My Internet Connection *PIC*

[Puppy]

each month only the first 1GB is at LTE speed, beyond which I am throttled to 128kbps.

Outside cities the only mobile connection here is 2G GPRS/EDGE. There is a joke that T-Mobile has 'the fastest EDGE network' FUP limits starts at 100 MB / month (for the price you get several GB in other countries around including reasonable coverage, we are so called 'specific market') and then you are throttled to 16 kbps. In reality to zero because it is not possible even read POP3 email over it since it allows to exchange few packets only per minute thus all services always timeouts.

Vodafone has introduced a 'clever' service of automatic recurring payments if you reach the FUP limit. The service was enabled to all customers (without notice) and when you turn it off it still automatically re-enables upon every change in your account. I believe that in the US this would lead to a lawsuit, here ... impossible.

As for extreme public prices of mobile services here we have something called 'grey operators'. It is not the same as official virtual operator. To explain this: if you buy a data plan from mobile provider as a end customer you pay lets say $30 for 3 GB / month. If a (even small) company wants to buy the same plan they get it for $10 or less. The company buys more plans then the actual number of employees and resells it (semi-legally) to end customers for $15 via internet forums etc. This is the only way to get a reasonable price over here

[rkawakami]

I live in what's considered the center of the tech world (Silicon Valley/San Jose, CA). I've had DSL from Pacific Bell / SBC/Yahoo DSL / AT&T for the last 17 or so years in two different houses. I would love to get "slow" 3Mbps DSL! My current plan is 1Mbps/384Kbps for about $40/month and have been told numerous times that that's as good as it's going to get (I'm about 13000' from the phone company's central office). My Sprint mobile hotspot, in 4G mode, has been clocked at 4M/1M but unfortunately I live in one of Sprint network's weak coverage areas where I can barely get the 3G signal. And besides, the $35/mo only provides 2GB of 3G data and "unlimited" 4G data (really throttled after 10GB).

Alternatives:

Comcast (Xfinity) - seriously considering jumping to this service; $50/mo for 6Mbps (Performance Starter) or $65/mo for 50Mbps (Performance)

Dishnetwork - I currently have Dish for TV but from what I understand, their plans are metered (specific amount of data allowed) and throttled if you exceed it. They do not recommend the service for streaming movies (i.e., Netflix) which is exactly what I need the increased bandwidth for.

AT&T U-verse - not available at my address according to their web site, but they still want to offer me 6Mbps DSL service as an option

Verizon FiOS - not available in my area; if it were, about $65/mo for 25/25 service

ref: http://www.dslreports.com/comments/311? ... r=pos&p=11 (search for rkawakami)
ref: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 53#p719912

[ajkula66]

AT&T U-verse - not available at my address according to their web site, but they still want to offer me 6Mbps DSL service as an option

Three ways you can read this, from what I know:

a) A marketing gimmick

b) The conventional Ma Bell wisdom calls for deploying a load coil every 6,000' of copper. The "old school" loads had to be removed for any type of data service (T-1, DS0, ISDN, DSL...) to be active across the pair in question. However, AT&T as well as Windstream have started deploying so-called "smart" load coils which enable the passage of xDSL signal, but no more than two can be utilized on a single pair. Given the 13,000' distance they could - theoretically speaking - take you off your current pair and onto new one with revised loading, therefore improving the speed.

c) While U-Verse might not be available to your address as a full service package, you might still be close enough to a fiber hub - not quite sure how OSP looks in your neck of the woods - for them to slap you onto a closer DSLAM possibly taking another route for "the last mile".

My $0.02 only...

[rkawakami]

@ajkula66: I'll choose "a)"; a marketing gimmick to entice you in and serve up something else (i.e., bait-and-switch).

I've had a few problems with the DSL over the years. Mostly it's been due to flooding of the distribution box across the street; last instance was some problem with the wires at the end of the block. I can't remember exactly how many wire pairs I've been switched to when I've lost sync on the modem due to noise on the line (probably about 5 or 6 by now after being at this address for over 14 years). Each time the service guy has come out I've asked about improving the speed and they have basically said to move .

My understanding is that there's a fiber cable laying beneath the gutter already but I believe it's owned by Comcast. During my transition from Comcast to Dish, nobody from Comcast came out to disconnect the cable in the junction box at the curb. It was at the same time that the fiber was laid so I figured that the work-order to disconnect me was lost or overlooked. I still got basic cable on the Comcast coax for about 4 years after dropping them. I finally lost service when the conversion to digital took place. Not wanting to point attention to myself at the time, I never considered changing my ISP. But now with Netfix, Hulu and other services demanding a bigger pipe, I think it's time to re-evaluate my options, as limited as they are.

[FryPpy]

Wait as there will be more customers.

I know this and have seen this years ago. Popularity of smartphones and tablets have increased demand for mobile internet. From the first days when 3G networks have been set up this problem begins growing. They (mobile operators) evolve LTE because they want more connected users per cell. But this number is limited. So now they wage war for 2 frontiers. They upgrading old 3G equipment and makes more cells (which serves less space). Evolving to LTE helps them free old 3G and 2G bands for voice calling (which is prioritised traffic in 2G, 3G networks)

For good overall user experience of web based interactive applications the speed is almost unimportant. The important parameter is latency and stability, mobile connection suffers from unpredictable latency and micro-dropouts (you have to reload a web page over and over) that affects the user experience. Don't mention if you work over Remote Desktop, it is useless for such task at all. Even "slow" 3 Mbps DSL is better than "fast" LTE because of stability.

This is true
Big speed for one user all the time is not needed. But big bandwith in cell for all connected users can make less packet dropouts. Bad signal strength and overloaded cells (and may be roaming between cells) main things causing problems you described.
But not all usecases demand good latancy. Online gaming or realtime exchange of audio video streams will suffer from unpredictable latency. But webbrowsing or youtube watching (thanks to cache) can be done in mobile networks well. Connection oriented protocols with resuming after fail makes even HTTP, FTP big data transfers work well. SSH - noproblem. I have seen people (idiots?) that setup torrent peers on mobile internet.

[Puppy]

Popularity of smartphones and tablets have increased demand for mobile internet.

I see. I have to explain local usage of mobile Internet in this "specific" country. Mobile Internet supplies non-available fixed Internet connection over here, that is. As I wrote, if you build a new house or move to a new apartment there is usually no fixed Internet connection and never will be. You have option to misuse mobile Internet as a fixed one (it has gone that far we have even special plans for "fixed" mobile Internet you can use at single location only) or use these unreliable amateurish outdoor wifi networks, if there is any. No other options.

All of this is because noone is interested to lay a fibre to a new house or block of small number of apartments because it needs ... work. Thanks to regulation there is at least electricity, water and drain in a new house. Yes, it would be almost no added work to lay a fibre as well when you have to put there electric cable. Still, no way, no interest, no offer, no competition. Typical answer to question why there is no internet connection in 2015 year is: "It is not possible". Period, buy or f*ck off.

There are small cable companies in small cities. If you are lucky you can get useable fixed connection at your place (it must be big block of flats, no single house). But it is still less than 30% probability. Big cable company (UPC) have almost stopped to expand their network, even in the capital city where new apartments are built every year. No interest, it would mean to actually do something instead of making marketing fluff in office. They increase prices for existing customers every year, it is much easier and (which is important) with no work. My friend bought an old house in the capital city and wanted to use UPC cable that was available in the next house (40 meters). He got typical answer "it is not possible". So he asked what kind of cable is needed and laid it himself. And yes, after that it was possible

The former state telco company has transformed into O2 and provides both fixed and mobile services. Again, they don't expand their fixed network at all. If you live in area where old phone wires are already available they will try to sell you DSL over and over. If you live 20 meters off, no interest.

[FryPpy]

First of all - i am sorry for that i have moved topic a bit from its original course. I only want to help sharing my experience of getting internet. But when this discussion became international the question arise in head - how ISPs behave in other countries?

My Sprint mobile hotspot, in 4G mode, has been clocked at 4M/1M but unfortunately I live in one of Sprint network's weak coverage areas where I can barely get the 3G signal. And besides, the $35/mo only provides 2GB of 3G data and "unlimited" 4G data (really throttled after 10GB).

Is 4G coverage is weak or absent? You can try to find 4G moving to the roof or to the near house with 4G device and find if 4G can be catched there? If you can get signal - may be signal booster can help you get maximum out of your plan.

[Puppy]

may be signal booster can help you get maximum out of your plan.

What may help is a hotspot (or LTE USB stick) that can connect external 4G antenna. I had such PCMCIA card for 2G and it helped. BTW these boosters (repeaters) are banned here because under some conditions can start oscillate and bring the whole mobile network (cell) down.

[rkawakami]

Is 4G coverage is weak or absent? You can try to find 4G moving to the roof or to the near house with 4G device and find if 4G can be catched there? If you can get signal - may be signal booster can help you get maximum out of your plan.

Sprint 4G (WiMAX) coverage is absent where I live (single story home). I knew that before I bought the hotspot and in my case, the coverage map at Sprint's web site was pretty accurate. I live in the middle between two small hills and they must be blocking the signal from the nearest cell towers as the map shows my location to have "no coverage" (instead of the "fair" or "best" conditions that exist about a mile around my house). I thought about putting an antenna on my roof but I really only use the hotspot when at work (where the company's WiFi is secured), traveling or in the very rare case a few months ago, a temporary solution for net access when the power goes out. And besides, I will probably have to look for another hotspot solution as I understand that Sprint will be shutting down their 4G WiMAX network near the end of this year (Nov. 2015). I'm hoping for some sort of discount to switch over to the LTE network when that happens and/or grandfather in the unlimited 4G plan. The Virgin Mobile plan that I have is 2GB 3G/unlimited 4G and uses the Sprint network.

I just checked my 3G speed here at home. I'm very surprised to see that the hotspot indicates that I have 100% signal strength . In the past it's hovered around 40-60%. Don't know if it's because it's New Years and traffic is light or if the unit got a software update. Anyway, right now I'm getting 1.8Mbps download and 860Kbps upload transfers, 45% better download and 175% better upload than what my DSL can do (1.28M/316K). However, since my 3G data plan only covers 2GB, it's not practical to replace the DSL with it. The hotspot cannot lock onto a 4G signal here but when it does, I've seen transfers of 3.9M/1.12M at only a 60% 4G signal strength.

ref: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=111953 (My review of the Virgin Mobile Overdrive Pro)
ref: http://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-ce ... e-coverage (Check only WiMAX option and enter 95120 as ZIP code; I live in one of the white areas)

[Dawnbreaker]

I use LAN connection at home (Asenovgrad, Bulgaria) - 90mbits (plus midnight acceleration)
DL speeds varies between 45-50 mbits/s (about 4-5 mb/s)
UL speeds - about 3 mb/s peak
Monthly cost: 20 Bulgarian leva (1 bulgarian lev = 1.60 US Dollar) which means 12 dollars monthly.

As of 2013 Bulgaria is ranked 8th in the world in terms of Internet speed. I find that quite awkward, because our average internet speeds are much faster than industrial powers like Germany, France and USA (and much cheaper!).

[ajkula66]

As of 2013 Bulgaria is ranked 8th in the world in terms of Internet speed. I find that quite awkward, because our average internet speeds are much faster than industrial powers like Germany, France and USA (and much cheaper!).

It actually makes a ton of sense when you look at it from the ISP perspective:

a) While I don't know Bulgaria all that well - not to mention that it's been more than 15 years since I've last crossed its border - I'd presume that the pole structure is in place from the days of Todor Zhivkov, which is a thing of beauty. The "path" - as it's often referred to - is all that really matters.

b) Add the fact that while the country has been doing well overall since the departure of the communists, the cost of human labour - the single biggest expense when one is building a network - is still nowhere near Western Europe or USA.

c) Nowadays, the equipment is cheap compared to where the prices were 20 years ago, and Internet access is something that one can sell to every household. It has pretty much become a necessity.

So it's a win-win situation for both you (the consumer) and the provider, as long as the latter doesn't get stupid greedy.

My $0.02 only...

[pianowizard]

d) Competition. A couple years ago I came across an article (on CNN?) comparing internet speeds and costs in different countries. It showed a direct relationship between speed and the number of internet service providers. Countries with many options have much higher speeds than those with limited options. Many countries with high speeds also enjoy lower costs, since competition tends to drive prices down.

As of 2013 Bulgaria is ranked 8th in the world in terms of Internet speed.

See this site for download speed: http://www.netindex.com/download/allcountries/ . And this site for upload speed: http://www.netindex.com/upload/allcountries/ .

[Norway Pad]

The status of "Internet in Norway" can be found here, for those who like to have a quick read.

I have always been spoiled with decent speeds since I got (A)DSL around 1999/2000, with a consistent 4Mb/s down / 0.750Mb/s up. But that was until we moved to our current house and had to go with DSL from ISP Eidsiva, as the only option. Speeds can be as low as below 1Mb/s down on weekends, and the reason is apparently that there is no wired connection to our area, so we are a number of users sharing a radio link.. The cost is still $45 pr. month, so I make regular calls to the other ISP, Telenor, to check if they have established a better service to our area. I also have a Telenor 4G capable mobile hotspot wireless router box for $18 a month, but back when I bought it, we only had 2G at home. That has improved now, and 4G is available a 15 minutes drive away. But I only use my hotspot box for traveling anyway, and I don't recall exactly which speeds it achieves.

Luckily my wife works at the IT department at the college here, in the same building as a Telenor/Uninet distribution central. So when I need to download big files, I drive to her office here, and enjoy this kind of speed :



Makes it even more sad to have such a lousy service 15 minutes of driving away..

[FryPpy]

BTW these boosters (repeaters) are banned here because under some conditions can start oscillate and bring the whole mobile network (cell) down.

I See. I don't know correct word for this thing so use "signal boosters" - but now i understand that this is different case.
It is better once to see than 100 times to hear;)
I have tried to find this on ebay (as it is international) but can find only 2 examples:
THIS IS NOT AD - I DON'T USE THIS DEVICES IT IS ONLY FOR IMAGES
1
2
In my country there are much more different models of such passive signal boosters. Some of them are sold in big computer markets.

Check only WiMAX option...; I live in one of the white areas

Bad things:( I think that base stations are to the west and to the north but the Eart is not flat

[Puppy]

As of 2013 Bulgaria is ranked 8th in the world in terms of Internet speed.

The same fun is ranked here, 6th First, the speed is not the most important parameter and second it is always average value. When I have one chicken and you have no chicken we both have half chicken More interesting would be overall availability of that average speed for 24 hours / day in particular country. Also I don't believe the numbers metered here because over 50% of population are connected via the hobbyist-based outdoor wifi networks (no other option, especially for new houses and apartments) where the speed can vary from 50 Mbps to zero every minute. On most villages you can be happy if the (up to 50 Mbps) wifi network works at least one hour a day (for the rest of day you can use metered 2G EDGE connection at the best, 3G coverage is close to zero, 4G coverage is supposed to be finished in 2021) Does it still qualify for a rank 6th in the world ? It reminds me Romania in Ceausescu era where the electricity was available for 4 hours a day only in some areas.

[Puppy]

Nowadays, the equipment is cheap compared to where the prices were 20 years ago, and Internet access is something that one can sell to every household. It has pretty much become a necessity.

With the exception of some countries

As for mobile Internet I think the important aspect is strong regulatory and competition authority (like UK Ofcom). This is what had failed here becuase of substantial corruption and resulted in the worst 3G coverage (with highest prices) among EU countries.

[ajkula66]

This is what had failed here becuase of substantial corruption and resulted in the worst 3G coverage (with highest prices) among EU countries.

I've only been in Prague once in '92 and haven't really been paying much notice to this type of infrastructure, so here's the question:

Are most of the utilities running underground or are they predominantly on the poles?

[Puppy]

Are most of the utilities running underground or are they predominantly on the poles?

In cities everything is underground while on countryside on the poles (precisely said old phone wires are on the poles because there are no new ones built). The common excuse why there is no fixed connection in cities is: "it is not possible to dig into pavement to lay a new cable" or modern variant "it is not economical unless there are 100 customers on the end of the cable". I was lucky because 15 years ago a small company "broke the rule" and they laid the cables everywhere here in few weeks. Lately UPC had aquired them. Without them UPC had never provided connection here because "it is not possible ...", you know.

[ajkula66]

In cities everything is underground while on countryside on the poles (precisely said old phone wires are on the poles because there are no new ones built).

That sounds like Manhattan vs. other boroughs of New York...

While I don't doubt your claim that corruption has a lot to do with the state of affairs in the given industry, I'd also imagine that a city like Prague requires 100,000 permits in order to allow someone even consider breaking a pavement possibly dating back to Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Copper is expensive nowadays. That's why next to no one is seriously rebuilding the existing networks almost anywhere in the world.

Fiber on other hand makes sense only if it's being delivered to a significant user base...as some companies here in the U.S. have learned the hard way.

Not that any of the above helps solve your hometown's problem...let alone OP's or my own...

[AIX]

How's the situation here, in Romania:

Mobile

There are two major players - Vodafone and Orange, and two challengers - Telekom (former Romtelecom, former communist telecom company, acquired by OTE, now under Deutsche Telekom umbrella) and RCS-RDS.
While the market was without challengers, we had big prices. Once the challengers appeared with aggressive pricing, the prices went down. Vodafone and Orange still have the best networks - and still have the higher prices. And we still have to pay more for an iPhone (with subscription plan) than they sell it in Western Europe (Vodafone Ro - UK, for example)

Mobile internet prices - some subscriptions:

Vodafone - €29, 30GB, 150Mbps, after 30GB capped at 256kbps
Orange - €21, 20GB, 4G+ (300Mbps?!)
Telekom - €33, no data plan, 150Mbps; €30, 100GB, 150Mbps; €22, 25GB, 150Mbps
RCS-RDS - ~€5.5, 10GB, 21.6Mbps, after 10GB capped at 128kbps


Home

There are 3 major players: RCS-RDS (50%), Telekom and UPC. The first one pretty much rules the residential internet market and have aggressive pricing. Technologies - FTTB FTTH GPON, Cable, DSL.

Subscriptions - no data plans:

RCS-RDS - ~€12 1000Mbps/30Mbps; ~€10 500Mbps/30Mbps; ~€6.5 100Mbps/30Mbps
Telekom - ~€12 200Mbps
UPC - ~€15 500Mbps/25Mbps; ~€12 200Mbps/6Mbps



I think it's all about the competition and greediness.

[Puppy]

I think it's all about the competition and greediness.

Yes Your options and prices are much better than here. All mobile Internet plans here ends at 10 GB / month, then capped to 32 kbps (in reality to zero) for double price of your 30 GB plans. 3G coverage almost zero, expansion stopped in 2011. LTE coverage in some areas only, sometimes limited to 4 Mbps speed (Vodafone), supposed to by finished in 2021. Threre are no official mobile unlimited data plans, the only way to get them is the semi-legal contract via so called 'grey operators'. I am lucky I can get UPC 40/4 for 18 EUR.

Just another question: Imagine you have just built a new house on suburb of the capital city. What Internet connectivity (unlimited data) options do you have ? Here the only option is the unreliable outdoor wifi network, if any.

[AIX]

Don't get me wrong, there's no 4G heaven here, not at all, in fact the 4G coverage is just here and there but the 3G/3G+ one is pretty good.

Vodafone coverage map
Orange coverage map
Telekom coverage map
DIGI (RCS-RDS) coverage map

Regarding the suburbs, it depends, in some areas you can get EoC (20Mbps) from RCS-RDS, in others DSL (8Mbps?) from Telekom, or other connections from various local networks. Probably a 3G connection is the last resort.

[ThinkPad560X]

Would this be good for me and how well is 4G network? http://www.verizonwireless.com/home-off ... ith-voice/

[Puppy]

but the 3G/3G+ one is pretty good

Look at EU 3G coverage map in this article. You can see the CZ "desert" there It is from 2012 but the 3G network expansion have stopped in 2011 so it is current state. LTE coverage is here (note that the first option below operator selection 'Vsechna pasma' (All bands) includes 3G coverage (UMTS) to make it look better. To "improve" user experience of LTE all mobile operators stopped to (oficially) offer 30 GB data plan (10 GB is the max now) when LTE network is available. When the data limit is reached the speed drops to zero (few packets in minute only, useless for everything). Vodafone allows to automatically renew the data limit with an extra pay.

[AIX]

but the 3G/3G+ one is pretty good

Look at EU 3G coverage map in this article. You can see the CZ "desert" there It is from 2012 but the 3G network expansion have stopped in 2011 so it is current state.[..].

Uh, I didn't expect to look that bad, there is obviously something wrong.. I just don't understand why the competition have not worked, you have big names there, I know O2 is very competitive in UK, if I'm not wrong.

[Puppy]

Uh, I didn't expect to look that bad, there is obviously something wrong.. I just don't understand why the competition have not worked, you had big names there, I know O2 is very competitive in UK, if I'm not wrong.

Because of corruption. All operators makes big money on outdated 2G technology with no investments. We don't have a strong regulatory authority as Ofcom is, actually it has been "prized" as the worst telco regulatory authority in EU. More than ten years ago Vodafone CZ aquired licenses for 3G frequencies but had not started to build the network at all, just to block them for a competition. It took almost ten years, after that the regulatory authority finally woke up telling them they can lost the license. So they built single 3G base station in whole country only to pretened they have started to work on 3G coverage. As is said, this is "specific" country

[Puppy]

Regarding the suburbs, it depends, in some areas you can get EoC (20Mbps) from RCS-RDS, in others DSL (8Mbps?) from Telekom, or other connections from various local networks.

That was point of my question. Whether there is a company that is willing to connect single new house by fibre/cable/DSL (it is impossible over here). Do they lay the cable together with electricity and other stuff or separately anytime later ?

[AIX]

I think it's not really a problem to lay the infrastructure anytime later, in suburbs, so yes, you could connect even a single house, if there is will. And don't make me start talking about corruption, it's probably a question of luck that we had better telecom regulation here, if you look how many other things are not working well.

[Puppy]

I think it's not a problem to lay the infrastructure anytime later, in suburbs, so yes, you could connect even a single house, if there is will.

Wow. Is there any extra cost for that ? It is impossible here unless you are able to pay an insane price like $10000 for 50 meters of cable.

[AIX]

To whom?!

And mind, we don't have heritage buildings or villages you might have around the Prague, the suburbs are just regular villages, nothing fancy - there are no fantastic regulations, and the mayors...