writes to tell us The Guardian is reporting that broadband provider "Be" is providing customers with the option of a 24 megabits per second download speed connection. These speeds are roughly three times the closest local competitor and also allow 1.3 megabits per second upstream, roughly five times quicker than any other service provider. The service is being offered at £24 (US $42.84) per month. Hopefully this will become a trend of radically increasing consumer internet speeds.
24 Mb not 24 MB (Score:5, Informative)
In case anybody wants to read it... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5294551-10
AC to avoid the whoring.
I love bandwidth (Score:3, Informative)
Sure they offer high speed access, but can they also offer guaranteed access?
If it does work out, my only wish was that I was able to get on that network. Limping along at 512kbps is not quite the exhilarating ride that it once was when I first switched from 56.6 dialup.
Verizon Fios (Score:2, Informative)
<Homer>Suckers.</Homer>
Re:Not gonna happen here... (Score:2, Informative)
That's why the infrastructure needs to be done by the city. Where I live the city has done just that and everyone has the opportunity to receive 10Mbps for only $40. Now I know that this cost is more per megabit than the article talks about. But still, when compared to what cable and telcos offer, it's a great price.
Lack of info in the blurb... (Score:2, Informative)
http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/computers/story/0,1 587,1525508,00.html/ [guardian.co.uk]
Next up, for those of you who can't tell, this is UK-only.
Now, here's my question: Is this service really all it's cracked up to be? Anyone know anyone else on it?
You can get this in Utah too... (Score:5, Informative)
Yah, so.... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Australia first (Score:5, Informative)
More info: (and where's the catch?) (Score:5, Informative)
(shamefully yanked from their Tell Me More page, read below for my thoughts on their definition of unlimited usage and how they define it and their process)
Features
* Up to 24 meg download speed
* Up to 1.3 meg upload speed
* Unlimited Internet access
* No download caps
* Free high specification wireless Be Box modem
Options
* Be static IP
* Be home email and webspace, coming soon (click here for more info)
* More coming soon
Be Box modem
* ADSL 2+ enabled
* 4 port 10/100 megs Ethernet switch (1 port reserved for future use)
* 54 megs 802.11 b/g wireless interface
* 2 voice over broadband ports (future use)
* 1 analog back-up (future use)
* OS Independent (Ethernet)
Requirements
* A rampant thirst for speed
* BT phone line
* A device capable of communicating via TCP/IP (like a Windows PC, Mac, Xbox with Live...)
* An Ethernet port for a wire connection to the Be Box
* A 802.11b or 802.11g compatible network adapter for wireless connection to the Be Box
* Windows 98SE / Mac OS 8.6 or higher
Getting Be
* Place your order online
* If your order is accepted, your BT phone line will physically be connecting to our network in your local exchange (this usually takes about 2 - 4 weeks)
* You will be sent our welcome pack, including our Be Box modem and your line will be activated
* Follow our DIY instant broadband instructions in your welcome pack and you will be ready to go
-------------
Now, this looks rather straight forward, and I keep wondering "wheres the catch?" My only guess would be that either they are using fiber to make this economical for them on the business end, or they are going to throttle/mercilessly prosecute illegal activities which take place on their network, thus reducing load... I wouldnt expect any company to state the later, but the former might have been touted as a feature. So I went digging and came across their TOS policy (conviently linked under the "is this really unlimited" section of the FAQ (note #11):
So what can Be's services not be used for?
1. Unlawful, fraudulent, criminal or otherwise illegal activities
2. Sending, receiving, publishing, posting, distributing, disseminating, encouraging the receipt of, uploading, downloading or using any material which is offensive, abusive, defamatory, indecent, obscene, unlawful, harassing or menacing or a breach of the copyright, trademark, intellectual property, confidence, privacy or any other rights of any person
3. Commercial purposes (unless you are a home member who is working from home as a sole trader in business on your own account or an office member in which case see below for limits on certain types of commercial use)
4. Sending or uploading unsolicited emails, advertising or promotional materials, offering to sell any goods or services, or conducting or forwarding surveys, contests or chain letters except that home members working from home as a sole trader in business on their own account or office members are permitted to send marketing communications in accordance with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 if sent in batches of no more than fifty (50) emails at any time, each individual campaign being sent to no more than five hundred (500) recipients, with no more than five (5) campaigns per month
5. Knowingly or negligently transmitting or uploading any electronic material (including, without limit, files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programmes) which is known or likely to cause, interrupt, damage, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software, hardware or telecommunications equipment owned by Be or any other Internet user or person
6. Activities that invade another's privacy, cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to any person
7. Activities that are in breach of any other third party's rights, including downloading, installation or distribution of pirated software or other inappropriately licensed software, deletion of any author attributions, legal notices or proprietary designations or labels in any file that is uploaded, falsification of the origin or source of any software or other material
8. Anything that may disrupt or interfere with Be's network or services or cause a host or the network to crash
9. Launching "denial of service" attacks; "mailbombing" attacks; or "flooding" attacks against a host or network
10. Granting access to your Be services to others not residing at (for home) or located at (for office) the premises at which these Internet services are provided
11. Making excessive use of, or placing unusual burdens on, the network, for example by sending or receiving large volumes of email or excessively large email attachments
12. Circumventing the user authentication or security process of a host or network
13. Creating, transmitting, storing or publishing any virus, Trojan, corrupting programme or corrupted data
#11 I think is the only one that you could do completely legal stuff, and still get zinged if your not careful. etree.org BTs (which are in the gigs per BT usually) or mirroring of material that is being hammered might fall under that, even though those could be completely legal activities. Further on down, they elaborate on this with:
What about excessive network usage?
"If it's felt that any member's Internet activities are so excessive that other members are detrimentally affected, Be may give the member generating the excessive web traffic a written warning (by email or otherwise). In extreme circumstances, should the levels of activity not immediately decrease after the warning, Be may terminate that member's services."
While they dont give a number (and I dont blame them from a business perspective), they at least will issue warnings. Fair enough to me.
I do like their "what if my kids or others I dont know break in and use my account to violate the TOS" and their response is "tough shit, its in the TOS". Looks good
Re:I have had 26 Mbps for 3 years (Score:5, Informative)
I've had 10/10 Mbit _fiber_ for more years than I can remember, and I have lots of friends with both 24/1 and 100/100 Mbit.
Right now I pay 30 per month for 10Mbit, I think the price for 100Mbit is 60 per month.
The cool thing about my connection is that the fiber goes all the way to your basement, then TP cables from there up to your switch, then to your computer. The only network knowledge you need to have is how to use DHCP since you get 5 dynamic public IP addresses.
I really hate when a site such as
Re:I love bandwidth (Score:2, Informative)
quote:
>>>What happens if my service is disrupted?
We're committed to providing you with a service that has as few disruptions as possible.
In the unlikely event that you experience a loss of service caused by us for more than 5 consecutive days (for home members) and 24 consecutive hours (for office members), you will be compensated for each day's disruption, by a reduction in your monthly service fee equivalent to the amount you would have paid for service on those days.
In order to receive this reduction, you will need to notify us as soon as the service failure occurs and request the appropriate reduction by contacting member services when your service is restored. See our 'Standard terms and conditions' for more information.
And probably not even that (Score:5, Informative)
I've already moderated in this thread, but what they hey...
This is based on ADSL2+, same as the service offered by Internode [on.net], iiNet [iinet.com.au] or Adam in Australia. Internode really led the way and were the first to roll out DSLAMs that would offer up to 24 Mbps download speeds and about 1 Mbps upload. iiNet, although they offer ADSL2+, limit it to 12 Mbps download.
Now, I suspect the reason for this is that while 24Mbps is the theoretical maximum download speed over ADSL2+, you're only going to get that speed if you have a perfect line and live really close to the exchange. If you're even 2km away, then you're speed is going to drop a fair bit: granted, you'll still get about 15Mbps, but not the 24Mbps advertised. My guess is that iiNet just finds it easier to guarantee 12Mbps rather than trying to explain that, "well, you might get 24Mpbs, but there's all these other factors and we can't guarantee it, and no, we don't know exactly what speed you'll end up with."
There was a really good graph on this here [on.net], which shows deteriorating performance as you move further from the exchange.
The other thing about this that really interests me is that Australia was derided and we complained for so long about how far behind the rest of the world we were when it came to broadband, but it now looks like we're really catching up - maybe in large part as we have good companies like Internode who are very tech-minded, still small enough to focus on service rather than just the almighty buck, and who actually want to provide good services to people.
But you forgot about... (Score:3, Informative)
"You forgot about Poland!"
But Japan wins hands down (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Unlimited Use (Score:5, Informative)
(This means that customer services sort of numbers are either 0845, or 0870 "national rate" lines - they cost more to call, aren't typically included in cellphone package minutes, and creates a token revenue stream for the company you're calling while you're on hold!)
In the super-early-days, you paid your ISP and then paid to dial in to their 0845 local-rate POP line.
Then Freeserve (now Wanadoo) and co turned up - they realised that if you worked with a telecoms company, you could receive a slice of the per-minute fee that users paid for calling in to your 0845 number. Thus did Pay-As-You-Go dialup arrive in the UK; you paid your phone bill, the ISP took their cut from that - no monthly fee. (note: unlike netzero and similar in the US, there was no adbar or weirdy crap - straight PPP dialup.)
Some technical change happened which made it possible for ISPs to offer flat-rate access, without them having to pay the high costs of letting heavy users dial in to real 0800 lines for ages on end. I'm not entirely sure what this change is, but it was reliant wholly on you having a BT landline (it was some hack with trick numbers in the local exchanges, turning the call into data earlier or somesuch.). Now, you could go back to paying a monthly fee, but not pay for your calls (as the access number was now free to call).
Aaah yes, must clarify the whole "having a BT phoneline" thing. It's *not* a given in the UK that the RJblah phone jack in someone's house is necessarily hooked up to the local BT phone exchange (or wiring cabinet, or whatever). In the UK, the cable TV companies also provide telephone service over their own kit - right down to running new copper in to your house and adding a new socket. When they launched this, they offered cheaper call prices than BT (and you could port your number the way the developed world can with cellphone numbers), and eventually got round to offering PAYG and Unmetered dialup roughly when BT customers got it (but you have to use the Cable company as your ISP to have Unmetered Dialup). Nowadays the UK broadband services say "must have a BT line" because the cable companies won't/can't/don't DSLify their POTS loops (they don't need to, they offer cable modem broadband). If you really want DSL, you can have a BT landline alongside a Cable-company one, or in place of it.
(this is all from memory, at time of posting it's about 6am in the UK and I need some sleep. I've not put in a specific timescale since I'd be guessing entirely - Unmetered dialup has been around here a good few years now, easily.)
Tokyo 100Mb (Score:5, Informative)
This is pretty common in Tokyo. Even the ADSL here is by standard well over 40Mb (though speed obviously comes in a lot below that in real life. Hell, my mobile phone has a 2.4Mb download.
OK, so bragging over, all I can say is that it can be done, and done cheaply. My Hikari Fibre is included in the rent, and none of the solutions here in Japan are expensive - 20USD a month or so. When I came to Japan originally in 1996 it was a totally different story - dial up was more expensive than the UK and access points were pretty screwed up outside of Tokyo. When I returned in 1999, ISDN flat rate was there, and by 2001, ADSL was ramping up incredibly, even in my then decrepit old place.
Some things in Japan are archaic (government, banks etc. (really, ATMs which close at 7pm...)), but the bandwidth here does prove it's the companies holding this up elsewhere, for whatever reasons. I guess they're hoping to string out their plant (copper cable/switch etc.) life as long as they can, because hey, tomorrow it'll be cheaper to upgrade right? I think here it was a case of national pride - late to 'the internet' party in the mid- to late 90's, and with rival neighbours Korea beating them, I think NTT finally got told to 'sort it out'. You have to love that 'close state relationship'!
Free legacy (Score:4, Informative)
By the way, the service offered by Be in the U.K. is still more expansive than what Free offers in France (35 euros vs. 30 euros), and while they do mention services such as phone and TV, they don't say if they're going to be included in the flat monthly fee, like Free does. Somehow I doubt it. Maybe their customer service won't suck, though.
More information on the Freebox (in French, but with pictures): http://www.f-b-x.net/ [f-b-x.net]
Re:Fact of Life in Australia (Score:4, Informative)
Some smaller ISPs absorb the high per megabyte costs of pushing data down Telstra ADSL ports to unmeter traffic going through peering exchanges such as PIPE Networks or WAIX because it simply costs them less (and gets customers).
In fact, three major ISPs (beside the four) - Internode, Comindico and Primus already have a backbone on the west coast of the U.S and Internode and Primus are already talking about video (and Internode just needs that for a full triple-play service) to the home completely over their backbones. (If International bandwidth was such an issue they probably wouldn't be talking about that).
disclaimer: Happy Internode customer stuck on Telstra Wholesale 512/128k port. Thank you Ziggy and Alston for screwing Australia over. Thank you Sol for stating the bloddy obvious, that being Ziggy and Alston should've spent $3bn in the past few years. See the 56 page admission of guilt and other stupid things [asx.com.au]
P.S Unlike the U.S Australia is not covered all over in HFC/Cable networks for DOCSIS - two telcos discovered in the mid-1990s that no one watches subscription TV and stopped rolling out new cable.
Re:I have had 26 Mbps for 3 years (Score:3, Informative)
Re:And probably not even that (Score:3, Informative)
Re:the upstream blues (Score:1, Informative)
> look into how much it will cost you to get a hundred megabits of solid, guaranteed bandwidth
My providers are all out of 'solid, guaranteed bandwidth', I have to make do with normal everyday transit
> then factor in lots of equipment, and realize that if you're letting people
> blow 24 mbits/second on bit torrents, all that money will only cover *four* customers.
You forgot about the 20:1 (minimum - usually 50:1 for consumer DSL) contention ratio, because Be don't mention it in their FAQ doesn't mean it isn't there. The main expense is the DSLAM and the connection back to the POP, bandwidth is relatively cheap after that.
Re:The West is so far behind... (Score:3, Informative)
It's offered by Yahoo Broadband, available nation-wide as far as I know. Other DSL companies here have similar packages. I'm not even in one of Japan's biggest cities.
ADSL2+ and VDSL2 (Score:3, Informative)
A variant of this model is to deploy a smaller DSLAM closer to the subscriber's building (probably 500-1000 feet) you will even be able to get VDSL2, which gives you up to 100 Mbps - this is FTTC (Fibre to the Curb/Kerb), and is being deployed by BellSouth in the US, and BT and Deutsche Telekom in Europe. This FTTC model gives you about the same bandwidth as FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) using GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Networks), which is what the US telcos are moving to (about 40 to 80 Mbps per subscriber depending on number of subscribers on each PON 'fibre tree').
WiMAX is another option but it's debatable whether it can ever support enough simultaneous users at 40 to 100 Mbps in a densely populated area - probably best for competitive carriers and less populated areas.
Since I live about 12,000 feet from my exchange, remote DSLAMs / FTTx are my main hope for more than 512Kbps (at least without getting satellite, WiFi/WiMAX or something more exotic)... I just checked with Be and my home is indeed too far away for ADSL2+...
Re:100Mbps in Japan for 17pounds per month (Score:3, Informative)