BBC NEWS | Technology | Slow start to speedy net services
BBC News today posted the above article discussing the take-up of high speed internet services.
These services are from the same ISPs that offer broadband internet access but the new speeds redefine ‘broadband’: typical speeds offered range from 512kbps (10x dial-up) to 2Mbps (40x dial-up). Faster offerings exist but according to the article BT and others will be offering 8Mbps if trails go well.
The article quotes Mr Taylor, an 8Mbps BT trailist:
I liken it to flying business class rather than economy. Once you’ve done it you don’t want to go back.
I tend to read my kids a bedtime story and I can now show it to them on the screen.
You really notice the difference and the good thing about having 8 megabits is you can do things at the same time such as listen to the radio and download a file.
Most of those comments seem to be invalid in my opinion. I generally use 512Kbps at home and that is more than adequate for high quality streaming audio and similtaneous large downloads, and you can of course show a story on a screen regardless of your internet connection speed.
The only point I can agree with is that once you try a faster connection speed it is hard to turn back: I’ve occasionally downgraded to dial-up and I find that painfully slow.
At the moment the slowest ‘leg’ of the internet infrastructure is the ‘last mile’ (the connection to your home from the exchange), however, if these faster speeds become widespread then the strain of bearing the data will begin to show elsewhere, popular websites for instance.