Has anyone seen faster Internet speeds in Huntsville? (Madison, Mountain Brook: contractor, taxes)

[MisterEd51]

Originally Posted by djmaxwell

Copper isn't passive. There's all sorts of powered equipment between your home and the headend. Fiber, on the other hand, is passive all the way back to the central office, where there is sufficient battery / generator back up to provide power indefinitely. As long as you have power to your equipment, you are good to go.

In general terms both copper and fiber are passive medium. What I am talking about is the cable running between the poles.

However there may be active components in the system. For example, with copper there may be powered amplifiers inline. Likewise, even fiber over long runs may require powered light amplifiers or repeaters inline.

Of course both copper and fiber having powered circuits inline does not take away from the fact that they are both passive medium. As a former engineer I should know.

If you read the following you will understand that both copper and fiber meet the definition of passive components.

In a nutshell, active components can, generally speaking, inject power into a circuit and are capable of electrically controlling and amplifying the flow of electrical current, whereas passive components cannot. Unlike active components, passive components either consume or store energy.

Introduction to electronic compontents: Active vs. passive components
https://www.power-and-beyond.com/int...ents-a-893768/

Both copper and fiber are subject to disruption if their lines are broken by natural or other reasons. Both have electrically power equipment inline so are subject to going down unless their is backup power. However, fiber tends to be more reliable because their systems have fewer electrical components to fail.

There is no such thing as providing power indefinitely. We found that out in April 2011. Backup power only lasts a few days at best. Cable and Internet went out immediately. The AT&T landlines lasted a few days until their backup power ended. By Saturday I had no electricity, phone, cable or Internet. The only connection to the outside world was radio. That would last only as long as the batteries did.

Because TV stations require so much power there was no hope for them to continue operating when they lost power. On the other had radio stations had backup power and could run for a short time on it. However, when it became apparent that power would not be restored for several days they gave up on that. They pooled their resources and decided that some stations would shut down. That allowed the ones left to continue broadcasting using the limited fuel for their generators.

Even nuclear power plants are not allowed to run more than a few days with only backup power to their cooling system. In April 2011 the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Athens came close to being ordered to shut down. That was only averted when primary electrical power was restored to their cooling systems. When I talk about primary power I am talking about a source such as a coal fired power plant.

[djmaxwell]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

In general terms both copper and fiber are passive medium. What I am talking about is the cable running between the poles.

However there may be active components in the system. For example, with copper there may be powered amplifiers inline. Likewise, even fiber over long runs may require powered light amplifiers or repeaters inline.

Of course both copper and fiber having powered circuits inline does not take away from the fact that they are both passive medium. As a former engineer I should know.

As a former engineer, you should understand that we're talking about systems not a pieces of wire or glass. As a system, unless you live very close to the headend, a cable plant requires active components to provide the end user with a signal. These components have limited or no power backup so when there is a power outage, there is limited or no signal availability. On the other hand, fiber generally uses PON - Passive Optical Network. There are no active components between the Central Office and the end user. For localized power outages, there is no disruption in service. For more widespread outages, the CO has sufficient backup power resources to continue providing service for an extended period of time.

There is no such thing as providing power indefinitely. We found that out in April 2011. Backup power only lasts a few days at best. Cable and Internet went out immediately. The AT&T landlines lasted a few days until their backup power ended. By Saturday I had no electricity, phone, cable or Internet. The only connection to the outside world was radio. That would last only as long as the batteries did.

Because TV stations require so much power there was no hope for them to continue operating when they lost power. On the other had radio stations had backup power and could run for a short time on it. However, when it became apparent that power would not be restored for several days they gave up on that. They pooled their resources and decided that some stations would shut down. That allowed the ones left to continue broadcasting using the limited fuel for their generators.

I had an inverter that I hooked to the car to power our TV. I don't recall there being any disruption in local broadcast, but it's been awhile.

[FCEddie]

But the reason we have higher speeds than most of the country is the competitiveness of our market.

No other market has:
Att Fiber
Comcast
Spectrum
Google
WoW
and
Mediacom.


Many of us have 4 choices for providers - the norm is 2, and occasionally 3.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by FCEddie

But the reason we have higher speeds than most of the country is the competitiveness of our market.

No other market has:
Att Fiber
Comcast
Spectrum
Google
WoW
and
Mediacom.


Many of us have 4 choices for providers - the norm is 2, and occasionally 3.

Or in my case, and most if not all of Madison, just one.

[FCEddie]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Or in my case, and most if not all of Madison, just one.

Curious which part of Madison doesn't have two options.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by FCEddie

Curious which part of Madison doesn't have two options.

Edgewater, for one.

[FCEddie]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Edgewater, for one.

Zierdt Road - so you only have WOW.

I am surprised ATT didn't do that area. They were dropping Fiber all around you a couple of years ago.

[RedMaple]

Zierdt Road - so you only have WOW.

I live on Zierdt north of Edgewater and AT&T has been pitching me for at least two years. WOW just dropped their rates enough so that for an extra $9/month I'll be getting gig speeds (that included a free modem and mesh network).

I think AT&T is also in Edgewater.

[Rick In Madison]

Originally Posted by FCEddie

Curious which part of Madison doesn't have two options.

At least some of the areas off of County Line Road.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by RedMaple

I live on Zierdt north of Edgewater and AT&T has been pitching me for at least two years. WOW just dropped their rates enough so that for an extra $9/month I'll be getting gig speeds (that included a free modem and mesh network).

I think AT&T is also in Edgewater.

If AT&T is in Edgewater (Madison part), I certainly don't know about it. Google is also in nearby Huntsville areas such as The Reserve and Lake Forest I believe, but not in my part of Edgewater.

No idea that AT&T has service in Mountain Brook. Maybe I should check them out for Edgewater because I'm not really happy with Wow right now (they turned my cable modem off, then the service tech didn't come as scheduled, and I was without internet for 4-5 days. And I'm sure I'll be billed for service I didn't get.