[Discuss] ISP costs for higher data rates? (20-50 MBit/sec.)

[Jerry Feldman]

On 05/06/2012 09:59 AM, Chuck Anderson wrote:
> On Fri, May 04, 2012 at 10:54:40PM -0400, Gordon Ross wrote:
>> I've been looking into the costs of "business class" internet service
>> (20-50MBit/sec) and I'm surprised at the wide range of prices quoted.
>> I'm curious, what areothers paying for this class of service?
>>
>> What I've found so far:  If you're lucky enough to be in an area with
>> Verizon's FiOS (we're not), that service can give you something around
>> 25MBit/sec for around $150/mo (or so I'm told).  Or we can get DSL
>> with 7MBit/sec for around $170/mo.  Strangely, T1 service appears to
>> offer lower data rates at higher cost.
> FioS is a "shared" service.  Downlink is wavelength multiplexed, and
> uplink is time-division multiplexed.
>
>> Verizon reportedly has a "fiber ethernet" service too (NOT FiOS) but
>> I've yet to find someone at Verizon who knows exactly where it is
>> offered, or what it costs, etc.  This in spite of other tenants in our
>> building reportedly using it.  (Remember "Laugh In"?
>> http://www.tvacres.com/comm_ernestine.htm ... "We don't care. We don't
>> have to. (snort) We're the Phone Company!" :)
> Remember that there are at least 3 "Verizons".  There is the
> traditional Verizon landline service company that now provides FiOS,
> Verizon Business which used to be MCI/UUNET, and Verizon Wireless
> which provides a fairly decent 4G LTE service.  They are separate
> companies and one won't know about the others' service offerings, tech
> support, etc.
>
> If you have a good 4G signal where you want the service, it can be
> economical to go that route.  I regularly get 13 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up
> on my Verizon Wireless phone and tablet.  They sell 4G to Wifi HotSpot
> boxes that you could use at home for your primary internet connection.
> I don't know how reliable it would be in comparison to a traditional
> ISP.
>
> Verizon Business offers SES, Switched Ethernet Service, which is a
> fiber-based Ethernet LAN or Ethernet Virtual Private Line service for
> interconnecting different sites (like Metro Ethernet, but it can go
> further than that--even nationwide), not an Internet service, although
> I know of instances where SES is used to get to an ISP who provides
> the IP service.  Verizon Business probably offers Internet service
> over that technology too.
>
> Pretty much all the "business" providers like Comcast, Charter, and
> Verizon Business offer fiber-based Internet connectivity where you pay
> to have fiber brought into your premises from the nearest PoP, CO, or
> pod.  This isn't the same kind of fiber network as FiOS--it is
> "traditional" fiber where you have a dedicated, bi-directional fiber
> path (or wavelength(s)) back to their switch or router, and you
> generally pay for a symmetric service (but they may offer asymmetric
> as well).  Either way, it is "dedicated" and comes with SLAs, etc. and
> you pay more for this business-class service.
>
>> Comcast offered us 100MBit/sec down, 10 up, at around $400/mo.
>> At some locations they also offer "Metro Ethernet", but here too,
>> finding info. is more difficult than one might expect.
>>
>> So, any suggestions for me?  If you have a "fat pipe", what are you
>> paying for it?
> Just regular Comcast residential cable modem service regularly gives
> me over 30 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up.  I'm happy with that.
>
>
Just to add a bit. We have RCN Business 60Mbps down, 10 Mbps up cable
modem service. We have fibre in our complex at 275 Grove St, Newton. We
did not have to pay installation because there was fibre already on our
floor and we signed a 2-year contract with a slower cable modem because
they had not rolled out the DOCSIS 3 at the time. In general, the
service has been reliable. Because we are in a Regus Office, Regus
actually pays RCN, and we've had a few outages because of slow payment
by Regus. The Regus accounts payable is in Manila. I had one outage
because RCN took away our static IP (we were paying for 6), but they did
not assign them to our DOCSIS 3 modem. By the time I made a copy of the
contract, they fixed the problem.

One issue your going to have no matter who you choose is that all are
large companies where certain things get tied up in bureaucracy.

-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id:3BC1EB90 
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