Upstream Speeds Getting To Be More Important

from the finally! dept

Broadband companies have been so focused on downstream speeds, they've pretty much ignored the fact that one of the benefits of having an always on connection is that it allows people to do things upstream as well. It's a symptom of the "broadcast" mentality of broadband companies who think the only reason to go online is to download content - and not to communicate with others or to create and offer your own content. However, what things like peer-to-peer systems have shown is that upstream speeds are increasingly important as well - and we're starting to see a tiny shift where broadband providers are starting to increase the speeds and talk about their upstream speeds as well (rather than hiding them in the fine print). Of course, many are still worried about any kind of server application coming out of the home and how it will impact bandwidth, but as with downstream broadband, there isn't going to be much they can do to stop it. As new applications come out that make more use of upstream bandwidth providers who offer higher bandwidth heading upstream will start to get more business.
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  1. identicon
    Beck, 8 Jun 2004 @ 10:14am

    No Subject Given

    Even with faster upload speeds, we still need fixed IP addresses. I can't get one with Adelphia (probably to prevent us from running servers at home) and the places that do offer fixed IP addresses charge a lot for them.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    IceBurrg, 8 Jun 2004 @ 11:13am

    Re: No Subject Given

    Dynamic DNS services can help ease the pain of not having a static IP address. Check out no-ip.com when you have a chance. I run servers from my house for remote desktop, ssh, sftp, Azureus, and DVArchive and I don't have (or need) a static IP.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2004 @ 11:41am

    No Subject Given

    Don't forget dyndns.org too!

    I don't think fixed IP is really an issue, but higher uploads than 256Kbps are needed - jees, even if you're FTP'ing, P2P'ing or Emailing, you need upload speed!

    I've seen some DSL providers offer 384-412Kbps for not much more than 128Kbps, but SDSL is still crazily priced!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    aNonMooseCowherd, 8 Jun 2004 @ 1:46pm

    telecommuters

    As gasoline prices rise and more people work from home, upload speeds will become more important so people can upload their work.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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