OT: I really wish Google Fiber would be in San Diego

[Coronita]

[quote=millennial][quote=no_such_reality][quote=flu]We really need ISP competition in san diego.

Now, the only real choices is between ATT and cable companies.

That is all.[/quote]

Um, didn’t the news just announce the “mega-merger” AT&T buyout of Time Warner.[/quote]

I thought that was for the TW cable company, which is separate from their Ethernet (which is now Spectrum).

BTW, just switched over to Spectrum from ATT and am very happy. I have download speeds of up to 100 MBPS (recent clock test was 60 MBPS) for only $39.99. No contracts and cable box rental fee are required.

Only downside from ATT is due to the drag wireless has on the download speeds. I’m not sure if this is because it’s cable vs. dsl. Either way, wasn’t affected since my home has DSL ports installed in most rooms which go to my main hub downstairs.[/quote]

No. TimeWarner cable was actually sold to Comcast.

TimeWarner (now just an entertainment company mostly that owns CNN,HBO,etc) is now acquired by ATT.

This is a stupid deal, imho. it’s going to sink my ATT and TW stock I think….
This is almost as bad as the AOL-TimeWarner acquisition, just Version 2.0beta.

[Coronita]

[quote=FlyerInHi]TWC in SD was 2/1 for $15. Upped to 3/1. Too slow for streaming.
Next level 10/1 is $30.

Cox has even less competition in Vegas so prices are higher. But they do provide gigabit speeds in new neighborhoods.

4K TV is nice even without content. I will get an ultra slim one. TVs are getting so big now that you need a whole wall. People who have nooks or above fireplace TVs will need to remodel.[/quote]

10/1 is actually $40 now…. That’s what the renewal price is.

ATT uverse is now $30 for 6/1, BUT they make you pay a $100 install charge and $10/month wifi gateway.

What Comcast did was actually make the cable modem free to rent. BUT, they bumped up the service price by $10/month.. If you have a cable modem (like I do), they won’t credit you for the $10/month like TW did.

Nice.
Oh well.

[spdrun]

As far as ATT Uverse, their “Wifi gateway” is likely just a DSL modem. Can you get any old Verizon/Westell unit, put in the correct authentication info and return their device?

Re: Time Warner. If I go to their site and put in a San Diego address, they’re now ONLY showing the 100 Mbps package for new subscriptions. $40/mo with or without modem rental. They charge extra for WiFi for some dumb reason though, even though routers are about $40.

Did they upgrade everyone to 100, and why is 300 not available?

[millennial]

[quote=spdrun]As far as ATT Uverse, their “Wifi gateway” is likely just a DSL modem. Can you get any old Verizon/Westell unit, put in the correct authentication info and return their device?

Re: Time Warner. If I go to their site and put in a San Diego address, they’re now ONLY showing the 100 Mbps package for new subscriptions. $40/mo with or without modem rental. They charge extra for WiFi for some dumb reason though, even though routers are about $40.

Did they upgrade everyone to 100, and why is 300 not available?[/quote]

I’m not sure if they offer 300, I just signed up from ATT and they said $39.99, but they also charged $35 for the initial installation fee (I think you can get around it if you already have equipment to setup yourself). I didn’t sign up for the wifi since I have a separate wifi router for that. Anyways, the guy that came just called and unlocked the wifi access and I was able to get it for free (usually about $5 a month).

[FlyerInHi]

You don’t see some plans on the websites because they don’t want market them. You have to research and ask.

The ISP now like to charge rent for their modems. They don’t like to tell you that you can buy your own. You’d be surprised how many customers fall for the marketing. I have friends who pay without a second thought.

Basically, they want $100/mo minimum revenue from each customer.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=flu]
This is a stupid deal, imho. it’s going to sink my ATT and TW stock I think….
This is almost as bad as the AOL-TimeWarner acquisition, just Version 2.0beta.[/quote]

I agree.

Not as bad as AOL Time Warner. AOL was all dialup and buying TW actually saved their asses. On the other hand, Ted Turner lost a lot.

[ucodegen]

[quote=FlyerInHi]
If i remember it was some rural areas where small businesses still wanted to use dial up for their credit card machines….. time to upgrade to new technology.

Should people in rural area expect subsidized services? Maybe they should pay more to make the business viable for providers.[/quote]
Not as easy as you think, when you consider the real costs.
I found overhead and in-ground power line installation costs.

Overhead lines are about $280,000 per mile, underground are about $1.5million per mile. This is construction cost, not media cost – so it is a good approximation for cable/fiber.

I do wonder if these numbers are a bit ‘pumped up’, however, I have seen other people who have long driveways have to pay to bring the power to their house – in one case $1200 for 60′ – not including the cabling.

The interesting part is that the telcos could convert at their cost and may even come out ahead. It will significantly reduce power consumption (driving all of those telco wires consumes a significant amount of energy) and could get money back on recycling copper.

[moneymaker]

flu I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned Qualcomm’s 5G over cellular, suppose to give 1G over the air, coming in 2018.

[Coronita]

[quote=moneymaker]flu I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned Qualcomm’s 5G over cellular, suppose to give 1G over the air, coming in 2018.[/quote]

The problem with anything over the air is that unless it’s run by a carrier like Sprint or T-Mobile, or one of their subsidiaries, the companies that provide 5G will be the same ones that provide landline broadband. So there would be no competition between 5G and landline broadband.

Look no further than ATT and Verizon.

[moneymaker]

The big difference between the 2 is with wireless there is no truck roll required hence less labor, ATT management will love this, the union not so much.Sorry I didn’t read the whole topic before responding. There is still one more technology out there that no one is trying as far as I know and it involves lasers and small telescopes, set up just like the internet with redundant paths in case of birds/trees. Granted a snow storm would probably take it out but doesn’t that happen even with today’s tech to some extent. When it is too late supervisors will realize that when they have fewer people to supervise their jobs are also at risk, natural selection I guess.

[ucodegen]

[quote=moneymaker]There is still one more technology out there that no one is trying as far as I know and it involves lasers and small telescopes, set up just like the internet with redundant paths in case of birds/trees.[/quote]
It has been around for quite a while, particularly when there wasn’t much fiber around. I can’t remember the name of the company that used to do that. I don’t think it exists anymore. There is a problem transferring in open air – due to atmospheric distortion causing scintillation (that shimmering you see looking through a telescope). It wrecks havoc with high data rates.

Found a wiki on the subject, which reminded me of the company name (Terabeam).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-space_optical_communication

[FlyerInHi]

out of curiosity, I checked with my brother who has UVerse in San Diego. ATT charges a $7 access fee on top of monthly charge just for having service, even though you have your own equipment.

He lives South of 8, so Cox is the provider. Cox is probably better than ATT.

[Hatfield]

Google Fiber is not coming to San Diego: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/google-fiber-laying-off-9-of-staff-will-pause-plans-for-10-cities/

[moneymaker]

ucodegen I was thinking more short distance like neighbor to neighbor in a cluster type configuration and select houses being like cell towers where maybe they get service for free because they are hubs.

[ucodegen]

[quote=moneymaker]ucodegen I was thinking more short distance like neighbor to neighbor in a cluster type configuration and select houses being like cell towers where maybe they get service for free because they are hubs.[/quote]
In that case, WiFi or cell is easier. You can set up WiFi to do forwarding. This is kind of how cell service currently works. If you allow your property to be used for a cell tower, one of the compensations you tend to get is free service – including IP.

What you are talking about then is omni-optical. The problem there is noise, light from other sources. You end up taking in light from all angles – like IrDA. If you remember back, things like tungsten lightbulbs were screwing with IR connections to peripherals. Lasers also don’t work too well in ‘omni’ mode because lasers are directed light, not broadcast (waveform is parallel and in sync with lasers). To do open air transmissions, you are having to deal with one of the brightest jammers out there – the sun.

–sorry for the late reply.

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