What Internet download speed do I need for ....?
 

Im looking at gettinng High Speed ADSL 24MB into our rural villiage and I have identified a potential supplier who does sub loop unbundling .
. People currently get anything from .5MB to 1.9 MB.
In order to gauge interest Im writing a little article for the village newsletter explaining the issues and asking people to register an interest . Now comes the question I need to explain what they will be able to do now and in the future in ways that everyone can understand .So I am looking for some simple data on typical speeds needed for cetain activities .eg

• Internet radio streaming say min.5mb ok at 1mb+
• Internet TV streaming 4 mb+
• HD tv ???
• 3D TV ???
• etc ,

No I know that all sorts of factors , contention , overheads etc make this very difficult to answer preciscely but we aint looking for an answer that keeps the geeks happy , they know what fast internet is for already .

You could mention that there will (should) be less buffering required to watch video content online, including the iplayer etc.

Tonka777
Will do I guess Im looking for speeds high enough to prevent most buffering .

HuntandFish,

I take it you have already seen the comparison graphs that appear on the BBC Diagnostics site once you have done your speed test ?

BBC iPlayer - Diagnostics

By the sounds of it, this is what you are looking to illustrate. My I also suggest that given your target audience, you take a leaf out of the BBC's book and use graphics rather than yet more text to illustrate a point.

Tonka777,

You must understand that DSL services are on the bottom of the food chain.

Many factors are involved in the quality of the final connection you receive. The magic speed number quoted to you in the marketing bumpf and paperwork can end up meaning nothing at all in the face of contention, limiting, throttling, shaping, FUP and all the other spanners that get thrown in the works.

H&F - check your PMs

Thanks guys some useful stuff .


mixture You highlight the problem well the variables make it very difficult to explain in simple terms what villagers can expect from a new service . But without a simpleexplanation I may not get enough interest .

Interestingly the potential provider claims to offer QOS for VOIP , must check to see if they do any shaping .

Shirley, QOS and shaping are two sides of the same coin. Or the sides plus the edge. Anyway, it's the same coin.

Yes indeed, much the same technology is used for both albeit with technical differences in order to allow ease of implementation for either scenario.

"QoS" implies something done for the benefit of the customer.

"shaping" is not done for the benefit of the customer but for the benefit of the supplier. They'll try to tell you it's for "the benefit of the network".... but that's only true in a limited number of cases where they're not trying to find new ways to squeeze more customers onto the same pipes.

Anyhow, I've already digressed enough from the original topic at hand ! :cool:

Huntandfish,

What I'm probably trying to say is this technical banter should never get as far as the villagers.

You should beat up your supplier now to uncover any technicalities that might affect quality of service, and get the T&Cs vetted by a lawyer who knows his bits from his bytes (yes it will cost a little bit of money now, but better then having to watch them point their finger at the small print when you quiz them later).

Then just submit a simple, plain English business case to your villagers, with the speed comparisons etc . Be weary of painting too rosy a picture, make sure they understand speed can vary etc... however your main focus should be on explaining the benefits of unbundling etc.


By the way is the supplier a large supplier or small specialist ? Just curious. :cool:

As posted above , ISP's promise high speeds and then you find out that to many people are sharing that high speed and it ends up being slower than a dial-up. You really need to get the fastest without any but's attached

Hmmm,interesting test got five ticks,can usually watch HD iplayer progs without and stutters,on Virgin media broadband claims to be 10megs,whatever that means.
:)

H & F - You start confusing your fellow villagers with all this high tech stuff and you could well end up being thrown into the pond!:)

parabellum

Thats the point I work in IT and understand the issues . But what I need is simple non tech stuff that will tell the villagers what sort of things they will be able to do with a new service .

BT Vision, reliable VOIP (ie talking and web-caming to family around the world), who knows what in 5 years time? Quite honestly, if they cannot see it themselves, don't waste your time.