voip vs. your isp

[gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org (Jerry Feldman)]

On 01/26/2009 11:15 AM, Matthew Gillen wrote:
> I don't know if many of you saw this:
> http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/01/fcc-wants-to-know-if-comcas=
t-is-interfering-with-voip.ars
>
> Personally, I'm pleasantly surprised at the cluefullness of the FCC in
> figuring some of this stuff out.
>
> For what it's worth, when I switched from Comshaft to (Vz) FIOS earlier=
 this
> month, my parents immediately noticed a marked improvement in the quali=
ty of
> my audio and video feeds when I skype them.  I'm guessing it's not a
> coincidence...
>
>  =20
That is probably due to the higher upstream bandwidth. In Comcast, you=20
generally get a very good downstream (6Mbps) vs. under 1Mbps). It also=20
depends on your community. On some of the communities that have had=20
cable internet for a long time, the upstream bandwitdth might be better, =

but some communities still have older equipment that Comcast may have=20
acquired that limits the upstream. The bottom line is that fibre to your =

home (FIOS) should give you a more symmetric bandwidth than cable since=20
Cable TV historically had been a one-way system. Much depends on how=20
close to your home they install the fibre before it hits the copper.

One thing that surprises me is that Comcast has not to my knowledge=20
started to bring fibre directly to homes. Possibly the problem could be=20
that they are required to provide analog TV to basic subscribers until=20
2012. (Actually, either analog or provide a free converter box). IMHO,=20
Comcast is focusing more in bringing high downstream bandwidth to=20
compete with FIOS.

--=20
Jerry Feldman <gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
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