WBK -
Good point on pricing. Aren't DSL prices dependant on the speed you choose? I've seen it this way, but I just went to BellSouth and they have it as $59.95/mo for their "fastaccess ADSL". They only say it can reach "up to" 1.5M. Prices will have to be right in line with those of cable, if they even hope to draw residential subscribers. With price equal, I still see more people going with cable.
I'd say most residential homes get 31.2-33.6 upstream pretty consistently. How many times have you maxed out your upstream feed? The only times you will, in general, is when your upping files to your FTP space for whatever reason. For the average person, this doesn't occur very often. Most users don't know what FTP is.
Personally, I don't really think that many people need the high-speed access that cable/phone companies will be pushing down their throat. For the most part, people look at web pages, send email, chat, and that's about it. For all of that somewhere around ISDN speed is the best speed for you. (I'm not saying ISDN is good, cause it's most definitely *not*). If you have the capability of higher speeds, you probably wouldn't notice a difference in transmission speeds. At work, we use a T1 (shared, obviously ;), and I *rarely* see a difference in browsing at home (52k usually) and the office. Sites that load slow at home, load slow at work.
Eventually as the net moves more towards dedicated connection, streaming video feeds, integrated TV, etc, we will have need for this high-speed access. So it's probably a good idea to get it settled in now. I would still like to see the backbones more prepared for a future onslaught of high-speed before everyone starts switching.
Hmmm... I think I lost my point somewhere in there. *g*
Don't even get me started on the idiocy of 56k and I don't even want to think about AOL users with high-speed access. *shudder*
I'm a little confused on your statement "Applications that require 33.6 are in reality not too commonplace". What do you mean by this? That applications rarely need a speed of 33.6 or that they frequently need greater speeds?
This is all, of course, my opinion. Where I got it, I have no clue.
I enjoy talking high-speed access, by the way, but if anyone feels it's out-of-place here, just let me know and I'll take it to PM.
llater,
Tony B |
