Nothing gets me more giddy than learning about new Internet technologies that may wind up in my household one day and today’s AP article about Comcast’s demo of DOCSIS 3.0 is no exception. Currently, cable modems use a coaxial cable line to shoot data down a TV channel. The fastest throughput this method has been able to achieve lies around 8-10 megabits.
A new revision of cable modem technology dubbed DOCSIS 3.0 uses four TV channels for data delivery and delivers an unbelievable 150 megabit per second download speed! Unfortunately, the article didn’t say what kind of upload speed this new technology will be able to provide but I was able to research and find a potential upload speed for DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems of around 120mbps.
In the presentation, ARRIS Group Inc. chief executive Robert Stanzione downloaded a 30-second, 300-megabyte television commercial in a few seconds and watched it long before a standard modem worked through an estimated download time of 16 minutes.
Generally, I would much rather use an Internet service based around fiber lines (FiOS) than old coaxial lines but Verizon’s FiOS service has been rather slow at laying new fiber lines to residential areas. Cable providers should be able to offer DOCSIS 3.0 service to residential areas “within less than a couple years”. What does this mean? This means that within 5 years we might be seeing YouTube HD (if YouTube is still around…) in addition to many more people relying on online data storage to safeguard personal documents, perhaps even an online OS.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve stopped blaming Verizon. The problem is not them, it’s stupid local governments not making deals with Verizon. Verizon has had fiber laid in my city for over a year now, yet my stupid city won’t give the go ahead on the service.
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wow, nice. pity that most people use wireless (at least i do) so i’ll be capped at 802.11g speeds. either way, it’ll be nice to max out. bet joost would be flawlessly on this tho.. *cough, cough* ;)
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@bandersnatch – I just logged into my joost but I can’t find out how to send invites. It says just click “my joost” but when I’m logged in, I don’t see that.
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A-Mazing. I was thinking of canceling my cable and getting DHL because for half the price I get 6-8 megs instead of 8-10, but hearing this makes me want to keep my cable.
And YouTube HD. Awesome. You heard it here first, folks.
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@ shawn
Yup, Paul always spot on, which is why he’s a daily read.
@ Paul
I guess its not meant to be! I’ll see if I can dig around and find out why you’re having such difficulties
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whoops for above post. s/paul/paul is. :D
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For those who think they are going to have trouble with there Internet speed because of the wireless 802.11n speed limitations, don’t worry because in 5 years, I’m sure this will improve by a huge percentage.
Just think about it, whats the point of having these great Internet speeds if the wireless technology can’t catch up to it, that’s why I’m 100% sure that within a few years the wireless technology is going to be at 600 megabits a second.
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For those who think they are going to have trouble with there Internet speed because of the wireless 802.11n speed limitations, don’t worry because in 5 years, I’m sure this will improve by a huge percentage.
Just think about it, whats the point of having these great Internet speeds if the wireless technology can’t catch up to it, that’s why I’m 100% sure that within a few years the wireless technology is going to be at 600 megabits a second..
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Stammy, your right about Verizon. I live in League City,TX and Verizon mentioned in a national letter (its even on there website) that League City was to have FiOS in 2004. Yet its 2007 and still no FiOS. I have made calls to Verizon weekly with All answers leading to “we do not see any profit in Houston and surrounding areas due to the poverty levels being so high.” AT&T U-Verse will not enter any areas that are owned by Verizon. So again stuck like Chuck. If TimeWarner and Comcast move quickly here in the Houston area (TimeWarner leaving and Comcast entering) then maybe things will work out and I can get some decent speeds for a change.
I mean who wouldn’t want a few Mbps of actual download speeds other than just with testing tools.
Man – that would be awesome – imagine the possibilities!
Joost is an interesting technology – wonder where it will go. Would love to check it out.
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@ motherduce
I’ll hook you up once I get it going, k?
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@ motherduce,
Invite sent.
If anyone else is interested, I’ll be posting a request for invites on my blog, 99lives.org. I don’t think Stammy would appreciate his blog being flooded with hundreds of comments. ;)
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Yippiee, this means I can now go over comcast’s “invisible bandwidth limit” in a matter of minutes!
Great! Now instead of $45 a month, they can justify charging me double the price! Go Comcast!
I am a tech with Comcast and we have fiber lines. 90 % of our network is fiber its just coax from the node to the house and most nodes are at the end of the block…….its not about the type of cable you use its all about protocol. Fios is beneath us believe me they cant compete. We have been laying fiber for yeaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrsssssss nothing new guys really.
IF comcast is so great and its based on fiber how come i cant get a f***ing channel to record everytime i record something the picture or sound or both skips on your wondergul fiber connection. Yet FIOS is beneth you. Then how come every person i have talked to says they have never had a problem with FIOS and I have nothing but problems with comcast that they can’t solve, and their customer service is f***ing terrible because it is all outsourced to foriegn countries that have people who dont know jack s*** except for the pre-written comments and questions they have.
The problem is in your house……..its not comcast………..anything from a bad splinter to a bad ac outlet your cable box is plugged into. We don’t broadcast bad programing from our hub at all. If you lived in my city i would to come to your house to fix your problem just to prove you wrong. I do that 5 days a week. 90% of all trouble calls are caused by customers or customer equipment.
We spend billions on our network every year, and wherever there is a prob it is with the weakest link (customer equipment).
Don’t tell me its my f***ing equipment. I didn’t build it, i payed for a service and comcast gave me the box, they laid the lines. Don’t pawn this off as my fault. This is the f***ing problem the company not taking responsibility for its actions. I can’t get a f***ing channel to work “on the cable” and the company proceeds to tell me its my fault. I have had countless technicians out to my house and everytime there is a different reason or excuse why the cable is doing it, they say its an easy fix, they do it the cable works for about a week and then its right back to shitty reception. Based on this I would have to assume either all of your technicians are incompetent morons or they are purposly breaking my cable so i constantly have to pay for repair men to come out so they get more money. If comcast is so wonderful and you could repair everything, put your money where your mouth is and come out and fix my god d*mn cable. Oh that’s right according to you it’s my house and the wires in it, and the outlets, so according to you i have to get my entire f***ing house rewired to be able to watch tv because its all my fault and the cable company has nothing to do with the bad signal.
Don’t tell me its my f***ing equipment. I didn’t build it, i payed for a service and comcast gave me the box, they laid the lines. Don’t pawn this off as my fault. This is the f***ing problem the company not taking responsibility for its actions. I can’t get a f***ing channel to work “on the cable” and the company proceeds to tell me its my fault. I have had countless technicians out to my house and everytime there is a different reason or excuse why the cable is doing it, they say its an easy fix, they do it the cable works for about a week and then its right back to shitty reception. Based on this I would have to assume either all of your technicians are incompetent morons or they are purposly breaking my cable so i constantly have to pay for repair men to come out so they get more money. If comcast is so wonderful and you could repair everything, put your money where your mouth is and come out and fix my god d*mn cable. Oh that’s right according to you it’s my house and the wires in it, and the outlets, so according to you i have to get my entire f***ing house rewired to be able to watch tv because its all my fault and the cable company has nothing to do with the bad signal.