Problems With @Home
from the pissed-off-customers dept
I've always thought in the long run that xDSL would beat out cable modems. I've had the list of reasons ready for anyone who asks, but one of the main reasons was simply the nature of the shared network. The more people who use cable, the slower your connection gets. Obviously, it's a great deal for early adopters, but the service is only going to get worse, which is not the best way to keep your early adopters happy. @Home is now trying to deal with this issue and it is making plenty of customers unhappy. Apparently they have capped the upstream bandwidth limit, and are planning to make users pay extra to get the level of service they were used to before. I certainly see where they are coming from, but it seems like a pretty good way to piss off your early adopters.
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They're reaping what they sowed.
The other problem about relying on the cable companies for your internet is that cable companies are cheap (They make McDonald's look like Mission Control). When it comes to spending money to ensure the quality of your service, chances are they won't. They'll just wait until something breaks, then fix it when someone complains.
You'll get way better support from the telcos, especially in terms of preventative maintenance.
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Cable modems
I do see some slowdowns from time to time, but it's still extremely fast compared to dial-up. When DSL comes into my area, I'll probably take a look at it, but from what I've seen, it is going to cost more.
- George
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