Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

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LakeCharles
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby LakeCharles » November 28th, 2017, 9:19 pm

OK, this is a legitimately clear-eyed take on the entire NN situation: https://stratechery.com/2017/pro-neutra ... erful_done
It's not histrionic, but I think it misses a lot of the actual arguments for net neutrality.

His argument is based on a competitive market for internet services. Except 3 out of 5 of Americans have no choice in their ISP. And 9 out of 10 have 2 or fewer choices. It doesn't work to say that ISPs won't restrict speech because consumers will choose another option when consumers don't actually have another option.

His other argument that the current regulations aren't actually changing providers' behavior doesn't really mesh with the fact that those providers have spent over half a billion dollars trying to overturn the regulations. If the regulations aren't affecting their behavior, why are they putting on the full court press to end them?

Finally, while I don't doubt the intentions of this Ben Thompson fellow, I really do doubt the intentions of Ajit Pai, the Verizon employee, who has on multiple occasions complained about any government money being used by universities to research hate speech, "the spread of false and misleading ideas," or to assist in the preservation of open debate.

Anondson
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby Anondson » November 28th, 2017, 10:19 pm

Ben is a very well-regarded technology analyst that has been writing for many years. He’s independent, writing for his self-published newsletter, he’s one of the earliest writers to jump out on his own funding everything on subscriptions. I’m not a subscriber of his but I’ve followed him on Twitter for years, and following his responses to this piece on Twitter today was enlightening too. Ben said he has more to write on this soon, that this wasn’t all he wanted to say.

Ben lives in Taiwan though he is from Wisconsin, he must be aware that huge numbers of Americans have no choice of provider.

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mister.shoes
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby mister.shoes » December 5th, 2017, 9:32 am

Since I was the one who posted the Stratechery link, I should also be the one to post this fantastic rebuttal:
https://pxlnv.com/blog/thompson-title-ii/

I feel a little embarrassed that I was so taken in by the original link. I let his reputation and an endorsement by John Gruber of daringfireball.net sway me.
The problem with being an introvert online is that no one knows you're just hanging out and listening.

karlshea
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby karlshea » December 5th, 2017, 12:08 pm

Ben Thompson did write a follow-up too: https://stratechery.com/2017/light-touc ... antitrust/

David Greene
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby David Greene » January 5th, 2018, 9:25 am

Has anyone looked into getting a static IP from USI? There's nothing on their website about it except for a FAQ entry that mentions business-class services.

David Greene
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby David Greene » January 5th, 2018, 10:33 am

I just called USI and it turns out home service gets one free static IP if you ask. They just don't advertise it.

Cool!

MNdible
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby MNdible » January 5th, 2018, 10:44 am

So, for a neophyte, why would one want a static vs dynamic IP?

Scottie
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby Scottie » January 5th, 2018, 11:10 am

Anyone tried Century Link's Gigabit fiber? I don't have USI in the neighborhood yet and I'm sick of paying Comcast.

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VacantLuxuries
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby VacantLuxuries » January 5th, 2018, 11:12 am

Be sure they actually offer it. They advertised it in our area but in reality only offered 20mbps of service.

Scottie
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby Scottie » January 5th, 2018, 11:22 am

^My biggest reservation with switching to them is their reputation for pulling crap like that. I did watch them string the fiber in my alley though so hopefully it is available.

Anondson
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby Anondson » January 5th, 2018, 11:28 am

I live in Hopkins, I switched to Century Link fiber a couple years back. We could turn on gigabit if we wanted to pay more, but I couldn’t find a pressing need for faster than the 40mbps. After dinner, my daughter will be watching PBS kids on her iPad, my son playing a multiplayer online game on the computer, and I’ll watch a 4K movie on my AppleTV.

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VacantLuxuries
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby VacantLuxuries » January 5th, 2018, 11:44 am

I kind of wish someone offered a package where you could get a regular 40mbps-60mbps package with an option to turn on and off gigabit for when you actually need it. I do occasionally need to deliver large files for film and video reasons, but most of the time that speed would be overkill.

jebr
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby jebr » January 5th, 2018, 2:28 pm

I have CenturyLink DSL - have the 40Mbps/20Mbps package (paid an extra $5 to upgrade the upload side.) I got a good deal signing a one year contract, but not sure if they offer that sort of promotion anymore now that they've switched to the "price for life" model. That being said, I've found their prequalification tool online pretty good at showing what speeds you can actually get at a location (where you actually go on centurylink.com and enter in your address.) They seem to not have a ton of places with fiber to the home yet, though, so make sure that you actually have gigabit in their tool online before ordering. I've had the best luck ordering in one of CenturyLink's corporate stores - it's the only place I've found that was willing to let me sign up without leasing or purchasing their modem and let me provide one that I purchased online.

On the static IP question, it's useful if you have a server at home or want to view cameras remotely and not have to deal with dynamic DNS. Most people don't need one, but I've thought about getting one just so I don't have to deal with the dynamic DNS setup to stream TV from my tuner card in my computer and so I can set up a couple servers at home for testing/home computer lab work.

David Greene
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby David Greene » January 5th, 2018, 3:43 pm

So, for a neophyte, why would one want a static vs dynamic IP?
I just got a Synology NAS and it has all kinds of useful functions you can export to the internet. It can use dynamic DNS but I prefer to have something more stable. I'm going to move my e-mail onto it (thus necessitating better stability) and save the $35/mo charge from Linode and then set up the media server so I can stream my music at work.

talindsay
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby talindsay » January 8th, 2018, 8:09 am

So, for a neophyte, why would one want a static vs dynamic IP?
If you want to run services on your home system that are reachable from other places, you need to be able to know the address - and knowing it won't change makes that way more likely. For example, you can't (generally) map a domain name to a dynamic address. Want to run your own mail server? You need a static IP. Want to stream content *from* your server? You basically need a static IP.

seanrichardryan
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby seanrichardryan » January 8th, 2018, 6:04 pm

Just called century link to cancel our tv service (just don;t watch enough to spend $145 mo. Prism tv). Offered us 1 gig for $80 month at a special rate. Taking them up on 100mps for now at $60, but considering it later just to 'lock in that price for life' promotion. I don't think anyone else will be running fiber to my house in STP anytime soon.
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John21
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby John21 » January 8th, 2018, 9:23 pm

I have CL fiber 40mb. I like the consistency. Watching a 4K hdr stream I get between 15-20 on a Speedtest on other devices. I’m locked in right now at $30 + fees a month until April. I’d like a bit faster. Really hoping USI covers my part of Standish this year...

jebr
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby jebr » January 10th, 2018, 10:10 am

Looks like Starry (from the founders of Aereo) will be launching wireless internet service sometime this year in parts of Minneapolis (or, at least, the Minneapolis "market.")

https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Sta ... ets-141018

mattaudio
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby mattaudio » January 10th, 2018, 10:19 am

Are we certain 5G MMW RF technology is safe yet?
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-c ... story.html

John21
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Re: Fiber Internet and TV Services, Cord Cutting

Postby John21 » January 24th, 2018, 5:03 pm



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