[LINK] America's Internet Disconnect

[Alan L Tyree]

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:14:14 +1100
"Pilcher, Fred" <Fred.Pilcher at act.gov.au> wrote:

> Danny wrote:
> > Adrian Chadd wrote:
> > > I also think there's a bit of exagguration going on wrt 
> > modem vs fttn
> > > stuff.  If you've obtained a fiber connection and you're getting 
> > > 64kbps then you should change carrier.
> > 
> > And anyone in the US getting better than 56kbps is NOT on "dialup
> > modem", whatever they may say or think (barring some kind of very
> > unusual multi-link setup).
> 
> You're right of course,  I'm being subjective. But by and large,
> ordinary surfing over their dialup felt like my ordinary surfing
> here; downloads were a little slower, but not hugely. If I can get
> 100Kb/s I consider it exceptional - they seemed to get the full
> 56Kb/s most of the time, which is certainly as good as or better than
> I get most of the time. 
> 
> Broadband was another thing. Cases in point: last night a US friend
> and I were downloading similar-sized files from the same US server at
> the same time. It took me an hour and a half - it took her about
> fifteen minutes. I sometimes VNC in to another friend's PC in the US
> to help sort out his problems - if I download a 10MB utility on his
> PC it comes down in a matter of seconds whereas it'd take a few
> minutes for me.
> 
> Of course this is no kind of technical analysis. I know that one
> swallow does not a summer make and, as I said, I don't expect
> identical performance. But I do get the distinct feeling that we're
> being diddled.
> 
> If I'm wrong and just deluding myself, then I apologise.

You're not wrong. I also vnc into a friends computer in Columbus Ohio.
He is no computer expert and hasn't anything fancy. Downloads take
about 1/3 the time of my adsl connection.

Alan

> 
> Fred 
>   
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-- 
Alan L Tyree                    http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan
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