The White Lies ISPs Tell About Broadband Speeds

The White Lies ISPs Tell About Broadband Speeds
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Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:26 pm	Reply and quote this post

In a recent PC Magazine article, writer Jeremy Kaplan did a fantastic job of exposing the true Internet access speeds of the large consumer providers.

He did this by creating a speed test that measured the throughput of continuous access to popular Web sites like Google, Expedia, and many others. Until this report was published, the common metric for comparing ISPs was through the use of the numerous Internet speed test sites available online.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2139420,00.asp

Put simply, it's a matter of expectations.

PCMag.com wrote:

ISPs know that new and existing customers are largely comparing their Internet-speed experiences to dial-up connections, which often barely sustain 28 Kbit/s. So, even at 150 Kbits/s, customers are getting a seven-fold increase in speed, which is like the difference between flying in a jet and driving your car. With the baseline established by dial up being so slow, most ISPs really don't need to deliver a true sustained three megabits to be successful.

As a consumer, reliable information is the key to making good decisions in the marketplace. Below are some important questions you may want to ask your provider about their connection speeds. It is unlikely the sales rep will know the answers, or even have access to them, but perhaps over time, with some insistence, details will be made available.

Questions to ask your ISP... http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2155339,00.asp

What do you think?

Contributed by Editorial Team, Executive Management Team
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