IT BS thread

I couldn't stand DSL. The whole loop-length thing is retarded, you hardly ever get the service you pay for (at least in my experience - I was never a block from the CO tho...)

I was always having to power cycle the modem, drove me nuts. I am not a fan of the cable company I'm paying, but the service is so much better... and it's not like the DSL company is any better, they're a big ruthless company as well

I just wish we had public fiber, and any ISP could ride it. That was the theory back in '94, the gov't was going to lay it - when the big telco's at the time said "oh, we'll lay that fiber - give us that money in tax breaks". Record profits for telco companies in the 90's... and not much fiber laid. Now look at our network infrastructure in this country. Pitiful!

Sorry, I'm done

 

I really wish we had more telco companies like the one we had over by Cedar Rapids. It was a co-op that did all the small communites south of CR. Back in the 90's they were running fiber to all of the houses. Now they are able to provide some kick ass speeds because of it and everything is dirt fucking cheep.

 

There's lots of installed fiber today. Most long haul stuff is all fiber. Even out to the b-box is fiber. Most commercial office space out here has fiber to the street with heavy users having their own mini-COs in the MPOE.

I don't think a "public" fiber infrastructure would have been any better than what we have today is what I'm saying. I will say that in some respects, Judge Green's order did more harm than good with respect to the consumer.

 

I helped build the CO for Greenlight Cable in Wilson, NC. You can get 20down AND 20up for like $40/mo. Fiber to the home!

See my comment about Greenlight. They are a local power company that ran fiber in Wilson (podunk town for sure...) So the big cable companies wouldn't run fiber since they were so rural. Local power company ran it, said "hey, Time Warner & Cox - provide us cheaper service, faster service, and you can use this fiber we want to run."

Time Warner & Cox laughed at them. So they made their own local 'community internet'. Now Time Warner & Cox are frightened, and they lobby the local legislature - now this type of 'community internet' is illegal in NC.

Why isn't that better again? Why should we be subject to what the big companies think is best for all of us? If the gov't ran fiber and it was free to use by any ISP, we'd actually have competition - instead of what we have now, local monopolies. I don't really have a choice in ISP - Comcast or Qwest. They both suck as companies, and Comcast is the only provider that goes over 10mbps in my area. Sucks.

 

While the public fiber idea may have never taken off, the private fiber around here is phenomenal.

 

Yes, but how many ISP choices do you have with that private fiber...

Again, you have a local monopoly - so if they want to jack up rates, where do you go? Nowhere, your balls are in their vice.

 

We have 3 carriers in the metro, if someone won't give you a discounted rate, another company will.

 

mediacom, qwest/centurylink. and who?

 

Windstream

 

Nexgen also has fiber in residential areas, you just gotta know the right people, such as one of our doctors... who is the CEO of Nexgen

 

windstream is still DSL correct? if so then they still have to rent the lines from qwest. That still kills the price.

 

Yea, Windstream bought Iowa Telecom

 

Do they all provide the same level of service? Same speeds?

So this really isn't a "choice". What I am talking about is similar to what England and a lot of Europe has - 'open' fiber where any ISP can run over it. That way the competition isn't in the actual last-mile infrastructure, but in the ability of the provider to actually provide service.

Private competition over monopoly-type infrastructure is never a good idea - the consumer (almost) always loses.

 

yeah, we have windstream, freeze notis (pretty good) and qwest, but they are all DSL so in the end, about $30 / month goes to qwest for the line rental. Your other 2 options are 4g from a cellular carriers which is expensive as hell and cable which IME is fucking terrible for reliablilty.

 

What other work were they doing at the time? Did they use rights of way they owned?

Running fiber or building any infrastructure, public or private, is a business decision. If the power company was doing other work, the incremental cost of adding fiber is minimal.

Regardless, the power company didn't build it out of their good graces. They saw a business opportunity where others didn't and took it. TW and Cox decided the numbers didn't make sense and said no. In this particular case, the locals could do something others couldn't.

So you want to pay twice for internet access?

 

That's hilarious - my experience is the exact opposite. I've had cable and DSL in many different locations - DSL was always more unreliable. Always resetting the modem, would sync up with the wrong speeds, t'was a nightmare.

Yes, and they offered to let the existing ISP's use the fiber. Free. All they had to do was provide faster service @ a cheaper price... Look up "Greenlight Cable", you'll see the full story.

They did it so the podunk town of Wilson could get internet faster than 1mbps... Of course it was a business opportunity, which they are now taking full advantage of because the big cable providers are morons.

Who is paying twice? LOL. Not even sure I should respond to this, you obviously have no clue what I'm trying to convey. Look up how England's ISP's work. Maybe you'll get it then...?

 

Big cable providers are not morons. They are publicly held corporations who answer to their share holders. Installing Cadillac service in a Volkswagen town doesn't make financial sense for them so they don't do it. For the power company, it made financial sense. That they built it and the cable companies didn't use it? Read the first part again.

As far as paying twice. Where does the government get money from? It gets it from you! Then you get a bill for your ISP. Again, who pays that bill? Oh LOOK! It's you again. That's twice.

To me, it's pretty awesome that something which doesn't make sense for one can make perfect sense for another. That's entrepreneurship.

 

That's the thing, the city of Wilson offered to let the cable providers use the fiber. The cable companies would not have incurred any additional cost running the fiber - it was already run.

Either way, I do encourage you at least Google Greenlight cable. It was a pretty cool project, I just wish it wasn't illegal now. Retarded.

You must've missed my post where I said the gov't already paid for it... they gave the telco's huge tax breaks in the 90's, and we didn't get our infrastructure.

So you and I have already paid for a network that doesn't exist. Hizzah.

 

Yes they would incur cost. You may have worked in/on a CO but you clearly don't understand the capital investment required to make the connection for that last mile. It's not free and public companies need a return on their investment. Like I said, companies do things that make money for their shareholders. That's their responsibility to shareholders; not to you. So clearly, the City of Wilson doesn't have enough subscribers to warrant the investment on the part of the big cable providers.

I think it's great the city built it's own infrastructure. Hopefully, it really is a benefit to the residents.

I didn't miss that at all. But you've been insistent that the gov't should own all or part of the infrastructure so whether that exists today or not, you're gonna pay for it.

Tax breaks or not, a lot of infrastructure has been built since the 90's. Most of it fiber related. Without that infrastructure, you wouldn't enjoy the download speeds you're seeing today

 

The power company paid to run the fiber. The City of Wilson incurred the cost, not the cable companies...

Sigh. Obviously the City of Wilson didn't have enough subscribers for the big cable companies to run fiber. So the City of Wilson ran said fiber, and the big cable companies still told them to pound sand. That's retarded.

So then they go and lobby to make community internet illegal? Complete BS. I'm still not sure why you're defending these assholes.

A lot of the fiber infrastructure was built by private companies that did NOT receive said tax breaks. I know I wouldn't get 35mbps if there wasn't fiber around.

Derp.