Broadband in the US really is a joke

[scrappydog]

That's true. But California is roughly the same size as Japan (granted, pop density is lower) and is, in some respects, a hi-tech state. And yet most people in CA aren't getting 8Mb DSL....

I hope so. It's the home to Silicon Valley and it is the 5th largest economy in the world... However, California is also a farming state and has a lot of outlying areas... hence no DSL.

Here in the Bay Area, the only real provider is PacBell (the other ISPs go thru them), and they charge $50/month for ADSL 1.5Mbit/download, 128kbit/upload. It's significantly more if you want to jack up your upload or get SDSL.

You also have to remember that Japan has broadband (3G) wireless networks up-and-running too... the same sorts of networks that created so much nasty debt for European telecoms in their bidding wars. In other words, Japan has broadband in both their wired and wireless networks.

 

[NBK19]

Yeah, If I were you guys on BroadBand I would consider myself lucky. I got a friend that lives 3 mins from me and can get DSL. I call my Provider up. They say, There is no remote in your area. We're sorry it's not available. Been like this for about 7 months now. I bought a DSL modem,Nic, And a few more items. Sitting here collecting dust. Still getting Fragged to death on 56K :-\

 

[scrappydog]

Yeah, If I were you guys on BroadBand I would consider myself lucky. I got a friend that lives 3 mins from me and can get DSL. I call my Provider up. They say, There is no remote in your area. We're sorry it's not available. Been like this for about 7 months now. I bought a DSL modem,Nic, And a few more items. Sitting here collecting dust. Still getting Fragged to death on 56K :-\

I'm sorry to hear that. I was a 56k'er too until about 2 years ago. If you HAD broadband and then moved to a place where you could only get 56k, you would probably consider yourself worse off just because you get spoiled with broadband. I used to work as a producer for an online gaming company back in 1997. I recall that all games had to be "playable" on 14.4kbit modems. Yuck. 90% of that job was testing buggy net code on 14.4 modems.... I'll take the broadband, thank you very much.

 

[BaldHeadedDork]

I have a friend who recently moved to Japan and is in the process of getting a DSL connection. Nothing unusual there except, get this, she's getting 8Mbps for a little under $30/mo.

And here I am (and I suspect most everyone else on the forum) paying over $60/mo for 1.5Mbps.

Something tells me it's time I started asking my provider to stop expanding their network outward and start enhancing my service upward.

There's a huuuuge backstory to how your friend is getting DSL so cheap. The short version is, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph is betting their company-and a good chunk of the Japanese economy-on finding a way to make their broadband operation profitable.

They are still looking.


BHD

 

[Captain Slug]

And, with japan, which probably has soooo many people i couldnt begin to imagine, its probably cheaper than anywhere else in the world

Excluding South Korea where 80% of the populace has broadband access.

 

[Captain Slug]

I do feel that broadband within the US is a rip off. I truly understand why people are still on dial-up in the US. I pay 40 CAD which is equivilant to 25 USD (Missing some cents if you want to be precise). That's about how much US Citizens pay for dial-up in the US, around 20.00. I would really never pay 50 USD a month for broadband. I get 1.5 down and 192 up, it used to be 3 down and 384 up. Of course I complained when Rogers (My cable ISP), cut the speeds in half but then again when I think about it, look at what I'm paying. Americans are paying like 50 bucks for cable! Insane if you ask me.

Correct, and if anyone thinks that broadband in the US is a good deal then they must read the following ordeal which happened to me...

After that fiasco I switched to Verzion DSL which lied through it's teeth and instead of sending me DSL they sent me some retarded PPPoe DSL which wouldn't stay connected for more than 15 minutes. I currently have DirecTV and I still need to get it shared. Their service is leaps and bounds ahead of most US companies.

Comcast must die...

 

[scrappydog]

After that fiasco I switched to Verzion DSL which lied through it's teeth and instead of sending me DSL they sent me some retarded PPPoe DSL which wouldn't stay connected for more than 15 minutes....

I use PPPoE, but haven't had problems. Using a router is helpful too -- I'm always connected. Sounds like Verizon is definitely the culprit.

I agree with the issue regarding DSL costs between the USA & Canada. Canadians pay 1/2 of what we pay for EVERYTHING. Amazing. Anyway, I can't really complain as others can't access DSL or they get lower bandwidth for a lot more money. I feel pretty lucky in that respect.

 

[palee72]

I live off a major highway (Rt 22), in a small town, in PA. One street back has Digital cable.. We (my fience{sp}) are stuck with analog cable because they don't service our location because, technicly, our street doesn't exist. (it dead ends about 100 ft and we live on a dirt road extention) Our address is a RR#, Box###..
Getting anything from UPS or FedEX is next to impossible..

No DSL anywhere in are area either.. sux to be us..

56k slackers R us...

Its pretty bad when you want to move simply because you can't get broadband service, and its a PItA to get things you ordered...

 

[jstnomega]

MajinSSJVegetto, I'm a nice boy - polite to my elders, no criminal record. Would your mom adopt me?

 

[CrashOveride]

i cant get high speed any thing... but my freind got a T1 to his house cuz he cant... 2 of them actaully... one of them has a satelite thingy set up and he sells it to pther people in the area... no fair!

theni have a freind who has it and he is liek one of 5 people who uses his .. whats it called?... te line that connects tohis area.... whatever.. so e gets REALLY FAST but i dotn think 8MBs!