dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
view:
topics flat nest 
Comments on news posted 2013-02-05 08:41:36: Cable operators appear to be slowly backing away from Comcast's PowerBoost technology now that they're offering speeds that make the technology irrelevant. ..

page: 1 · 2 · next
brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

brianiscool

Member

Large download speed increase, but upload is terrible.

When will their speeds be at least 50, 75 and up for their upload?

chamberc
Premium Member
join:2008-08-05
Addison, TX

chamberc

Premium Member

The entire to consumer architecture is built towards asymmetric speed, for download. You'll see 50-75 upload about the time 500 mbps to 1 gbps is common on the download.
resa1983
Premium Member
join:2008-03-10
North York, ON

resa1983

Premium Member

Rogers

Not all of the cable industry is..

Rogers here in Canada is still keeping with SpeedBoost. They like their customers seeing the right speeds (even for a few seconds) when their network is massively congested because they're too bloody cheap to do upgrades.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Will we notice?

I wonder if web browsing will feel flat after PB dies? My current Charter plan is 15/3 but my DOCSIS 2.0 modem typically maxes out for the first few seconds (30Mbps +). I cannot help but wonder if I lose PB, will media rich web pages not feel as crisp? Will streaming video not start as quickly?

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

add on feature

if PB dies, I'd be surprised to not see it be an add on feature.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

This is just the first step

... toward justifying another price increase.

AnonFTW
@reliablehosting.com

AnonFTW to rradina

Anon

to rradina

Re: Will we notice?

said by rradina:

I wonder if web browsing will feel flat after PB dies? My current Charter plan is 15/3 but my DOCSIS 2.0 modem typically maxes out for the first few seconds (30Mbps +). I cannot help but wonder if I lose PB, will media rich web pages not feel as crisp? Will streaming video not start as quickly?

Unless your line is overloaded, no.
gaforces (banned)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA

gaforces (banned)

Member

It's stil offered

I checked in my area yesterday and the packages they offer include powerboost.
They make it sound good with thier flowery marketing lingo.
I still cant tell if its any good like people say or they are just moved by the advertising.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac to rradina

Member

to rradina

Re: Will we notice?

It's unlikely you'll notice. The only things that really benefited from PB was downloads of large files and filling video stream buffers slightly faster. A 3 Mbps connection is more than enough to load web pages quickly.

A well designed web page should load before doing any of the above. These days sluggish web pages are caused by things like an over abundance of Flash or server issues.
Morac

Morac

Member

PB is irrelevant

I haven't had PB since last summer when Comcast updated me to 50/10 and really I haven't missed it. PB was useful back in the days of 6 or even 12 Mbps connections, but as speeds increased it lost it's usefulness.

These days, when I can download a 1 GB file in under 3 minutes, the extra few seconds PB would shave off the download is meaningless.

Not to mention that I rarely find servers capable of actually delivering 50 Mbps download speeds, so PB won't really help in that case anyway.

Upload PB is still kind of useful, but the vast majority of people don't do a lot of uploading or if they do, it can be done in the background where upload time isn't as relevant.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72 to chamberc

Premium Member

to chamberc

Re: Large download speed increase, but upload is terrible.

frankly, they need to use speedboost for uploads now...

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan to brianiscool

Premium Member

to brianiscool
When they have to in order to compete, not before.
skeechan

skeechan to newview

Premium Member

to newview

Re: This is just the first step

As if they ever had to justifying price increases.
skeechan

skeechan

Premium Member

It is pointless the way they are doing it

Cox used to do it right, uncapping for the first few hundred MB of a DL but a few months ago they "fixed" it so that a 50Mb tier was capped to 55Mb with PB. Who would notice?

I'd love to have an uncapped 8 channel connection for the first say, 500MB. Even with a 150Mb tier that would turn a 30s download into 15s one. And I may even willing to pay a premium for it.
NoHereNoMo
join:2012-12-06

NoHereNoMo

Member

"Speed" war?

You mean "numbers" war. Not once have I ever needed more than 5mbps. Yeah, there are things I do that can take advantage of a little bit more speed, but still no more than 10mbps. (How fast do I really need to fill up a buffer?) Yeah, there are things that others do that can take advantage of even higher speeds (or there are simply more people at the customer location). But at this point it's just numbers on a chart. Oh, yes, please... let me pay more for that, thank you so much. Frankly, if I could get back my old 3000/768 Verizon DSL for $30/month... I'd seriously consider it. At 5/1 for $30 I'd be there in a heartbeat.

XANAVirus
Premium Member
join:2012-03-03
Lavalette, WV

XANAVirus to Morac

Premium Member

to Morac

Re: PB is irrelevant

Powerboost may be irrelevant, but they still need to offer faster upload speeds.

Those who are content creators, like me (and others), who upload multiple 30-minute videos to YouTube, would appreciate the higher upload - therefore leading to less wait for all the videos to go up.

This would really help me, since even though I have a dedicated uploading computer, because I still have to wait 8 hours for the first of 5-6 videos to be up and I have to do this at night.

Most ISPs offer *only* 1Mbps upload speed, or 3Mbps or 5Mbps. At my location, no one offers higher than 1Mbps, unless you buy ultra-expensive fiber Internet (which is not offered for my house, only for my business location).

[Of course, I can't upload on my business location, because this is not on company time, because I create content for others' entertainment, fun, and myself.]
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned) to skeechan

Member

to skeechan

Re: Large download speed increase, but upload is terrible.

Up here the cable providers are doing just that, although still not competing very well.
34764170

34764170 (banned) to NoHereNoMo

Member

to NoHereNoMo

Re: "Speed" war?

No way I could go back to a 5Mbps connection. I require at least 10Mbps, preferably 15.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Good

I will like having a stable speed as the power boost messes up my computers. It still takes the same amount of time to download a Mac OS/app/iOS update either with or without the Power Boost.

I'd rather not have those teaser speeds especially with blast 50/10. Now they should sunset all DOCSIS 2.0 modems.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

1 edit

34764170 (banned)

Member

said by IowaCowboy:

I will like having a stable speed as the power boost messes up my computers.

Complete nonsense.
NoHereNoMo
join:2012-12-06

NoHereNoMo to 34764170

Member

to 34764170

Re: "Speed" war?

OK, I'm curious... why?

(The only thing I do that requires any speed above 3mbps is streaming video. HD video would use a little more, but not by much. But as I said, that's just me. I used to do backups and other stuff online that used all of my 30/5 connection, but I don't anymore.)
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

1 edit

34764170 (banned)

Member

said by NoHereNoMo:

OK, I'm curious... why?

(The only thing I do that requires any speed above 3mbps is streaming video. HD video would use a little more, but not by much. But as I said, that's just me. I used to do backups and other stuff online that used all of my 30/5 connection, but I don't anymore.)

Streaming and being able to do that and downloads at the same time. Regularly we use 2 Netflix sessions and each one consumes greater than 5Mbps. Then try downloading anything.

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

jseymour to IowaCowboy

Member

to IowaCowboy

Re: Good

said by IowaCowboy:

I will like having a stable speed as the power boost messes up my computers.

Okay, I'll bite: How does Powerboost "mess up your computers?"

Jim
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to resa1983

Premium Member

to resa1983

Re: Rogers

said by resa1983:

They like their customers seeing the right speeds (even for a few seconds) when their network is massively congested

But if the network is massively congested, you aren't going to see the "right speed" regardless of bursting.
openbox9

openbox9 to newview

Premium Member

to newview

Re: This is just the first step

How so? Prices are rising regardless of removing the bursting capability. Or are you referring to faster tiers of service?

Majestik
World Traveler
Premium Member
join:2001-05-11
Tulsa, OK

Majestik to rradina

Premium Member

to rradina

Re: Will we notice?

Does not matter. That is why I have Cox essentials which is about 3/.70.
Unless you are doing a lot of downloading or have more than two in your home you are wasting your money.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to jseymour

Premium Member

to jseymour

Re: Good

It makes establishing QoS profiles more challenging, but beyond that....it's a win for anyone using it.

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
·Charter
Ubee EU2251
Ubiquiti UAP-IW-HD
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-HD

Smith6612

MVM

Bye!

Glad to see it going away. Stable speeds that can be adjusted accordingly for, even automatically so end users don't have to put up with it. I've seen PowerBoost as a helpful thing for bursty traffic but nothing more than a gimmick where consistent speed shines over others.
Paxio
Premium Member
join:2011-02-23
Santa Clara, CA

Paxio

Premium Member

PowerBoost? What's that?

PowerBoost? What's that? And why would anyone need it if they had a fiber connection?


MJB33
join:2012-01-29

MJB33

Member

ROGERS IS A BUNCH OF FLIPPING LYING LIERS.. DON'T EVEN HAVE GIGABIT SPEEDS IN BOTH DIRECTIONS... THEY ARE TO BUSY STEALING YOUR MONEY AND AVOIDING EVERY NETWORK UPGRADE..

BELL IS THE SAME...
page: 1 · 2 · next