Comparing Wi-Fi 6E Gateways: Netgear vs. Asus

In the last post we shared some preliminary impressions of Wi-Fi 6E vs. Wi-Fi 6. 6E is identical to 6 except that 6E uses the 6GHz frequency band while 6…

June 10, 2021 0

The Internet Works Fine for Those Who Have It

It behooves us to be realistic, to assess facts honestly, and to avoid rushing to solve non-existent problems while real needs remain unaddressed. The Internet works fine for those of us who have it, but it doesn’t work at all for the rest of us.

May 11, 2020 0

Dave Belson on Internet Reliability

[powerpress] Long time fans of the High Tech Forum will know Dave Belson as the author of the Akamai State of the Internet reports and previous podcast guest. This research…

October 16, 2019 0

OTI United States of Broadband Map is Fake News

US broadband is nothing to sneer at, as all of us who have taken the time to study it in depth are happy to say. Alternative fact reports targeted at naive journalists have the potential to do serious harm, so I would encourage anyone who finds OTI’s United States of Broadband remotely credible to dig a little deeper before firing off clickbait headlines. You might be a victim of fake news.

July 25, 2019 0

Underestimating Rural Broadband Coverage

Is it justifiable to misrepresent the facts (to lie, actually) in order provoke a legislative reaction that improves rural life?

June 22, 2019 0

Wireless ISPs Manage Video Streams Under High Load

The Wehe data doesn’t tell us whether the observed behavior is consistent with company disclosures or general net neutrality conventions. While we don’t expect legal opinions from network performance scholars, it’s important to know more about the triggers of network management. 

September 5, 2018 0

Magical Reasoning About Title II Regulation

The trouble with 477 is that providers can only report on the areas they cover, while the real questions are about the areas they don’t. It may be that the best way to get the data we need is through the Census. It deserves some investigation even though Pallone and Doyle didn’t raise the question.

May 9, 2018 0

Actually, 5G May Be Under-Hyped

So yes, 5G is over-hyped the same way that all breakthrough technologies are over-hyped. The market will ultimately shape it, and we will also find new applications that the marketing folks do not anticipate yet. So in that sense, 5G is also under-hyped, just as breakthrough technologies always are.

March 1, 2018 0

2018 Broadband Deployment Report

After flirting with some major restructuring in the way broadband progress is assessed in the US, Chairman Pai has released a fact sheet that maintains the analytical status quo with…

January 19, 2018 0
Before the broadband benchmark is adjusted again, the FCC really does need to lay out a methodology for coming up with the numbers. It appears than the 25/3 standard was driven by the desire of Netflix to stream 4K video everywhere.

Community Broadband is Cheaper – and Slower

A recent study by the Berkman Klein Center shows that publicly-funded broadband networks are cheaper – but slower – than those built with private capital. On average, consumers who buy broadband service from a government provider pay $10 per month less than those who patronize commercial providers, but their download speeds are close to 7 Mbps slower.

January 16, 2018 0