The Internet will never satisfy its lust for Net Neutrality and Bandwidth

Dave

Staff member
Very interesting. I ran mine 10 times through a few of these and here are the averages:

  • Ookla - 775.25 down, 489.97 up.
  • Bandwidth Test - 571.95 down, 119.28 up.
  • Fast - 610 down, 565 up.
  • TestMy - 45.6 down, 36.55 up.

One of these things is not like the others...
 
You are not POSSIBLY suggesting that ISP's have PAID OFF certain bandwith test sites to LIE about their speeds?

/sarcasm_mode
 

GasBandit

Staff member
You are not POSSIBLY suggesting that ISP's have PAID OFF certain bandwith test sites to LIE about their speeds?

/sarcasm_mode
It's more like the ISPs have triggers in place that go off whenever someone tries to connect to known bandwidth testing sites to open the floodgates for the test, then go back to restrictive throttling everywhere else.

That's why fast.com is so useful, it's literally hosted on Netflix's media servers, so if they throttle netflix, Fast.com tattles on them.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
What does bandwidthplace.com say?
(I mainly ask because I want to know if bwp is on your ISP's fakery list)

--Patrick
Well, on the upside, it doesn't look like the ISP is opening aforementioned floodgates for it, but the fact that it seems to cap out at 100 for me makes me think there might be some other issue going on.

1624832076087.png


I tried Dallas and got 120 down. Chicago only got me 50.
 
Debated putting this in one of the gaming threads, but felt like it fit better here:


I love this article. Mainly for the writing. Things such as [emphasis mine]:
In other parts of the world, even more people are unable to play video games because of increasing Internet requirements and are at risk of being pushed out of the hobby because of it. I write from personal experience. I live in the Falkland Islands, a British territory off the coast of South America, where I pay 120 pounds (roughly $165) per month for 57.2GB of capped data. That data comes in at maximum connection speeds of 5.25Mbps download & 768kbps upload. It often has a ping time between 500 and 800 ms.
And this:
Despite my Internet troubles, I realize that I am lucky to live in a place where society is relatively safe and stable. Many of the places around the world with the most limited Internet access also have other socioeconomic issues with infrastructure, poverty, or disease that would make playing games seem like an amazing luxury. I’ll leave those topics to a writer with a greater specific understanding and experience.
Typical English understatement.

Anyway, with Ida ravaging the South right now, there are more people this applies to than there were a week ago, and they're people who probably weren't expecting to have to deal with it, to boot.

--Patrick
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Spectrum Threatens Former Customers In Renewal Shakedown

"Spectrum has been sending former customers strange letters threatening to report them to the credit agencies unless they renew services, in attempt to win back their business. The letters say that 'as a one-time courtesy,' the company will cancel debt it claims they owe and stop reporting them to credit agencies -- if they agree to resume cable service. The threat continues by stating that 'You have worked hard to build a great future for yourself and your family' 'We look forward to welcoming you back.' "
 
So you're still bumping along on your decrepit old Wifi 5 (802.11ac) wireless system with its paltry theoretical maximum of ~3 Gbps and you've been thinking about upgrading to WiFi 6 (802.11ax) or 6E (802.11ax Extended) to bump that up to ~10Gbps but you've been putting off upgrading because decent 6/6E routers can go for US$500? Well that's okay, because Wifi 7 (802.11be) is coming, possibly as early as 2023, bringing with it a max speed of ~30Gbps as well as other enhancements that will make it easier to use multiple devices simultaneously. Cost of WiFi 7 routers/APs is as yet unknown, though.

...of course this is all fairly academic and useless since the average Internet download speed in the US is only about 8Mbps, but I'm sure it will be of use to somebody, someday.

--Patrick
 
Meh, that will only last as far as the 1st time a politician gets perma-banned for retweeting BS.

Hell, fake DMCA takedowns happen all the time, now apply that to any content you can think of.
 
The biggest concern here is that if Section 230 is struck down by the court, it would mean that in order for any online content provider to be compliant under a S230-less Internet, ALL user-submitted content would need to be manually and individually reviewed prior to it being publicly viewable, lest the provider be held liable for what that user said/posted. It would mean the end of YouTube, Twitter, all fora everywhere (including Halforums!), every comment section, and possibly the end of every streaming service as well, since this would technically mean that, for instance, Netflix could legitimately be sued for allowing users in more restrictive locations to use VPNs to connect to Western exit points in order to watch content not available in their country. And more.

--Patrick
 

Dave

Staff member
And before you think this is malarkey, remember I once was threatened with a lawsuit by some douchebag from Australia who thought we'd defamed him by calling him a free ranged chicken.
 
Found the thread about it, too. I word searched "free range chicken." A lot of people posted that aren't around anymore, sadly.

I replied several times, but I don't remember anything.
 
I genuinely wonder if there's anyone left in any management position in any big company who cares about any longer term than the next fiscal year. Seems the answer is no.
 
It used to be “Climb to the top of the corporate ladder and retire wealthy,” but each successive wave/generation has been trying to collapse the time required to do so, which is why the current mentality seems to have morphed into “Get mine and get out and screw the consequences.”

—Patrick
 
Apparently Comcast now using customer data to leave anti-net neutrality comments on FCC web site.

http://gizmodo.com/comcast-sicks-its-legal-goons-on-net-neutrality-advocat-1795490235

And suing any site that exposes them.
So how is that idea working out today? Well, if you're in New York...

--Patrick
 
I’m a little annoyed that this still doesn’t plug the data cap loophole, where an ISP that enforces any data cap should not be allowed to advertise speeds that would hit their data cap in 30days or less of uninterrupted download activity. I mean, what good is gigabit Internet if all it means is that you hit your monthly limit of 2 terabytes in only 5hrs?

—Patrick
 
I used to have unlimited mobile net like over a decade ago, then they took it out (technically it was still unlilmited, since the contract was the same, they still didn't charge me for using too much, they just limited my speed to kbs after a cap) when it started becoming more popular to have mobile net on your phone...

They always could, it just wasn't as profitable as capping.
 
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