Comcast Kicks Tires On 100-Gig Optical Links 61
Balistyx writes to mention that Comcast has announced the first test of 100-gigabit-per-second optical networking equipment designed to carry data over a production fiber network. The trial equipment will connect Philadelphia and McLean, VA. "In November, Verizon said it completed the first field test of 100-Gbps optical transmission on a live 312-mile network route between Tampa, Fla., and Miami. The telco's test used a live video feed from the FiOS TV network, and optical equipment from Alcatel-Lucent. Comcast's test is different, according to Schanz, for several reasons: It's running live traffic, and the 100-Gbps wavelengths in the Comcast trial are running over the same physical fiber as its existing 40-Gbps wavelengths, which are handled by Cisco Systems gear."
What good is it? (Score:5, Insightful)
~Dan
Re:What good is it? (Score:3, Insightful)
I recently left Comcast for Verizon FiOS. I even went to the local office and told them I had been a customer of theirs for over 20 years, as the local company was bought out several times, and they may want to take note on why a 20 year customer would leave. I gave them 10 reasons, but cited as top: 1) Bandwidth limits they refused to state, leaving me wondering if I was close or not and leading me to restrict a lot of my browsing, 2) Upload speeds slower than snail mail, and 3) P2P blocking due to their bandwidth fears. (Oh, and I mentioned their refusal to carry Boomerang on cable...)
What good would gigabit speeds be with a company that is so miserly with bandwidth in the first place? It might mean I'd get enough bandwidth to do what they should have let me do on my old account or it might even encourage them to let me do what Verizon already lets me do.