FCC Chooses SamKnows For Broadband Speed Testing Using real data to inform policy? What madness is this? As we've been covering, the FCC is finally taking this whole "data and science" thing somewhat seriously, and is working on tools and data collection methods that will give them a much better idea of actual consumer broadband speeds. The idea, of course, is to use more accurate data to help influence the agency's policy decisions (go figure). In a new FCC blog post, the agency says they've picked UK speed test gurus SamKnows (who help UK regulators track real world delivered speeds to end users). The FCC says they'll soon be looking for volunteers to help: In a couple of weeks, we will be asking for consumers from across the country to voluntarily install hardware in their homes (on an opt-in basis) that is capable of measuring broadband performance. The measurements will give us results across a broad swath of providers, service tiers and geographic areas. More details on how to volunteer will follow in the coming weeks. We are tremendously excited about this announcement, the next step in the process of increasing transparency and competition in the broadband market and better informing consumers about their broadband service. The SamKnows website has only a tiny bit of additional detail on the "specially developed 'White Box'" they plan to use in consumer homes to see if users are getting what they pay for. If the photo selection on their website is anything to go by, the FCC and SamKnows will be using one of the new Cisco Valet residential routers for testing -- we assume using custom SamKnows-designed firmware. More technical specifics on the testing methodology should be forthcoming shortly, as the FCC says they plan to release a Public Notice "in the coming days." Given the FCC has spent the last ten years just kind of guessing about the state of U.S. broadband before proceeding to make massive, sweeping policy changes, it's great to see them really trying to focus on real science and data collection.
|
  pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD |  Not Real Data
There is plenty that the FCC can do to help consumers without resorting to wacky BS that wont' help anyone. The main one being cracking down on unfees that are not made known to the user until the first bill is received.
--
"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
|  | | | Re: Not Real Data How do you test what people can get vs. what people are willing to pay for? I have access to 100/100 fiber but I choose to go with a 20/20 plan. The "speed tests" will assume I only have 20/20 available. | |
| | | | | Re: Not Real Data the speed delivered, versus the speed tier you're paying for... | |
| | | |  GaffEvery Villain Is Lemons
join:1999-09-05
North TX, US | Re: Not Real Data I hope the practice of delivering lower speeds than advertised with regards to DSL and PPPoE will be pushed into the limelight as part of this.
I pay AT&T for 6Mbit DSL but never receive over 5.1Mbit due to the overhead. Other DSL providers, such as Verizon, sync their lines higher so that their customers actually receive the advertised speeds, but not AT&T.
I feel that this is somewhat of a bait-and-switch, although I am otherwise very happy with my AT&T DSL (though I'd like some faster speeds here, please).
--
My PC Gaming Blog
»thegaffadin.blogspot.com | |
| | | | | | | Re: Not Real Data And cable promises 20Mbps but only delivers 10Mbps or less, due to an oversubscribed node.
--
Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion. | |
| | | | | | talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon Lake, OH | Re: Not Real Data I have 15/768 cable, and regularly get sustained (multi-gigabyte) transfers of ~14-15mbps. I must be on a good node? | |
|
| | | | jcremin
join:2009-12-22
Siren, WI
kudos:2 | said by Gaff:I pay AT&T for 6Mbit DSL but never receive over 5.1Mbit due to the (PPPoE) overhead. PPPoE doesn't have that much overhead. I run a WISP and for your 6Mb connection, PPPoE overhead might drop that to 5.9, but not a whole meg. I account for the overhead so it would actually perform at the promised speed, too bad other providers don't do this, but their main slowdowns are the fault of PPPoE anyway. | |
| | | | | cramer
join:2007-04-10
Raleigh, NC
kudos:4 Reviews:
 ·AT&T Southeast
| said by Gaff:I pay AT&T for 6Mbit DSL but never receive over 5.1Mbit due to the overhead. I suspect it's more an issue of sync speed (read: line quality) than "overhead". Here's what my 6M/512k line looks like:
blue-gw#show dsl interface atm0 | section Speed|Fast
Interleave Fast Interleave Fast
Speed (kbps): 7616 0 512 0 | |
| | | | | | GaffEvery Villain Is Lemons
join:1999-09-05
North TX, US
1 edit | Re: Not Real Data As I said, AT&T only sync their lines to their normal values, and the ATM/PPPoE overhead removes ~13% of this.
»speedtest.silverstar.com/An%20Ex···head.htm
On an AT&T "Elite" 6Mbit DSL line you will never see faster than 5.1Mbit due to this.
Imagine going to buy a 12 pack of sodas and finding you only actually received 10.5. Or you went to buy a hamburger and found 13% of it missing. I don't think you'd be very happy about it, and I am not ok with AT&T reducing the throughput of my line 13% when it is within their power to fix it (by using higher sync speeds).
--
My PC Gaming Blog
»thegaffadin.blogspot.com | |
| | | | | | | Reviews:
 ·Mediacom
| Re: Not Real Data Problem with your soda and burger analogy is that AT&T offers you 'UP TO' 6Mbps. If the soda box said 'UP TO' 12 sodas were inside, it'd be a different issue.
What we have is a difference in allowable marketing practices. ISPs aren't required to guarantee speeds, while Coca Cola is required to guarantee that their boxes have exactly x amount of cans.
--
»/im/82288374/5591.png | |
| | | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: Not Real Data To agree with you 100% and go a little further.. people need to stop with the comparisons to make/prove their points.. that in itself IS the problem!!!
Don't turn to soda to compare internet, they're not the same. Don't compare apples to oranges.. the point is that when you look at something ELSE to justify what you THINK is right in others, you're going to look at a false model for your answers.
People need to look at the very issue/topic/item that is in question and seek out the correct answer.. in retail or service, nothing is always the same nor is it black and white especially when compared to something else.
Clearly, the internet is far more technical than that of a box of soda. Like you said, a box of soda has 12 cans in it, period. To sell soda, you place a number of cans in a box - it's simple. The internet is far more complex than a box of soda anyway and until someone understands and educates themselves on what the internet IS, then this kind of issue will continue.
Years ago, I about died when I saw McDonalds replace a real cash register with one that has pictures of food on it.. that simply dumbed down the need for people to actually learn and educate themselves. Technology is supposed to make people smarter, not more stupid, as in many cases and for many people, it does.
Oh, and it seems we've been on this can of soda path before.. remember when you'd buy a bag of chips and the bag would be partially full? 12oz of chips were not 12oz volume, rather, it was 12oz weight.. I believe that was the big scandal of the 80's wasn't it?
Sometimes customers DO need to educate themselves and not sit back and wait to be educated. No one ever said life was going to be simple and handed to them ... that is, unless you believe the current democratic administration.  | |
| | | | | | | | chimera
join:2009-06-09
Washington, DC Reviews:
·Comcast
| Except that if speeds can never actually reach the "up to" point then this is false advertising. "Up to" implies that the speed can reach this point, if it can't it's a lie based on one reading of it. The other way to read "Up to" is that the speed can never exceed this. If you read "up to" this way then you have sue the company if you ever achieve a higher speed than what they advertise. Since most people agree that this is silly the first interpretation feels like it ought to be the correct one. Either that or I know a few people who should sue Verizon when their bottom end DSL lines went too fast.  | |
|
| | | | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Soooo.. then be ready for your tier to be dropped to a 5MB tier then. Part of the PPPoE overhead is your speed. Your modem syncs at the speeds provisioned... if you read up on your service agreement, you'll see that. Deceptive? Not really.. I think its more of a place where the consumer needs to educate themselves a little more. | |
| | | | | |  SLDPremium
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA
2 edits | Re: Not Real Data No offense, but my dad will *NEVER* know what "overhead" is when it comes to networking. You really exepct non network admins to understand this stuff? Edjumacation is one thing, but practicality is another. | |
| | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3
1 edit | Re: Not Real Data Sorry, but yes, I do expect your dad to understand.. and if he doesn't, then explain to me, then who is at charge to make him understand? ...or, should we just continue to dumb down America?
You're going to have a time where you're not going to understand either.. maybe YOU could explain it to your dad... personally, I'm one that if someone older in my family complains about something, and they've got it wrong, it's OUR place to explain it to them...
You think they really know EVERYTHING about their cars?? Hell, it seems that about 99% of americans don't know to put their car in neutral and just off the engine if their gas pedal sticks...
Quite honestly, there is always going to be someone or some people that "don't understand"... that's life. Who is to determine what is acceptable and what isn't..? The giverment? Should everything be done at a 4th grade level? You know that your car can prolly do about 100+ miles an hour, right? But, in this case, and in order to drive one on the public roads you're required to learn and show that you know how it works, right? Maybe there's something there... that's a better option than to blame someone else if you know what I mean.
But really, still, it says "up to" in the speeds.. and as long as you are getting "up to" then you are getting what you paid for. I think when you look deep down here, people don't like "up to".. they want "actual" and in wide area networking, on a residential basis, you're likely to not always get "actual" speeds.. as the saying is true.. "many factors can affect the speeds you get" with the technology deployed to most people today. | |
| | | | | | | | SLDPremium
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA | Re: Not Real Data Aside from the "up to" argument, expecting the layman to understand TCI/IP transport specifics is thouroughly ridiculous. It is disingenuous to advertise a specific access speed, then deliver a lower one and blame it on "overhead". That is like an accountant charging you for a specific service and then taking more and claiming "overhead". You should have known.... | |
|
| | | lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL | This will be a waste of tax payer dollars. There will be no accuracy! Some people may unknowingly have their home network crippled by a 10 mbit half duplex link. I moved away from Linksys five years ago because their equipment's internet port was only 10 mbit half duplex and their tech support insisted their VPN Firewall could process packets at 100 mbits. There is a potential for seriously skewed results with this FCC scheme, many will report slower than advertised download speed. | |
|
| |  tobyTroy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13 | Maybe more of people who can never get the speeds that you have available, people who have Qwest where they can choices of 1.5Mbps or 256Kbps DSL. | |
| | | | | | Re: Not Real Data I could have bitched and moaned about for years but I choose to move closer to work and where I had a choice of faster speeds. | |
|
| GaffEvery Villain Is Lemons
join:1999-09-05
North TX, US | ISPs will not know who has the boxes and who doesn't.
--
My PC Gaming Blog
»thegaffadin.blogspot.com | |
| | | | | Re: Not Real Data Agreed. I see no reason why an ISP would know who has boxes. In fact, that would be kind of the whole point... | |
| | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by Gaff:ISPs will not know who has the boxes and who doesn't. And again, what is to stop ISPs from simply giving the highest priority to the FCC's testing site, regardless of who has a box or not?
Anyone who has even the most basic understanding of networking knows that it is trivially easy to give the highest traffic priority to a certain target network.
--
"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
| | | |  tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ | Re: Not Real Data said by pnh102:Anyone who has even the most basic understanding of networking knows that it is trivially easy to give the highest traffic priority to a certain target network. two things.
(a) anyone familiar with networking is also aware that it is more than just your isp determining speeds. if an isp prioritizes by destination network, then that is great - until you leave your isp network to a backbone carrier.
(b) additionally, you're assuming that all gear can perform an ingress policy inspection/marking without having a significant effect on packet throughput or route processor cpu cycles. many carrier class hardware based switches cannot perform packet marking that fast because the architecture was chosen for hardware based input/output, not ability for wirespeed throughput *while* marking. all carrier class gear is *not* created equal.
of course, i assume you think *everyone* should know that 
q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..." | |
| | | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Not Real Data Doesn't matter. We still know that ISPs can, and routinely do, give high priority to speed testing sites, so regardless of how they do it, the point still is that it can be done.
--
"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
| | | | | | tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ | Re: Not Real Data said by pnh102:Doesn't matter. We still know that ISPs can, and routinely do, give high priority to speed testing sites, so regardless of how they do it, the point still is that it can be done. no, it *absolutely* matters -- something you have ignored. what i'm saying is that an isp may not even be able to due to hardware constraints and even if it can be done, if its not within their own network, then the classification and markings aren't even honored. additionally, with the plethora of testing sites available, its just easier for the isp to deliver the speeds promised.
ironic that you're pro business *and* know the ways to screw the consumer.
q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..." | |
| | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: Not Real Data "ironic that you're pro business *and* know the ways to screw the consumer."
What's wrong? can't handle the truth? What he's telling you is absolutely true and technically capable.. so what's your problem/damage? He's pointing out a FACT to you and you want to ignore it like the three monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) in the process.
He's telling you that the process and method in which they want to "protect the consumer" is not going to accomplish anything when an ISP can easily manipulate the method.. what don't you get?
.. but since he knows how to "screw the consumer" just simply means on a technical level he understands... do you? I doubt it, or you'd not come back with that reply - at all!
One last thing and this gets old.. just because someone can see a view on another side of things, unlike people like you, doesn't make you "pro business"... it shows a level of intelligence.. it doesn't make you ANTI-CONSUMER or "screw the consumer" as people like you love to say (which is a sign of a narrow minded view) SOMETIMES in order to be pro-consumer, you have to be pro-business.. NOTHING in life comes from nothing.. everything in life comes from something. If you expect a business to BE there to provide a service, then it CAN'T ALWAYS be about "the consumer" as much as the consumer would like it to be.. SOMETIMES the consumer is just a bit off being level in their thinking.. ANY consumer that doesn't understand how a business HAS to run has no place in the discussion.. period. | |
| | | | | | | | tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ | Re: Not Real Data said by fiberguy:What he's telling you is absolutely true and technically capable.. so what's your problem/damage? He's pointing out a FACT to you and you want to ignore it like the three monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) in the process. apparently, because i have espoused views that don't line up with yours, my points are automatically invalid.
i have not denied that it is not *technically* possible. from a theoretical perspective, very little is actually *impossible*. however, in practice, theory goes out the window. to fully understand the implications involved, you need to understand the architecture behind each device. there is a very large fundamental difference between hardware and software-based platforms and how they can handle large loads of ingress sorting and policing and tagging with qos/cos values. depending on the interconnection that the cmts/vrad has with the core of the isp network, it may or may not be technically feasible to actually do what pnh102  is suggesting. case in point - the cisco catalyst 6509e with vs-720-3cxl is a hardware based sw/routing platform capable of running cisco monolithic ios. retail, the chassis and the supervisor would run you roughly $35k -- no line cards. that box will happily pass 10gig streams all day long without thinking. easiest way to dos that box (supposing there is no hardware rate limiters, copp, etc) is to run several kpps of icmp traceroute traffic through it. that $35k box just became the loudest paperweight you'll own until you shut off the icmp streams. the reason -- it has to perform software punting from the linecards to the supervisor, a similar process that must be gone through with classification and marking on ingress (if this box is the direct peer with your cmts/vrad unit).
i've also pointed out that *unless* the speedtest is locally hosted (i.e. on your providers network), any classification/tagging/prioritization in queue is lost when you peer to your upstream. so if my isp prioritizes to samknows tests, but i have to go through level(3) to get there, what good is my traffic prioritization within cox?
.. but since he knows how to "screw the consumer" just simply means on a technical level he understands... do you? I doubt it, or you'd not come back with that reply - at all!
really? i'd encourage you to look through the technical aspects of my posting history, then we'll talk.
One last thing and this gets old.. just because someone can see a view on another side of things, unlike people like you, doesn't make you "pro business"... it shows a level of intelligence.. it doesn't make you ANTI-CONSUMER or "screw the consumer" as people like you love to say (which is a sign of a narrow minded view) SOMETIMES in order to be pro-consumer, you have to be pro-business.. NOTHING in life comes from nothing.. everything in life comes from something. If you expect a business to BE there to provide a service, then it CAN'T ALWAYS be about "the consumer" as much as the consumer would like it to be.. SOMETIMES the consumer is just a bit off being level in their thinking.. ANY consumer that doesn't understand how a business HAS to run has no place in the discussion.. period.
again, look through my posting history. as it comes to network congestion avoidance, traffic management, and isp policies, i have sided with the corporation more than the consumer. my viewpoint is this -- government oversight is not there to "create a nanny state". consumers should be given the most complete picture of their purchasing decisions as possible, and government is there to facilitate that. rather than let shady practices and lack of oversight hide what is really bad with company "a" as opposed to "b", i'd rather that the government mandate certain "honesty" in services provided and let the customer make the choice that suits them.
i see no problem with comcasts 250gig cap, cox's protocol specific congestion management system, cell-phone carrier etfs, etc. these are things that have been disclosed in the forefront. if i am forced to sign a contract, i must make sure that i know everything as best as possible before signing something, much like i feel everyone else should do.
now, if you have anything else other than invoking the "american way" and insulting my (assumed) lack of technical *and* business knowledge, i'd love to hear it...
q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..." | |
| | | | | | | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: Not Real Data Naaa.. I think we've insulted each other enough.
Besides, I guess you and I do agree on many things than not. lol | |
|
| | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | ... sooooooo. great. We'll waste money, in some form or another, to find out what the "average speed in America is" to some one provider or site then eh?
Very nice..
This would assume that all traffic on the internet goes to one place, and it doesn't. This also assumes that everyone is going to take the same path TO that destination over the same backbones as well.
This is just silly.. why, if the GOVERNMENT is so up in arms about this, why don't they simply make up some rules, like they love to do, and invade the ISP AND the homes of customers, including their lives as well, and install their monitoring equipment in THOSE locations.
In the end, the only speed that the ISP can guarantee, or even try to guarantee, is that between the customer and the central office or head end. I don't think there is an argument that the ISPs have enough bandwidth out to the cloud, otherwise their entire city or service area would be consistently slow. Even then, if they find "slow connections" I'd think they'd have to monitor the entire node, in the case of cable, to see if it's an isolated issue or not.. I mean, it just seems like they're trying to find a needle in a haystack becuase there could be any number of reasons why an internet connection slows down - and "averages" don't prove anything either.. like I said, TOO many things that CAN go wrong which include issues INSIDE the home. (Hell, a few weeks ago, I could have SWORE that I was having modem problems - even swapped it out. It worked great for 2 minutes, and then it died again - turned out, one of my boxes had a virus on it and was taking the connection down.. I supposed that was Comcast's fault? .. an average consumer would seem to think so.. been there, seen that, done it.)
But really.. if they want to measure speeds, then they need to treat it like anything else.. go in, be upfront, and monitor the sources directly.. this just all sounds like a 5th grader sneaking around trying to find answers on their own.. its stupid, silly, horribly inaccurate and won't yield anything.
Seriously - they should approach this like weights and measures IF this is so important to them.. | |
|
| | lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL
1 edit | The ISP doesn't need to know who has the boxes, but for accuracy the FCC does needs to know the speed test destination. With that in mind, an ISP can get a copy of the application, profile the communication behaviour, then construct and apply priority filters to skew the results in favor of the ISP. | |
|
|  IgnitePremium,VIP
join:2004-03-18
UK | said by pnh102:ISPs will simply adjust connections to this testing site to make things look peachy keen. There is plenty that the FCC can do to help consumers without resorting to wacky BS that wont' help anyone. The main one being cracking down on unfees that are not made known to the user until the first bill is received. Hasn't happened in the UK. No way for ISPs to know which customers have the boxes installed and would need them to install DPI kit or implement QoS to prioritise.
It would be noted in the results if ISPs were playing games | |
| | |
See 7 replies to this post |
Tcomp
join:2008-07-29
Greenbelt, MD | Why the brits? Why did we have look to the brits - seems like we have some good resources over here that could do this. Hint, hint.
»bit.ly/bEH2wv | |
| | IgnitePremium,VIP
join:2004-03-18
UK | Re: Why the brits? said by Tcomp:Why did we have look to the brits - seems like we have some good resources over here that could do this. Hint, hint. » bit.ly/bEH2wv Samknows have experience and have already done the leg work. Will be a more cost efficient implementation for the FCC as all that's needed is just to replicate the UK website and test servers in the US and change a few settings for which servers to use to test.
Muchly easier than paying a company to build a testing and reporting infrastructure from scratch. | |
| | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by Tcomp:Why did we have look to the brits - seems like we have some good resources over here that could do this. Hint, hint. This is the same government that pays Chinese companies with our tax money to build wind turbines and soon, high speed trains. Expecting it to spend US tax money well, in the US, is silly.
--
"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
| | | | said by Tcomp:Why did we have look to the brits - seems like we have some good resources over here that could do this. Hint, hint. » bit.ly/bEH2wv As a Brit, we've had far too much American technology (and of course other countries) being funded with our money (both private and government). We've been paying German and French workers to build cars (cash for clunkers, UK version).
It's time the UK was good at something. | |
|
 MikePremium,Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA | UK experts Dey took our jerbs. | |
| | | | Re: UK experts Yeah, expect plenty of that. | |
| | lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL | They didn't take em, the elitists running our government gave them away. That is change which should make you say WTF! | |
| | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: UK experts As much as I don't like any of our jobs going over-seas, you guys should appreciate that a bit.. afterall, isn't this a large group of people who like to save their money and not have to spend alot to get things??
Again, I hate our jobs going over seas, however, you have to face facts.. its NOT just about the U.S. - you also have to remember that poor countries tend to get pissed.. when they get pissed and have nothing better to do, they like to find people to take their anger out on.. der.. 9/11? Those people don't like "rich america" as one of their complaints..
Second, I go back to what you pay for something.. if you really want to be paying $600 for a DVD player still, then bring those jobs home if you want. If you want to pay $5.00 a pound for tomatoes, then kick out the "illegals" who are taking all those jobs away from us Americans, who don't want them in the first place..
Sometimes you have to stop running on your parties talking points and think for yourselves for once.
The issue is not jobs leaving the country.. who the hell wants to work on an assembly line for $6.50 an hour doing work that really isn't even worth $6.50 an hour anyway? And in the spirit, around here anyways, where people think we should have better skilled jobs, the problem in America is that we don't go after that kinda work.. we produce NOTHING in America, really... maybe its time to innovate and bring a new type of job to this country that matters and stop worrying about the BS jobs that have left.. good riddins.. enjoy your savings at Wal-Mart.. with out some jobs leaving, you'd not be enjoying, many of you, those awesome HD TV sets that you can now afford to buy.
Seriously.. there has to be a balance.. it can't be one way, and as much as I'd LOVE to be more isolationist in this country, the reality is that it will never happen, for our own good. | |
|
 ThrowDemsOutIf you can't convince 'em, confuse 'emPremium
join:2002-03-03
Mullica Hill, NJ
kudos:4
2 edits |  How many will sign up for a gov't monitored device?
And it is the above people who probably sign up for the highest speed tiers. This voluntary speed monitoring exercise may end up giving skewed results. | |
| | Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| Re: How many will sign up for a gov't monitored device? I imagine the paranoid militia contingent would steer clear, but if there was any hanky panky I'm sure it would be exposed.
Worrying about the NSA using your little SamKnows router to monitor you is pointless when they have direct feeds of ALL traffic constantly monitored courtesy of NSA and Verizon. | |
| | | | | Re: How many will sign up for a gov't monitored device? said by Karl Bode:I imagine the paranoid militia contingent would steer clear, but if there was any hanky panky I'm sure it would be exposed. Worrying about the NSA using your little SamKnows router to monitor you is pointless when they have direct feeds of ALL traffic constantly monitored courtesy of NSA and Verizon. Shame on you, you left out the beast that got caught red-handed; AT&T. They'll always be "Your World Delivered to the NSA" as far as I'm concerned. | |
|
| | [Uncle]SamKnows... over-priced routers (our tax dollars at work) | |
| |
See 7 replies to this post | |
 KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | I'll sign up. I think it's a good idea. | |
| | | Reviews:
·TekSavvy DSL
| Re: What about the server and website connection speed. said by Mr Matt:  What no one appears to consider is the upload speed from the website one is attempting to access. I was attempting to get information on a motherboard and was only able to get a 56Kbps download speed. Just to demonstrate to a coworker how crappy the connection was, I used a computer that was connected to a Gig-E port on an edge router at the ISP where I worked. Turns out I was connected to a website in Taiwan. Yes I want to receive the speed that I pay for but slow download speeds might be affected by other internet issues. FCC could set up several servers of their own which they ask the participants to hit each a few times per day. FCC would know the load on their own servers, the connection speed they have to the net, and locate them in different regions of the country.
I'm sure that they are going to get a good cross-section of users - from the large telco/cableco customers to municipal fiber customers, to WISP and satellite customers. | |
|
nishiko7Premium
join:2007-05-01
Pleasant Hill, CA | Guess they won't be measuring UVerse... ... because for UVerse (at least for people that also subscribe to TV service), as far as I know, YOU MUST use the 2Wire 3800HGV-B gateway provided by at&t running at&t firmware. May work if at&t cooperates somehow. | |
| | | | Re: Guess they won't be measuring UVerse... said by nishiko7:... because for UVerse (at least for people that also subscribe to TV service), as far as I know, YOU MUST use the 2Wire 3800HGV-B gateway provided by at&t running at&t firmware. May work if at&t cooperates somehow. It goes behind the router (iirc you connect your network through it, so it can sense whether there is activity and so it won't run a test). It doesn't route AFAIK.
If it needed to be the router, it'd be useless in the UK too - most people use ADSL. | |
|
El GaupoPremium
join:2006-07-15
Buckhorn, NM | Comcast doesnt deliver I have 12/2 service and only get 6/2. | |
| Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| "up to" is the key Until they remove the disclaimer "up to" that evidently seems to hold up legally all this pissing and moaning about performance is just hot air. I pay for Earthlink's highest DSL tier 8.0/768 yet my capped speeds are 1.5/384 due to the piss-poor condition of the infrastructure and my distance to CO. The fine print absolves all the Telcos of any and all wrong-doing. They say they will deliver "Up to" but not necessarily promising to deliver. Your choice is to either agree to their terms or not use their service. The various Telcos service providers whatever you want to call them, can and do deliver whatever they feel like in most every places because they can get away with it. No amount of monitoring or analyzing of delivered throughput will do a thing except re-state the obvious. What needs to happen is a legal decision that "requires" providers to contractually deliver a minimum throughput for a price, get rid of all the various un-fees that they tack on after the fact. The whole idea of buying something for an advertised price then finding out what you purchased is NOT what they advertised, the price you paid is not what was advertised is criminal. Unfortunately the Telecom industry dollars buy some of the best "legal protection" that money can buy. They have the politicians and the courts in their back pocket so I don't expect anything but more of the same BS form Washington and the Telcos. | |
| | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3
1 edit | Re: "up to" is the key Um... does your ISP have a 1.5 tier that they sell? If so, they they should only be provisioning you in that tier, not the 8 meg tier. And, it sounds more to be like they should be selling EVERYONE a tier that performs UP TO 8meg and you get what you get.. if they charge everyone that same prices and you're provisioned for "up to" then that shouldn't be a problem AT all.. It used to be how cable modem service was and many people were happy with that.. you paid one price and got what you could achieve.
And, last I checked, at least on the three locations where I have ATT DSL, if my max speed and distance will only qualify for a 1.5 line, they will not even try to provision me at a 3.0 tier - they will FLAT refuse me, as they say, they're not allowed to do that. ATT has told me they have to be able to, as the ILEC, be able to provider you with a certain percentage of your provisioned speed, or sell you the lower tier that will work for you.. and if that's not even a 256 speed tier, and you could only get 128, they won't even sell you the DSL.. an CLEC will do that, but not the ILEC.
But, to your point, if they said "up to 8mb".. then they're selling you what they told you.. UP TO.. the big difference, as I stated, is that if there is a lower tier at a lower price available to you.. if you can't get the 8mb, then you should take the lower tier.. if YOU don't act on that, just as it's "criminal" for them to do so (which it's not, it's a civil matter anyway) then it should be equally as criminal that the educational system didn't educate people enough to MAKE that decision to lower their tier to one that WILL work. | |
|
BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH Reviews:
·Comcast
| Difficult to measure If the router runs its own tests, the ISP can easily screw around with it, and who knows if there is a bottleneck somewhere else that isn't the ISP's fault. When I run Speedtests in CA they are a lot slower than in NYC, as I live in CT.
It's hard to test with PowerBoost too, as it bumps the speed WAY up.
If it is just monitoring people's traffic, then it's inaccurate as well, as the server at the other end could be slow, AND most networks can't handle the full 12mbps (or whatever your local cableco can pump out). The wireless side of mine chokes around 5mbps, while the router itself chokes on the PowerBoost portion of it, but can sustain the full 12mbps down.
I have never had an issue with Comcast, HSI is about the only thing they can do right, their cable sucks, but HSI is amazing. It's consistently 100kbps ABOVE what they advertise on the downband, within 100kbps of the advertised upband. | |
| | | Read the actual FCC requirementsQ: Does speed read need to occur when there is no activity on the device?
A: Speed reads must occur when the device (or the Network Interface Card, or NIC) is silent to ensure "clean" results, not effected by consumer usage. If Offerors can put forward a strong solution for how to achieve "clean" speed results even when the device and internet connection are active, that is acceptable as an alternative.
So, based on that, it is not basing the results on user generated traffic, it's running it's own speed tests.
RFQ and Q&A:
»www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&···_cview=1 | |
| | | Would like to participate to test my ISP I would like to participate in this, to test my ISP (Mediacom), as they are selling their service as 12Mbps. However, during prime time, I'll actually see anywhere from 3 to 8Mbps. I know there are many factors outside of an ISPs control to have the famous "up to" clause, but that should not be used for issues inside the ISP's own network. | |
| decifal
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN
kudos:1 Reviews:
 ·Verizon Broadban..
| knock em over Anyone not wanting to buildout, but yet still attempt to hamper/block other providers from doing so should have their franchise pulled and taken over after an auction sale off with percentage maximum purchase cap of shares.( to prevent another tyrant from buying it all and to prevent more of the same )
Get serious and they will behave.. Keep dancing the waltz playing the love song, more crap different day...
yeah, i'm done with excuse's
Hope you ATT folks love the fact that ATT has a life insurance policy on you, and that if you die, they get to cash in, and your family recieves nothing.. Walmart is another that does this practice...
Great times we live in | |
| | | What A Joke "Source: Federal Communications Commission, Wired and Wireless Internet Survey of 3,005 adults"
What kind of sampling size is 3,005 adults does this report even come close to representing the general consensus of the population of +300M? | |
|
| |
|
|
·
What about the server and website connection speed.
