[kwlug disc.] Atria WiFi as ISP

[unsolicited]

Kareem Shehata wrote, On 02/06/2008 10:12 PM:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org [mailto:kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org]
>> On Behalf Of Insurance Squared Inc.
>> Sent: Wednesday 06 February 2008 19:45
>> To: kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
>> Subject: Re: [kwlug disc.] Atria WiFi as ISP
>>
>> I'm a bit surprised anyone really cares about that.  Is it because
>> they're downloading movies and music?

Reference cut out above. What're ya talking about?

>>
>> I remember moving from 1mbit to 1.5 mbit and not noticing any real
>> difference.  And I don't think there's any real effective difference for
>> me between that 1.5mbit and the 3 to 5 mbits I have now.  And I'm on the
>> web all day for work.  Granted, I don't download any type of media.  But
>> websites loading in .01 seconds instead of .02 seconds - not noticeable
>> by me.
> 
> This smells much like the old "56k" modem fiasco in the 90's.  They're
> advertising the max of what the equipment is capable of, but it's never
> actually realized in practice except for very specific cases.  You'd
> probably see a difference between 1 Mbps and 5 Mbps when downloading a large
> file from a well hosted server, but otherwise there's not much difference -
> actually might get degraded performance if they start traffic shaping on
> you.
> 
> -kms

I get the 7 or 8 Mbps at certain times. The difference is noticeable. 
I don't do it much, but having things happen in a couple of hours 
rather than a couple of days or more, means that's one less thing I 
have to mind. A benefit I've come to appreciate. The other gotcha is 
the other end has to be feeding you that fast.

If I could have gone non-bell over bell copper at 5Mbps, I would have, 
and been happy. With Rogers, you have 1 Mbps, then 7. No in between. 
Otherwise I would have gone for it and saved the money. If it's 2 
hours, I don't care - as long as it's less than, say, 8. i.e. Overnight.