Wow, talk about ongoing interest in a topic. This thread dates back to 2011. Back then bobtomay was getting a 28.60Mbps download rate now we are talking download rates of 300-450Mbps.
Are we paying for more than we need?
Older ongoing threads like this are definitely interesting...in how in an unplanned way they track how things change over time.
As far as speeds. If folks have a cable modem setup (from their cable TV company)...many times the bandwidth is "shared" among your immediate neighbors who are on the same node (nearest cable company control point). This can mean (for example) 10-20 of your immediate neighbors are sharing the same bandwidth.
Thus (for example) if someone has a 100Mbps cable modem service...at peak times of the day (usually evenings from around 7pm -10pm on weekdays)...and maybe all day on weekends. If each household is demanding a lot of bandwidth...you won't get the full maximum advertised bandwidth. Many times (in the fine print of contracts)...your cable TV company does not promise that you will get the full advertised 100Mbps 100% of the time...especially at peak times.
The other thing to keep in mind...the 100Mbps maximum speed is usually ONLY possible via direct cable connection (hard wire ethernet cable connection to your cable modem/router). As soon as you start using WiFi...the maximum possible speed starts to drop (even if you're sitting right in front of your cable modem/WiFi router). And the further you get from your WiFi router...generally the slower the WiFI speed.
Thus if someone has a 100Mbps cable modem internet service from cable TV company...if it's the peak time of the day...plus using WiFi a good distance from your WiFi router...you might only get 40Mbps or less (unless you move closer to the router and/or it's an off-peak time). And all this assumes you have no bottlenecks in your system:
- slower coax cable splitters
- too many coax splitters
- older/slower quality coax cable in your walls
- older slower ethernet cable
- etc.
As far as cost. Luckily in my area we have fiber optic as one of our choices (1 gigabit/1000Mbps) internet service...which costs pretty much the same as 200Mbps service from a cable TV company (thus why not get fiber).
- We usually get about 750 Mbps download/750 Mbps upload if connected via Cat 7 ethernet cable.
- This drops to about 350 Mbps via WiFi right in front of the WiFi router.
- This further drops to about 200-250 Mbps if at 2nd floor home office (30 feet away & old home with thick/dense walls & floors).
With different internet plans...different internet providers...phone line vs. coax able vs. fiber...hardware in the home (older vs. newer)...the internet speeds you actually get at your electronic device endpoint (computer, phone, tablet, etc.)...can vary widely!
- Nick