dsl

FCC: ISPs 'better' on meeting advertised broadband speeds

The Federal Communications Commission's annual "state of the union" on ISP and broadband performance shows most Internet providers are offering speeds as advertised -- while others are offering Internet access at speeds that exceed consumer expectation.

On the whole, ISPs are reaching 96 percent of advertised speeds during peak hours, up by 9 percent on a year ago. Older technologies, such as DSL, are being outshone by more reliable cable and fiber service -- to the extent that fiber customers in particular are getting more than they actually pay for.

DSL remains high at the bottom of … Read more

Bringing broadband to the boonies, part 2: DSL's dark side

PENASCO, N.M -- In the first installment of this series on my attempt to get decent broadband to my very rural location, I mentioned that I live on the edge of a wilderness area in the mountains of northern New Mexico. If I can get affordable and fast access to the Internet, it should be possible almost anywhere. But as I'll explain today, crossing the Digital Divide isn't always such an easy task when you're off the beaten path.

When I lived in major cities like Denver and San Francisco, cable Internet always seemed like the obvious choice -- it was often the fattest fiber optic pipe around and provided cheap, fast, and reliable access. But in rural areas, satellite television services have become so cheap and ubiquitous that there's little incentive for cable companies to invest large sums building out their infrastructure to far-flung places where most potential customers are already locked in to satellite contracts.

So cable's not an option out here. While satellite TV is cheap and plentiful, satellite Internet is a very different animal, and as I explain in part 1 of this series, it's neither fast, friendly, nor frugal.… Read more

AT&T makes broadband data caps official

AT&T's usage caps for its DSL and U-Verse broadband services start today.

The blog Broadband Reports, which first broke the news of the caps in March, is reporting that starting today customers throughout the country are now subject to the caps on AT&T's terrestrial broadband services. AT&T confirmed that the new caps have gone into effect throughout AT&T's broadband footprint.

Now AT&T DSL subscribers will be limited to 150 gigabytes of uploads and downloads per month for regular DSL customers and 250GB of broadband usage per month … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1459: Meat puppets behind the servers (Podcast)

It turns out that no matter how technologically savvy we get in the world, we could always be betrayed by the "meat puppets behind the servers." Thanks for that one, Donald. And human error does appear to be what happened to Amazon, and also the Yankees. DSLReports, on the other hand, just plain got hacked. And it would also appear there's no one equipped to help us with our little data leakage issues, since the FBI's own cyber-security agents admit they're not up to the task. But there's even worse news than that: the white iPhone is 0.2mm thicker than the black one. THE HUMANITY! --Molly

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

Verizon ends termination fees for DSL, simplifies plans

Verizon is eliminating early termination fees for its DSL service as the company also simplifies its plans for broadband customers.

The company on Monday announced that it would now offer just two tiers of DSL service: basic and enhanced. The new basic service will offer between 500 kbps and 1.0 Mbps download speed service for $19.99 per month or $14.99 per month if ordered online. The enhanced service will offer download speeds in two ranges--between 1.1 to 3.0 Mbps and 3.1 to 7.0 Mbps; or between 7.1 and 15 Mbps--depending on what … Read more

AT&T to introduce data caps on DSL

Unlimited data will soon be a thing of the past for all AT&T customers, as the company confirms it will put a cap on data usage for its DSL and U-verse broadband services.

The blog Broadband Reports confirmed over the weekend that AT&T will introduce a data cap for its broadband services. Customers who exceed a monthly limit of 150GB of data in three separate months will be charged $10 extra for every additional 50GB of data they consume. Customers subscribing to AT&T's faster U-verse broadband service will have a limit of 250GB. … Read more

An AT&T customer service horror story

What came first: the bad customer service or the hard-to-find deal?

I ask this for a reason: After more than three years of paying for AT&T phone service solely for the purpose of getting DSL, I have come to learn that the phone service is completely unnecessary. My aggravating (and embarrassing) path to that knowledge should serve as a lesson for companies in how not to do customer service if you want to retain your customers. It's also a valuable lesson for consumers, who have to stay vigilant in order to get the deal that's right … Read more

Google Latitude gives you an alibi

Links from Thursday morning's episode of Loaded:

Barnes and Noble launches an iPad app to sell books from the Nook store

Google Latitude will now track where you've been

BillShrink can help you compare cable and satellite TV services in your area

The iPhone 4G may launch on Sprint, not Verizon. Keyword: may.

U.S. broadband speeds rise in 2009

Broadband download speeds in the U.S. rose 28 percent last year, while upload speeds increased 16 percent compared with the previous year, according to a report released Tuesday by In-Stat.

The average broadband download speed in the U.S. is now 7.12 megabits per second, while the average upload speed is 2.42Mbps, according to the report "US Residential Broadband Speeds Accelerate," based on an In-Stat survey. In 2009, cable modem and wireless users saw the highest gains in bandwidth. The jump in broadband speed for cable subscribers was about double that for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) customers.… Read more