In a message written on Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 09:28:21PM +0200, sthaug@nethelp.no wrote:
If you want control: Don't buy the cheapest commodity product.
Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug@nethelp.no
It may be hard for those in Europe to understand the situation in the US, so let me explain in real numbers. I live in an upper-middle class suburb of a "tier 2" city, large enough it has everything but not a primary market for anyone. Due to a combination of geography, legacy, and government regulations (how licences are granted, specifically) I have two wireline providers, the local "Cable Company" which is Comcast, and the local "Telephone Company", which is AT&T (ex SBC territory, if it matters). There are no land-based wireless (WiFi, LTE, etc) providers in my area. I am not considering satellite viable for a number of reasons, but if you care there are two providers that cover the whole US, as far as I know. I'd link directly to the pages with prices, but due to the fact that the price and service varies with your ZIP code here I can't do that, you have to fill out a set of forms to even see what you can buy. Here are my choices: Comcast: "Performance": 12 down, 2 up with "Powerboost". Norton Security Suite 7 e-mails, each with 10GB. $42.95 per month. "Performance PLUS": 16 down, 2 up with "Powerboost". Norton Security Suite 7 e-mails, each with 10GB. $52.95 per month. Both include a single IP assigned via DHCP, you bring your own CPE or you can rent from them for a few dollars a month. AT&T U-Verse: "Pro": 3 down $41 "Elite": 6 down $46 "Max": 12 down $48 "Max Plus": 18 down $58 "Max Turbo": 24 down $68 Note that the only change with each product is speed. These all require the use of AT&T CPE (and thus I added in the $3 they charge you for it), and come with the same features the AT&T box presents you a private IP space network and does the NAT for you with a single outside IP. Same number of e-mail accounts (but I can't find the number listed anywhere). Also note they don't list upload speeds on the web site at all. NOTE: Both providers offer discounts for bundling with TV or Phone service, and both offer discounts for the first few months for new customers, I have left off all of these, comparing regular price to regular price for Internet only service. That's it, a total list of my "consumer package" choices. Comcast will offer business service, which is the exact same service over the exact same modems and network, except you can have static IP's and get priority support for about $25-30 extra. AT&T won't sell me business service as I live in a residential neighborhood. Beyond that my choice is to order a T1, 1.5 symmetric from a "real" provider. I can get all the static IP's I want, a real SLA, priority support, and so on. I'll have to supply my own CPE, and it will run somewhere between $700 and $900 a month. I hope that helps folks outside the US understand the situation here. There really isn't a lot of choice, 2 providers, and some minor choice in how much speed you want to pay for with each one. I hear rumors of how good it is in Japan, or Korea, or Sweeden, I would love for folks from those places to post their options. -- Leo Bicknell - bicknell@ufp.org - CCIE 3440 PGP keys at http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/