 High Speed Connections
First Published: April 2000
Last Update: April 2002
Author: Computer Partners
Speed is the force that drives the Internet. It is exciting
that there are all kinds of new and amazing Web technologies but if the average
user doesn't have the connection speeds to use the technology effectively, most
of it will be ignored.
The upside is that there are also new technologies being
developed to address the issue of speed.
Elizabeth Clampet reported in late March that Nortel had
recently debuted a new cable capable of carrying 6.4 terabits per second of
Internet traffic over a single, hair-thin strand of fiber.
Clampet quoted John Roth president and chief executive
officer of Nortel Networks as saying, `"Today we've set a new Internet and
networking 'land speed record' using light." ...."This unprecedented
technology...will provide the necessary foundation for a new high-performance
Internet built on extreme capacity optical networking in the backbone, and
integrated optical and packet signaling at the core..." '
,
David Hakala of Sm@rt Reseller recently wrote that along with
Nortel Networks, Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies were also spending
billions to corner the "optical networks arena".
As a result of these new developments, it has been predicted
that in the next few years speed will no longer be a barrier for Internet users.
Today's reality, however, is that the average American user
is surfing the Web at slow connection speeds. The fact is, if you are connected
to the Internet via analog modem, then your connection is considered slow by
today's standards.
Internetnews.com reported the results of a November
Nielsen/NetRatings showing that the majority of users in the US live in a
"modem-based world." The ratings showed that a mere 5.9 percent use
what is considered high speed Internet connection. This is primarily cable modem
and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL).
Internet connections are based on Kbps which means kilobytes
transmitted per second. If that doesn't mean anything to you, one double-spaced
typewritten page is equivalent to approx. 1,024 bytes, or one kilobyte.
The Nielsen/NetRatings showed that 45 percent of US users
connect to the Internet at 28.8/33.6 Kbps and 41 per cent connect at a modem
speed of 56Kbps.
The 56 Kbps connection speed only applies to downloads.
Downloading is the data transfer going from your ISP to your computer. Even if
you are using a 56kbps modem, the speed of uploading from your computer to your
ISP still takes place at the traditional 28.8 or 33.6 Kbps speeds.
The difference between downloading and uploading speeds is
not considered an issue, since the vast majority of data transfer takes place as
downloads.
One problem is that not all phone lines can handle 56 Kbps
connection speeds and there are no guarantees that the phone line that you are
using is able to support the faster communication rate.
Even with phone lines that can handle the speed, you will
still only achieve connection speeds in the high 30s to low 50s Kbps. Any amount
of noise present on a phone line can severely reduce a modem's transmission
rate.
A cable modem connection on the other hand can offer transfer
rates of up to 30Mbps. Transfer rates generally range anywhere from 500kbps to
10Mbps. A cable modem connects to the Internet through your television cable
network.
The disadvantage to cable modem is that it is not usually
available outside of major cities. Problems may also arise during busy times
when multiple users are sharing the bandwidth.
DSL, on the other hand, refers to a series of technologies
that increases the digital capacity of ordinary telephone lines.
The most commonly available is ADSL, or asymmetric DSL. This
means that data is downloaded faster than it is uploaded. The download or
receiving rate varies from 1.5 to 9 Mbps. The upload or sending rate varies from
16 to 700 Kbps. The disadvantage of DSL is that speeds depend greatly on how
close you are to the telephone company's switching office.
The advantage is that unlike cable modems, in which multiple
users share very high-bandwidth media, ADSL sustains a consistent capacity no
matter how many people are using the service simultaneously.
Another form of DSL technology is SDSL. It supports the same
data rates of up to 3Mbps for downloading and uploading. It is primarily used in
Europe.
Another common type is ADSL Lite or G-Lite, which has more
noise interference and therefore a lower bandwidth.
The Nielsen/NetRatings results revealed that, `"In
visits per person, those with higher speed access visit the Internet 83 percent
more and view a 130 percent more pages than those with mid-range modem
speed."'
The findings also suggest that income and education level
determine Internet connectivity. Of those users using high speed Internet
connection, 37.1 percent earned more than $75,000 a year and had a higher
percentage of college degrees.
In his recent article in PC World, "Is Dial-Up a
Dinosaur", Tom Spring reported that 3Com was selling its dial-up modem
division. He said that analysts were predicting that "it's only a matter of
time before dial-up modems take up permanent residence in the Computer
Museum."
He further reported that analysts maintain that the fact that
modems were selling at all was because they were routinely sold with new PCs.
"...Instead 3Com has set its sights on the high-speed world of cable and
DSL modems."
Tim Greene of Network World reported last year that DSL-lite
modems, which are capable of being plugged into a DSL line, were already on the
market and that some were to be shipped and installed in PCs made by companies
like Dell and Compaq.
At that time Greene believed that 2000 would be the year of
DSL and if not 2000 then 2001. He wrote, "America Online has deals with
Ameritech, Bell Atlantic and SBC Communications to offer DSL services to AOL's
Internet-access customers.... DSL specialists Covad, Northpoint and Rhythms
NetConnections has agreements to wholesale DSL to national service providers
such as AT&T, Frontier, Intermedia, PSINET Qwest, Savvis and UUNET."
AOL began offering DSL in July 1999.
Corey Grice of CNET reported in March that Excite@home had
launched its high speed cable based connections. It was a result of a 1999
merger between @Home Network and Excite.
He further reported that as a result of high speed
initiatives many Web sites and streaming media companies were starting to add
more broadband hungry content like, audio, video clips and animation to their
sites.
In January, Reuters reported that the number of people in the
US using high-speed Internet access was predicted to grow to 3.3 million by the
end of 2000 and 16.6 million by 2004.
Reporting on a study done by the Yankee Group, Reuters said
that nearly 80 percent of high speed connections in the US were established
using cable modems because it was more accessible. DSL was more limited and as a
result only 24 per cent had access. It was predicted that the cable market share
would shrink to 42 per cent by 2004 when DSL became more widely available.
According to Matt Hamblen, in a recent article in Computer
World, as of October there were 1.4 million cable modem lines installed in the
U.S. and Canada. He interviewed Brett Sheppard an analyst at Telechoice Inc. in
Denver, who said that that number was more than four times the number for DSL.
He also interviewed Michael Harris of Kinetic Strategies Inc.
in Phoenix who believes that cable modems would win out in 2002 and that the
recent merger between American Online Inc and Time Warner Inc, would accelerate
an interest in cable modems. He also reported that despite all the hype about
fast Internet connections, the bottom line is that DSL and cable modem are still
only available to about one third of US citizens.
He further reported that the speeds discussed above are
primarily the connection speed from the user to the user's ISP. The other factor
affecting Internet speed is that backbone speeds may sometimes only reach
500Kbit/sec.
If predictions are accurate Nortel's new 6.4 terabits per
second cable and other similar technology may change all that. In the future
speed will no longer inhibit users from experiencing the Internet to its fullest
capacity.
Jesse Berst, Editorial Director of the ZDNet AnchorDesk
recently reported that marketing research firm RHK predicted that
optical-related networking sales will almost double from $48 billion this year
to $90 billion in 2003.
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