[HN Gopher] FCC Proposes to Increase Minimum Broadband Speeds to...
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       FCC Proposes to Increase Minimum Broadband Speeds to 100Mbps
        
       Author : happyopossum
       Score  : 8 points
       Date   : 2022-07-15 22:02 UTC (58 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.fcc.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.fcc.gov)
        
       | happyopossum wrote:
       | 100/20 is definitely an improvement, and is probably a reasonable
       | minimum bar to set. I'm sure most of us have much higher speed
       | connections, but I know I rarely take my 1Gb pipe over 10% of
       | that... Heck, 2 TVs streaming 4k during a zoom call would be fine
       | on 100Mb...
        
         | stop50 wrote:
         | plus some content providers limit the bandwith for individual
         | connections
        
       | gnicholas wrote:
       | I'd rather have two providers that offers 25Mbps than one that
       | offers 100Mbps. I don't need 100, or even 50. But Comcast has
       | been jacking up their prices, along with increasing the minimum
       | speed available, for years. They respond to government
       | regulations like these. I'm now paying 2x what I used to (from
       | $25 to $50/mo), and getting 2x the speed. But I don't want to be
       | forced to buy 2x the speed (or even faster, as this proposal
       | would require).
       | 
       | I would much rather have the govt provide incentives for there to
       | be more than one provider. I live in the heart of SV (Menlo
       | Park), and Comcast is the only option. 5G is not well-served
       | where I live, and the pricing is also not competitive. We need
       | more competition, not more redefinition of "broadband".
        
         | metadat wrote:
         | You might be eligible for ATT [gigabit] fiber? Could be worth a
         | shot.
         | 
         | The service is more reliable than Comcast, but AT&T support is
         | the absolute worst, even more incompetent than Comcast. It's
         | fine as long as you don't need any support and don't try to
         | deactivate anything, but if your account gets messed up it can
         | literally take a dozen calls and 20+ hours of being on the
         | phone to get seemingly simple issues resolved.
         | 
         | Lesson: Always double check your bill.
        
         | ethagknight wrote:
         | Bear in mind that connection speed sold "up to xx mbps" is
         | largely irrelevant to the actual cost of service. It's just the
         | sales model that most ISPs have adopted over the last few
         | decades when bandwidth really was constrained. Comcast's costs
         | are its people, truck rolls, equipment and infrastructure
         | outlay, and advertising.
         | 
         | Convincing or requiring you to pay double for 2x the speed is
         | just the way they can increase cash flow.
        
       | eternityforest wrote:
       | The amount of bandwidth you need depends on the number of people.
       | 50Mb or 25Mb is probably fine for 1 person. As long as it can do
       | 4k, and zoom calls, it's fine for most people.
       | 
       | 100Mb might not be enough for six people, who might need to
       | download, zoom, game, and stream all at once.
        
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       (page generated 2022-07-15 23:01 UTC)