Saturday, March 22, 2008

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Verizon

Okay, in my previous post I laid out a lot of the groundwork, so this post is a bit easier, and easy for you all to understand, I hope. Please let me know if you have any questions, and most of all, please let me see some of your results from speedtest.net.

Verizon's high speed internet offering is frequently referred to simply as DSL. DSL means Digital Subscriber Line. In Northern Vermont Verizon offers two plans. One is called the Starter Plan and the other is the Power Plan. IMHO I think Starter Plan is a bad name, because it implies (at least to me) that they expect you to upgrade at some point to the Power Plan. The Starter Plan is the one you see and hear advertised and is usually the subject of any USPS solicitations you may receive from Verizon. They seem to always have specials on the Starter Plan (you know, the first 6 months are at a reduced rate, etc.). If you subscribe, be sure to ask about specials.

So what are the advertised speed rates for Verizon DSL? Here they are:

Starter Plan: 768 kbps download & 128 kbps upload.

Power Plan: 3000 kbps download and 768 kbps upload.

FWIW, Verizon tends to compare their speeds against dial-up, and that's fair since they know most prospective DSL customers are using dial-up and can't wait to get high speed internet.

On the other hand, you can now compare the DSL speeds to what Comcast offers and make your decision about which way to go based on costs and your computing needs. Of course, I am speaking about those fortunate enough to have their choice of ISPs offering high speed internet, realizing that those of us with that choice are few and far between in Northern Vermont.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Internet Service Providers High Speed Internet - Comcast

I will address each ISP's "advertised" speed rates one at a time and in separate posts. First, I will discuss the Comcast High Speed Internet offering in Northern Vermont, where I live. I am a Comcast customer, and have had high speed internet since Adelphia (since gobbled up by Comcast) first offered it in our area. I stress that this is for MY area because I have learned that Comcast offers different packages in different areas of the country, each with its own advertised speed rates.

A few posts ago I introduced speedtest.net as a good web site to measure your own actual speeds. If you did that you noticed that they measured download speed and also upload speed. The reason for this is that each ISP advertises their download speeds and also their upload speeds, so there are two numbers you should be concerned about.

So what about Comcast high speed internet in Northern Vermont?

Their advertised download speed is 6000 kbps (That's kilobits per second. Divide by 8 for a rough approximation of the actual number of bytes or characters.) Their advertised upload speed is 384 kbps. These are the rates advertised for their standard offering. This is the plan I have.

Comcast does offer an option to upgrade for $10 a month to 8000 kbps download and 768 kbps upload.

I learned while visiting a Comcast customer in Boston recently that there Comcast offers a third and slower basic rate for less money. I do not know if that option is available in VT, but it sounded like an offer that would be competitive with Verizon's slower DSL offering.

So, I have been tracking my actual speeds achieved over the past few weeks with Comcast, and have found that on the average I get 5300 kbps download and 365 kbps upload. I intend to speak to Comcast to get their side of why I might not be getting the full 6000 kbps, but I would have to say that I am a pretty satisfied customer. I do use a router in addition to their modem, and have a wireless network within my home. I'd have to think that the router will slow things down a tad.

If you are a Comcast customer here in Northern Vermont, I'd be interested in knowing your experience. Do take many measurements before making your conclusion about your speeds. BTW, I normally use the Portland, ME pyramid while at speedtest.net. You can contact me by clicking on "Contact the PC DOC" over to the right of this post.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Five things you’ll love (or hate) about IE8

Getting ahead of the curve a little, here is one man's opinion of Internet Explorer 8. IMHO, it seems to look a lot like Firefox, my favorite browser.

Five things you'll love (or hate) about IE8

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.

Even the New York Times gets in on the act of blasting Microsoft's Windows Vista. Read about the lawsuit against Microsoft and some of the e-mails written by Microsoft current and former executives.

I concur with the comment about Vista performance based on my own experience. I frankly have very few nice things to say about Vista.

They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Hannaford Reports Data Theft

Geez, all Northeast stores are affected, and the theft includes both credit and debit cards. If you are not tracking your credit cards online, perhaps you should. Most credit card providers give us the option to view daily activity online, so you can keep close tabs on charges and report any suspicious activity at the earliest possible date. Read more about this at the link below.

Hannaford chain reports data theft

Monday, March 17, 2008

Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Are you a Windows Vista user? Rumor has it that SP1 will be released to users tomorrow, March 18. I would suggest that, if you have an option to accept it now or to install it later, you defer. I'd suggest waiting a few months before installing it. Early releases of new software are frequently problematic.