Broadband Speeds Under Scrutiny
A British computer magazine recently conducted research in Britain, comparing advertised connection speeds with actual results. Some 3000 volunteers had their connection speed monitored, and most were surprised by the results. Most of volunteers had an advertised connection of 8mbps, but few every got a connection better than half of that. Researchers found that the words “speeds of up to” for advertisements were in fine print, covering up their exaggeration. About 28% of the volunteers never recieved a better connection than 2mbps! Since we just covered internet connection at the last lecture, I found this very interesting. One would think that the connections would be better (especially if advertised as such). I would understand if dial up connections or some DSL connections were trumped up a little, but saying that a 2mb connection is 8mb is ridiculous! If you want to see the technical data, here’s the article.
John Goldner