Always On Broadband More Important Than Speed

from the makes-sense dept

While I know plenty of people who would definitely agree with this statement, it's the first time I've seen it mentioned as a major reason why people sign up for broadband. They're sick and tired of having to log in and dialup every time they want to use the internet. The always-on nature of a broadband connection is more important to many people than the higher speeds. The higher speeds, of course, are very nice and people would miss them should they go away. However, I think most internet providers don't realize how much people value an always-on connection.
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  • identicon
    mgallagher, 23 Apr 2002 @ 6:29pm

    Amen!

    This is a point I've been trying to make with a friend of mine in the ISP business for a while. I have AT&T's broadband service, and it works great. Never goes down, and it tests to be delivering my 1.5 Mbit down/300k up speed almost all of the time. Don't get me wrong, I love the bandwidth, but if I could get 1/10th of the speed for 1/10th of the price and keep the "always on" part--man I'd be all over it.

    And, more importantly, I think a LOT of other people would, too.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      jyung, 24 Apr 2002 @ 8:40am

      Re: Amen!

      I read somewhere that some of the cable companies are testing offering broadband at one fourth the speed for only $2 more than AOL ($25/mo). I believe the first trial of this service is in Las Vegas. I think $25/mo is a killer price point.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Terry Donaghe, 23 Apr 2002 @ 7:04pm

    I think we need a killer app

    It's kind of sad that the main compelling reason to have a broadband connection is the always on feature. That's pretty lame. I admit that it's nice, but it seems that in order to get more people onto broadband, someone needs to create a better killer app than EverQuest.

    Maybe grid computing will help and we'll be able to rent our "off" times and use the computing power of others when we're "on."

    The main problem with broadband is that it's too damned slow. Give me grid computing applications and 128 MegaBYTES a second and then we'll have something useful!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2002 @ 5:25am

    Speed

    If you're an online gamer, speed is the *most* important thing. (Quake, Tribes, etc.)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Zakk, 24 Apr 2002 @ 9:10am

      Re: Speed

      Sorry dude, it's not speed, but lag and latency that are the most important points for gamers. Speed comes a distant third.

      Here in the UK the cable companies have started selling 128k broadband at just slightly higher than dial up prices. I have the feeling it's selling well! Always on is the killer feature, no doubt.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 25 Apr 2002 @ 5:52am

        Re: Speed

        Your right ofcourse.
        My point though was that always on was probably least important to a gamer.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mark Fox, 24 Apr 2002 @ 8:55am

    High Speed Lite in Canada

    In Canada, the cable providers are now rolling out High Speed Lite, which is 128 Kb cable connections for the same price as dial-up. They are advertising the always on feature and no need for a second phone. Provided they can support this, it would be hard for dial-up to compete on service.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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