The Grid is coming! (forget the internet) - Freeze-Frame Radio

squonk · RetroMan

The Grid is coming! (forget the internet)

MzHartz · Permanent Vacation

Remember how cool we thought Dial-Up was? Someday we'll be thinking the same thing about broadband. Whoa.

disco strangler · Smiles everyone, smiles!

i love science fiction!

--- oh, this is for real?

just kidding... but, i'll probably still have dial up at home when the grid is introduced

JD The Jazz Doctor · Grand Poobah

I think it will still be pretty slow if you don't clean out your temprary folder and run disk defrag every once in awhile.

WebGuy · Doesn't Do Windows

They've been working on this idea for a few years now.

Thinking about this from the hosting server side of things, I can see it being in use in a few critical situations, but I can't see this as being practical for "everyday use" for quite some time.

The entire server infrastructure will have to be rebuilt and rewired inside all the data centers. Servers will simply not be able to provide the data for a heavily used site fast enough to keep up with the network.

Right now, the trend for web hosting of content is cheaper, cheaper, cheaper. People want to be able to store 100 gigs of data for $2.95/month. If the entire network and servers have to be replaced, that is going to be extremely expensive. Hosts will start giving users the choice, do you want to host 100 gigs of data on the old slower network for $2.95/month, or do you want it on the new, super fast network for $295.00/month? Most will be happy to put up with the slow speed for the difference in cost.

Next, this all has to run over fiber. To get this in your house, you will have to have a fiber optic cable coming into your home. Is your local phone or cable company ready to replace your entire city's cabling system? Or, even if they do that, are they going rewire the entire city with fiber and then still offer you internet access for $24.95/month?

It will be really cool if/when it happens, but I don't think we'll be seeing it in our homes any time soon.

squonk · RetroMan

And then again... I never figured I'd have a cell phone. Being honest, I don't even have cable at home. This type of thing slightly blows my mind. Like you (and most everyone) I will believe it when I see. It sounds like the gov't will be the first customer. Them and the friggin' rich.
I am amazed at how many people walk around talking on their phone. smile

disco strangler · Smiles everyone, smiles!

Wow! my kids had me convinced that we were the only family left on earth without cable!

do you think that there are other kids besides mine that don't have cell phones? jake thinks he NEEDS one so he can get hold of me, but i tell him that's not true because all his friends have one and if he needs to get hold of me he can...

sounds logical to me...

MzHartz · Permanent Vacation

When I was a kid, I didn't have a cell phone. I had a quarter. Now you need like a buck fifty or something, and that's if you can even find a pay phone.

No cable here either. We wouldn't watch it enough to justify paying for it.

JD The Jazz Doctor · Grand Poobah

I will not pay to watch tv.

Jeremy Riggs · Do I look a little pale to you?

Ok, so here's what I don't get about the internet, and maybe our resident IT guy (Webman) can explain it.

I was paying as much as $44.95 for RoadRunner Turbo, with download speeds of 7 MB and upload speeds of 760 KB

When I would download a song from the Russians, I noticed it topped out at 120 kb, which is FAR below my possible download speed. I notice the same thing from iTunes and other sites I downloaded stuff on.

Then web mentioned something about "throttling", that one you're limited by how fast the site you're visiting can move, but you may also be limited by your service provider (right web?)

So last week I switched to RR Lite, which is 786k download and 250k upload which will cost me $14.95 a month.

I notice NO difference. Songs still download at about 120 KB, my pictures still upload, the station still runs, I can watch video's online.

What the heck do we pay for all that added bandwidth for? What good is it actually?

Anyone? Anyone?

-- Edited by Jeremy Riggs at 12:40, 2008-04-07

WebGuy · Doesn't Do Windows

Yes, the site that you are connected to can also be throttling your download. The Russian server might be throttling its output for each connection. I've also heard that SOME ISPs do what is called "packet shaping". They look at the actual data that you are streaming and then throttle it accordingly to what type of file it is. Movies, music, and file sharing may be throttled, but web pages are allowed to run at full speed. Yes, they can offer you 7 megs, but they can't have too many people pulling that at once or their lines will get maxed out.

You've also gotta watch KB and kb. Thats kilobytes and kilobits. There are 8 bits in a byte.

When downloading, your speed is usually shown in kilo bytes. Most ISP's like to show your speed in kilo bits because it looks 8 times bigger. The math doesn't work out exactly because there is a little data wasted in each packet for the packet details itself.

So, 120 kilo bytes/sec is actually (about) 120 x 8 or 960 kilo bits/sec. That is still only 1/7th of your 7 meg alloted speed so something is holding it back somewhere.

Now that you are on 786k, I'm going to guess that your downloads happen at about 786 divided by 8 or about 98 kb???

Another thing on cable internet is that its a shared connection. They give you a max speed under ideal connections. If a bunch of your neighbors are also downloading at the same time, your speed will be slower.

I'm pretty happy with my 1.2 meg DSL. They also offer a 7 meg DSL here, but its $25/month more and requires a two year contract. I am NOT getting into a contract on bandwidth pricing in this day and age. Options and pricing could change quickly.

squonk · RetroMan

disco strangler wrote:
Wow! my kids had me convinced that we were the only family left on earth without cable!

do you think that there are other kids besides mine that don't have cell phones? jake thinks he NEEDS one so he can get hold of me, but i tell him that's not true because all his friends have one and if he needs to get hold of me he can...

sounds logical to me...

Disco,
My son didn't get a cell until he was 18 years old. Just before college. Then, while in college, he ran up the bill and the phone was disconnected. $600.oo (of his money) later. He got a new phone. He's so responsible with the new one.
We watch VHS tapes that our relatives send us. That's how we enjoy cable! Cool hey?

garougal · Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult

DS, I'd suggest you can meet him halfway. You could get him a cell that does not require a contract but instead is pay-as-you-go for minutes. My aunt did that with my cousin, and he only got an allotted number of minutes per month from her and had to work to earn them. If he ran out - too bad, he had to go pay for more minutes himself or wait for the new month. And if he got in trouble at school for using it, she took away a month of minutes at a time. It seemed to work pretty well...he learned quickly how to avoid misusing the phone.