Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Rant

acparker · 12-05-2016, 06:38 PM

Comcast and many other carriers advertise high transfer rates, which are technically feasible under ideal conditions, but they typically oversell and saturate bandwidth over dilapidated infrastructure. Most traffic is downloading video, so systems are optimized for downloading.

Google Fiber has halted expansion, cut staff by 50% and its future is in doubt.

Here in Utah, we have UTOPIA, an ill-conceived and poorly run pseudo-public Ponzi scheme that was supposed to put optical fiber in Utah's municipalities and rural counties. It started over 20 years ago. I contacted them a few years ago about when I could expect service. They told me, "never". My neighborhood was not on their maps. My city has been paying millions into this scheme since its inception, but our tax money has been used to fund limited installation in more upscale cities. If they were a private company, the owners and managers would have been thrown in jail for fraud.

I am currently using Comcast, begrudgingly, as Century Link's transfer rates are severely limited because of old, already duplexed wires. All the wiring here is at least 40 years old and suffers breakdowns during inclement weather. Neither Century Link, nor Comcast have any plans to upgrade. They only have to compete with each other. Wireless would be an option, except we get spotty coverage at best -- a rare service hole in the middle of a large metropolitan area. Just lucky, I guess.

I had a run-in with Comcast a few years ago concerning data outages. The were blaming my internal wiring and modem. I convinced them to loan me one of their modem/router packages for a couple of weeks and they logged the service. It proved that the problem was on their side, which they declined to fix -- and they tried to charge me for the borrowed cable modem and router and the tech visit. They know when they have you by the short hairs. I will say that they have some very good and knowledgeable people on staff, but the way they run their tech support negates the positives.

The only guaranteed bandwidth is with a leased line. Everything else is marketing hype, which they make sure you realize at least a few times, to make it legal.

12-05-2016, 06:38 PM	#6 (permalink)
acparker EcoModding Apprentice Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Utah Posts: 118 Thanks: 1 Thanked 33 Times in 24 Posts	Comcast and many other carriers advertise high transfer rates, which are technically feasible under ideal conditions, but they typically oversell and saturate bandwidth over dilapidated infrastructure. Most traffic is downloading video, so systems are optimized for downloading. Google Fiber has halted expansion, cut staff by 50% and its future is in doubt. Here in Utah, we have UTOPIA, an ill-conceived and poorly run pseudo-public Ponzi scheme that was supposed to put optical fiber in Utah's municipalities and rural counties. It started over 20 years ago. I contacted them a few years ago about when I could expect service. They told me, "never". My neighborhood was not on their maps. My city has been paying millions into this scheme since its inception, but our tax money has been used to fund limited installation in more upscale cities. If they were a private company, the owners and managers would have been thrown in jail for fraud. I am currently using Comcast, begrudgingly, as Century Link's transfer rates are severely limited because of old, already duplexed wires. All the wiring here is at least 40 years old and suffers breakdowns during inclement weather. Neither Century Link, nor Comcast have any plans to upgrade. They only have to compete with each other. Wireless would be an option, except we get spotty coverage at best -- a rare service hole in the middle of a large metropolitan area. Just lucky, I guess. I had a run-in with Comcast a few years ago concerning data outages. The were blaming my internal wiring and modem. I convinced them to loan me one of their modem/router packages for a couple of weeks and they logged the service. It proved that the problem was on their side, which they declined to fix -- and they tried to charge me for the borrowed cable modem and router and the tech visit. They know when they have you by the short hairs. I will say that they have some very good and knowledgeable people on staff, but the way they run their tech support negates the positives. The only guaranteed bandwidth is with a leased line. Everything else is marketing hype, which they make sure you realize at least a few times, to make it legal.