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I hate BT, but with the midband services ready to go I was prepred to give them a little more slack. Then you read something like this...
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"ADSL is available to 95% of Japanese homes, and FTTH available to
("only") 64%! Many if not most ADSL homes enjoy 12 Mbps service, and
24 Mbps service will become a reality in 2003. And 100 Mbps FTTH
service currently costs JPY5400 per month (USD$45) and friends tell me
that will drop by almost 20% next month. It's very cool to see
billboards on Tokyo's fashionable Aoyama-Dori advertising NTT's 100
Mbps broadband service next to ads for cosmetics and couture. By the
way, this survey piece implies that cable modem service has been left
in the dust by both Fiber and DSL."
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Yes, that is 100 Mbps. For $45/£29 a month. For £2 a month less BT will provide a fraction of the population with a service hundereds of times slower. And while they'll happily install a fiber optic line, there isn't any boradband service they can provide via it (i.e. UK FTTH availability is 0%, not even in trial stage).
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"ADSL is available to 95% of Japanese homes, and FTTH available to
("only") 64%! Many if not most ADSL homes enjoy 12 Mbps service, and
24 Mbps service will become a reality in 2003. And 100 Mbps FTTH
service currently costs JPY5400 per month (USD$45) and friends tell me
that will drop by almost 20% next month. It's very cool to see
billboards on Tokyo's fashionable Aoyama-Dori advertising NTT's 100
Mbps broadband service next to ads for cosmetics and couture. By the
way, this survey piece implies that cable modem service has been left
in the dust by both Fiber and DSL."
---
Yes, that is 100 Mbps. For $45/£29 a month. For £2 a month less BT will provide a fraction of the population with a service hundereds of times slower. And while they'll happily install a fiber optic line, there isn't any boradband service they can provide via it (i.e. UK FTTH availability is 0%, not even in trial stage).
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Satellite is expensive and doesn't offer that great a service - espically as bandwidth gets charged per MB from a reasonably low point. Wireless has an even lower coverage than broadband.
Other than ADSL down a phone line, or DSL over a Cable tv network, there are a few other methods than can be used.
Wireless internet.
Signals are sent through the air to a special roof top aerial (normal tv and radio aerials won’t work). There is a downlink cable to a decoder box which provides you with the necessary connections. This system is limited to signal coverage issue’s. If you are out side of the signal, you can’t use the system.
Broadband Satellite 1-Way.
An established method in which downloads are sent down from a special satellite in space to a special dish on your building. A downlink cord connects the dish to a decoder box which provides the usual connections. As with Satellite tv, you can get a signal almost anywhere. Uplinks still use a 56k analogue modem, although even here performance is improved since the entire bandwidth of the phone line can be used just for sending data, whereas normally the send signals have to share bandwidth with the receiving signals.
Broadband Satellite 2-Way.
A new method based on the 1-way satellite system. With the 2-way system, you don’t need any phone line. All signals (incoming and outgoing) go through a special dish which sends and receives signals from a satellite in orbit. Since the signals mainly face upwards, you can get a signal almost anywhere. This is a very expensive system however. BT charge nearly £60 per month subscription for this!
Some of the systems provide slightly different types of performance. For example, the 2-way satellite system is not so good for fast reacting content such as games. You can find out more at the BT web site.
Wireless internet.
Signals are sent through the air to a special roof top aerial (normal tv and radio aerials won’t work). There is a downlink cable to a decoder box which provides you with the necessary connections. This system is limited to signal coverage issue’s. If you are out side of the signal, you can’t use the system.
Broadband Satellite 1-Way.
An established method in which downloads are sent down from a special satellite in space to a special dish on your building. A downlink cord connects the dish to a decoder box which provides the usual connections. As with Satellite tv, you can get a signal almost anywhere. Uplinks still use a 56k analogue modem, although even here performance is improved since the entire bandwidth of the phone line can be used just for sending data, whereas normally the send signals have to share bandwidth with the receiving signals.
Broadband Satellite 2-Way.
A new method based on the 1-way satellite system. With the 2-way system, you don’t need any phone line. All signals (incoming and outgoing) go through a special dish which sends and receives signals from a satellite in orbit. Since the signals mainly face upwards, you can get a signal almost anywhere. This is a very expensive system however. BT charge nearly £60 per month subscription for this!
Some of the systems provide slightly different types of performance. For example, the 2-way satellite system is not so good for fast reacting content such as games. You can find out more at the BT web site.
Okay, you win. That is worse.
I'm talking about the only place where there is no BT coverage in any way shape or form. As in, I can't get a BT phone line.
The only place? Coverage is still pathetic. I'm in a particularly annoying location - if I drive for about five minutes in any direction I can get ADSL. Granted, it doesn't work if I drive straight out to sea, but the town across the bay, they've got ADSL too. I live in a little island of non-availability.
Bloody hell, I'm getting excited aobut midband for goodness sake. A huge 128kbps and predicted to be at similar prices to the very expensive ISDN service. BT would be calling it a broadband service if only OFTEL hadn't bared them from it. I wouldn't even allow them to call their current ADSL speeds broadband as they are pretty pathetic in a country that likes to think of its self as a world player.
Bloody hell, I'm getting excited aobut midband for goodness sake. A huge 128kbps and predicted to be at similar prices to the very expensive ISDN service. BT would be calling it a broadband service if only OFTEL hadn't bared them from it. I wouldn't even allow them to call their current ADSL speeds broadband as they are pretty pathetic in a country that likes to think of its self as a world player.
Sometimes it really sucks living in the only place in the country where you can't get Broadband. It means I'm going to have a hell of a job trying to work out how to get my consoles online.
*sigh*
*sigh*
Blame the Government.
They used to own the old telephone network it's all based on, they then decided that it would be unfair for BT to have the advantage having inherited this network, and decided to use OFTEL to tie one hand behind their back until the competition catches up.
They used to own the old telephone network it's all based on, they then decided that it would be unfair for BT to have the advantage having inherited this network, and decided to use OFTEL to tie one hand behind their back until the competition catches up.
A 100Mbps line would out strip pretty much any local backbone in the UK. Japs, they can get it right to their house.
Assuming a perfect 100Mbps up and downstream conection that 25MB file would take 2 seconds dead. Whole albums in under 10 seconds, whole movies inside two minutes... GITS!
Assuming a perfect 100Mbps up and downstream conection that 25MB file would take 2 seconds dead. Whole albums in under 10 seconds, whole movies inside two minutes... GITS!
Except that they are getting it for around the same price, and can download things like 25 Mb programs in seconds...
Ah so that's it i don't see a point having 2mb onwards unless you download loads.
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