100M : News: VM Possible Future 200mbps or Higher

[ileikcaek]

I have just been told by a friend in the USA that he has just registered for a comcast cable trial of 300Mb down, 65Mb up!

Now, it would appear comcast has been throwing a lot of weight into their network recently, and even with their further constricted bandwidth on normal docsis versus EU docsis that we use here they are still able to give quite large upload speeds. it strikes me as a little off that VM's upload is currently so dire and even with the recent and coming upgrades it is still unlikely to even get anywhere near what comcast is able to offer in the US, there's just no way VM would offer these kinds of upload speeds even with two bonded upstream channels which is what it seems we will be getting if what I have seen is correct.

Maybe there is more to VM's network upgrades and upstream bonding that has gone untold and they are planning something else within the next two years alongside a 200 and maybe 400Mb rollout.

[vmfriend]

As of March this year Comcast had a little over 18m subscribers so it is of no surprise that they can invest in their network.

I think Virgin have about 4m.

[Jayster]

Originally Posted by vmfriend

As of March this year Comcast had a little over 18m subscribers so it is of no surprise that they can invest in their network.

I think Virgin have about 4m.

That also means that they have to deal with more people and a larger area.

[Chrysalis]

from what I can see these are the key differences I have visibly seen as reported by comcast itself and its users.

1 - comcast has a fixed usage limit, although now its more flexible http://www.techspot.com/news/48643-c...-soft-cap.html
2 - users have reported triple US bonding with some channels also utilising QAM64 instead of QAM16.

Also curious of the customer density per node on comcast vs VM.

[babis3g]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

f
2 - users have reported triple US bonding with some channels also utilising QAM64 instead of QAM16.

http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Connect...G/td-p/1290911

[ileikcaek]

It's interesting that Comcast are using QAM64 upstream channels now, I wonder if this is what VM will do with the US bonding/new US channels added. I don't see why they wouldn't unless this adds a huge cost. I understand VM is smaller and has less money to throw at these things with their debt burden it just seems to me VM needs to get competitive in the upsteam area as best they can because other ISP's are starting to far surpass them.

[Jayster]

Originally Posted by rickymallory

It's interesting that Comcast are using QAM64 upstream channels now, I wonder if this is what VM will do with the US bonding/new US channels added. I don't see why they wouldn't unless this adds a huge cost. I understand VM is smaller and has less money to throw at these things with their debt burden it just seems to me VM needs to get competitive in the upsteam area as best they can because other ISP's are starting to far surpass them.

Well the thing with upload speeds is most of the population even know about them, then of the ones who do lots dont care/understand what it is. This could ofcourse change with marketing and one thing which surprises me is that the bt and other isp's using fttc havent really made a push to highlight their superior upload speeds.

So in the mean time virgin would rather throw money at download speeds which grabs headlines and is easier to market. For example look at the marketing/press coverage of the double speed upgrade and that of the upload upgrade.

[AndyCalling]

Originally Posted by Jayster

That also means that they have to deal with more people and a larger area.

Yep, you're right. It's all about customer density, and VM's customers are often pretty dense. ~

By that, of course, I mean the UK is very densly populated which should give VM a proportionate advantage over Comcast when it comes to beefing up the infrastructure.

[boroboi]

Originally Posted by rickymallory

VM's upload is currently so dire and even with the recent and coming upgrades it is still unlikely to even get anywhere near what comcast is able to offer in the US, there's just no way VM would offer these kinds of upload speeds even with two bonded upstream channels which is what it seems we will be getting if what I have seen is correct.

One channel can only serve 18mbit, and that is shared amongst hundreds of customers, i think that explains why they wont be offering anything substantial in the upload department. Congestion, and the cost to relieve that congestion isn't what they want to invest in unless it becomes so saturated it grinds their network to a halt.

[qasdfdsaq]

Two to begin with but all the equipment (once it's working) will be capable of at least 4.

4x27Mb (which is what Comcast will be using, with smaller node sizes too) is a pretty decent sized chunk, 4x18Mb (on VM in the near-future) giving 72Mb vs the current 18Mb will allow a huge amount more leeway.