""Larry Holmes modem designer/former cable modem designer" aren't you former something else too. Just want to make sure before I say anything that may cross you."
Yeth, and you better watchit or I'll thmack you in the mouf....
Go ahead, make fun, I deserve it; I bet I'm the only guy on the entire site who signed his TITLE for goodness sake; should have just said "I designed cable modems once upon a time..."
"I did ask him about speed as capacity is used up. He gave me a big long technical explanation that is way beyond me. Basically, he assured me that COX has capacity coming out of their ears and they will definitely not pull an AOL on me."
Yes, that is the THEORY, and for you, for the forseeable future, you are safe. That isn't going to be true for the future, though I can't say when the problems will start. If I had access to a cable modem system I'd subscribe too, for now, and hope for something better when traffic gets bad.
The best example I know of is the internet itself. It has a lot of bandwidth, but at times, it slows to a crawl, if traffic is heavy. Although cable modem systems are not just like the internet, the effect is similar; if you have a ten megabit cable modem channel, and you are only one of ten who are on line for that cable branch, you will get at least one megabit, which is great. But, if there are a hundred on line, which is not a stretch of the maximum capacity by any means, you could see your speed drop BELOW that of a 2BRI ISDN modem; if the system is completely subscribed (like many small ISP's were after only a few months in business) you may see your speed drop below analog speed SOME OF THE TIME.
That isn't to say cable modems are no good; they can be great. I did not like the way the throughput could jump between 100 kbps and 1mbps, but that was just me; I could see it on the screen and it bothered my eyes. BUT, I sure did like it when I was running near max speed at night...
I believe that cable, analog, xDSL, etc., will SHARE the markets; one will not force all others out. That will happen when a purely digital system is finally here, the Teledesic system, or something similar, which can provide universal high bandwidth.
Larry |
