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As a result of this thread I was on speedtest.net looking at the recorded speeds I have seen over the past couple years, and I tried testing it again. I was able to get 2.44Mb/s down and .64Mb/s up. Which is much better than anything we have seen from our ISP since they upgraded to DSL in 2006.
Wow that's kind of sad to hear....I don't expect "great" internet but at least something decent out in the boonies. Looks like I'll be setting up repeaters throughout the home.
Just switched over last month from Hughesnet to Exede12 (upgraded service from wildblue). Average download speed is around 16Mbps. Upload about 1Mbps, maybe a little more. All satellite has some issues, so it isn't perfect.
However, I can do a Google hangout video-conference with no probs. Streaming is pretty even.
Downsides:
There is some latency. No multiplayer games.
Every once in a while there are DNS lookup errors based out of the NOC. You CANNOT change DNS servers to Google or free servers with either WB or Hughes. It may look like you are, but it doesn't work that way.
Rain fade. Generally this is not too bad except in extreme storms.
Usage limits. 10 gig per month with basic Exede, except the time after midnight is free (when it works right).
With ad-blocking software and no-script and a tweaked hosts file, it is fairly easy to stay within limitations if you aren't watching videos all the time.
Cost - figure $60/mo , which is a lot more than many ISPs.
In our state. Last year there was a grant of $10+ Million spent on routing fiber-optics in a 'ring' looping across the Eastern half of the state. That area had no fiber-optics previously [except for a few private University projects]. The papers made a big deal of now local phone companies can begin to tap into it. So far few of them have. Problem is that tapping into it costs money. And old phone lines are not capable of much more than 2400 baud rate. We will see how many of them can find the money to up-grade.
I am fortunate to have DSL with our phone company. The fastest download speed I have recorded with Speedtest.net has been .94Mb/s Though it is more common to run in the .81 to .86 range. We get upload speeds of .21Mb/s.
There is a South-West corner that is more urban and adjoins to NH, I have no idea what they may have available to them down there. Being more densely populated, I assume they should have something 'better'. The North-Western quadrant of the state has no DSL, no fiber-optics for ISPs to tap into.
It sounds like you are from Maine (the only state with a SW corner near NH). Anyway, I am sure much faster connections are available in your state in the area that you mention, the Portland area. The reason why I said this is because I went online to see what is available to the general public in Central NH, where I went to school. I am sure that you can find areas that do not have access to the cable lines, but if you live in the main towns, like Plymouth or Laconia, you can get fairly decent broadband internet service. If those towns can have broadband internet access, I have little doubt that coastal Maine does not. It is practically part of the Boston Metro Area.
Now, you mention a grant to lay fiber optic cable lines in an arc throughout the Eastern half of the state. It looks like the majority of the state except for the interior NW should be connected. However, will this be completed within the next few years? Would the majority of Maine be connected to broadband, except for the most remote parts? Is that what will happen? Will the entire arc be covered or just the main towns in that arc? Do you have any good links to how the project is progressing?
Third, you said that you have DSL. I know DSL is technically broadband internet, but the speeds you are describing are slow. Here in Northern New Jersey, our cable company is giving me 15Mbps download and 2Mbps upload. However, the neighbors tend to not use up much of the bandwidth because I usually test my download speeds at 18 or 19. Therefore, having "broadband internet access" does not really mean that much if the service available is not of decent quality. So we also need to look at the average internet speed available rather than just counting the numbers of those with "broadband internet access."
Just switched over last month from Hughesnet to Exede12 (upgraded service from wildblue). Average download speed is around 16Mbps. Upload about 1Mbps, maybe a little more. All satellite has some issues, so it isn't perfect.
However, I can do a Google hangout video-conference with no probs. Streaming is pretty even.
Downsides:
There is some latency. No multiplayer games.
Every once in a while there are DNS lookup errors based out of the NOC. You CANNOT change DNS servers to Google or free servers with either WB or Hughes. It may look like you are, but it doesn't work that way.
Rain fade. Generally this is not too bad except in extreme storms.
Usage limits. 10 gig per month with basic Exede, except the time after midnight is free (when it works right).
With ad-blocking software and no-script and a tweaked hosts file, it is fairly easy to stay within limitations if you aren't watching videos all the time.
Cost - figure $60/mo , which is a lot more than many ISPs.
I did not realize that satellite could be that fast! Are those speeds typical within your ISP? Or would such issues like the atmosphere and weather be a factor? However, you did mention problems with latency. What did you measure the Ping at? How often do these problems arise? Do you ever have to wait, for example, 20 seconds for a webpage to load? I am just curious because I only used satellite internet access once very briefly when I was on a cruise. It was not as bad as dial-up, but compared to what I have at home, it was a bit on the slow side.
Exede latency averages around 750. I can carry on an easy conversation on a Google Hangout, but not the type where callers constantly interrupt each other. The speeds seem to be typical, but may be a little slower weekday early morning - perhaps from East coast hangover? During those times, Hotmail, which does a couple of redirects and SSL, can be a problem loading within Firefox, but will work just fine from Dreammail.
It sounds like you are from Maine (the only state with a SW corner near NH). Anyway, I am sure much faster connections are available in your state in the area that you mention, the Portland area.
I believe that population-dense urban areas usually get things before the majority of an area does. I suspect that the tiny portion of this state that is urban likely does have access to faster connections.
Quote:
... Now, you mention a grant to lay fiber optic cable lines in an arc throughout the Eastern half of the state. It looks like the majority of the state except for the interior NW should be connected. However, will this be completed within the next few years?
The fiber optic cables are being ran. No word yet on which phone companies will be hooking up to it, or when.
Quote:
... Would the majority of Maine be connected to broadband, except for the most remote parts?
Um, that is a kind of a contradiction. The majority of Maine is 'remote' and fairly rural. Over 52% of townships in Maine are small enough that they have no formal 'organization' [No selectmen, no building inspector, no tax assessor, no town clerk]. They are called Unorganized Townships [UT]. My town is one, they burned the town charter to lower taxes back in 1930. Among the UTs of Maine my town is one of the most heavily populated, we have 250 people in our township.
Quote:
... Is that what will happen? Will the entire arc be covered or just the main towns in that arc? Do you have any good links to how the project is progressing?
Back when Ma-Bell was broken up, the Maine Bell company was divided into scores of baby bells. Our phone company for example serves four townships, but they are not allowed to be adjacent townships. So they are scattered like a checkerboard. Different townships have different phone companies, etc. Many towns in Maine have no cable companies. I have no idea of how many UTs in Maine have no phone company, though I suspect that at least a few score have no phone company. When I moved here, many of the land parcels I looked at had no access to power or phone lines.
I suspect that phone companies nearest the arc will likely tie-in. Which ever towns they happen to serve will be the towns that gain access.
My phone company had to upgrade their lines for them to be able to handle broadband. Because they were a small ma/pa company, they were able to get a Federal grant which allowed them to do that upgrade. Bigger phone companies might not be able to upgrade their lines as easily.
Quote:
... Third, you said that you have DSL. I know DSL is technically broadband internet, but the speeds you are describing are slow. Here in Northern New Jersey, our cable company is giving me 15Mbps download and 2Mbps upload. However, the neighbors tend to not use up much of the bandwidth because I usually test my download speeds at 18 or 19. Therefore, having "broadband internet access" does not really mean that much if the service available is not of decent quality. So we also need to look at the average internet speed available rather than just counting the numbers of those with "broadband internet access."
You get what you get.
edit - You might find this interesting, I did when I moved here. My town has no newspaper, nor do the towns to our North, East or West. The town to our South has a newspaper and it serves as our local newspaper. It has been printed for a century, blah blah. That newspaper has no internet presence. No website, no email. It never has.
The paper has a story about a someone calling the police about a drunk who was chasing a cat.
I think that shows the rural interest in WWW
When I was living in New Hampshire, I guess I was isolated from that kind of provincialism due to the fact it was a college town (Plymouth). Also, I think age is another factor. I have seen a generational divide, especially in my family when it comes to learning new technologies. College campuses are mostly young people, and the older professors and staff tended to be more up-with-the-times than their peers. So while I could definitely see that even the youth of NH were a bit behind the times, I just wasn't too exposed to the rest of the state. I spent most of my time in Plymouth and only ventured out for hikes or skiing (before I was disabled). So this example does answer my question concerning the lack of interest in the WWW. As much as I loved NH, its friendly people, its beautiful scenery, etc. I just was too interested in the rest of the world to remain in that part of the country. I definitely had a preference for the NY Times, Economist, WWW, etc. to really fit in there. Hence, I am back were I grew up in New Jersey.
When I was living in New Hampshire, I guess I was isolated from that kind of provincialism due to the fact it was a college town (Plymouth). Also, I think age is another factor. I have seen a generational divide, especially in my family when it comes to learning new technologies. College campuses are mostly young people, and the older professors and staff tended to be more up-with-the-times than their peers. So while I could definitely see that even the youth of NH were a bit behind the times, I just wasn't too exposed to the rest of the state. I spent most of my time in Plymouth and only ventured out for hikes or skiing (before I was disabled). So this example does answer my question concerning the lack of interest in the WWW. As much as I loved NH, its friendly people, its beautiful scenery, etc. I just was too interested in the rest of the world to remain in that part of the country. I definitely had a preference for the NY Times, Economist, WWW, etc. to really fit in there. Hence, I am back were I grew up in New Jersey.
I can see that.
As much as I am online, I still find it noteworthy that our newspaper is not online.
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