One of our own, a Brit – John Oliver, makes the case very persuasively on Late Night Tv in the States – if a bit foul-mouthed and OTT in places – so this balances up the Cisco video I shared with you in the blog post. They would of course want a fast lane, so that they can make more money from the communications companies by selling more kit. Then of course the big players (Amazon, Netflix) want Net Neutrality for a completely different set of commercial reasons – reducing their costs. So where business is involved, the argument is skewed by whatever camp you are in – communications company (network equipment or ISP), or information provider. However the balance of the argument goes in favour of Net Neutrality because a) this is a form of control that is not for the benefit of the consumer – it takes the pressure off the cable companies to improve their overall level of service, b) the consumer hasn’t asked for it – the market is rigged against us in any case in terms of the level of service provided by our ISPs, and c) this was the way the Internet was designed, by a Brit and by academics, and this is the way it should stay.
Loads of discussion about Broadband speeds, WiFi routers (their type and security), and extenders or boosters.
[Health warning: some of the links in this post may not be reachable.]
A lot to cover here. I’ll try and make it as readable as possible.
We found a great variety in the broadband speeds being experienced by members, but not surprisingly the best performance was obtained from those using BT fibre connections to the Cabinet at the bottom of the road (provided by a lot of Internet Service Providers – ISPs), or those using VirginMedia which delivers fibre to the property. I mentioned that it’s important to record your interest in having a VirginMedia Fibre Connection to Virgin – that’s how you’ll influence their infrastructure build.
[I was asked how much my VirginMedia connection cost. It’s difficult to provide a definitive figure as it’s bundled together with TV Services which includes a HD Recording Box. So £100.22 a month includes £50-£60 of TV services, I would guess.]Follow this link to get a better idea of what you might have to pay …
http://www.virginmedia.com/shop.html
The question of whether one had a ‘n’ or an ‘ac’ router was asked. I promised to research that. Here’s a link that explains the difference between the protocols and when they’re most appropriate.
http://homenetworkadmin.com/wireless-b-vs-g-vs-n-vs-ac-difference/
It’s important to remember that the same protocol needs to be used at both ends (router and device) so it will always be the slowest and usually oldest protocol that a router-device connection defaults to. Often however a router can operate in more than one mode, so you need to look at your router to see whether you have to configure this. For instance my routers allow me to connect at 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz (these are the wireless bands,). These are different from the channels which we discussed before and which I wrote about under flaky WiFi.
I’m afraid I can’t find a definitive way of finding which of ‘b’, ‘g’, ‘n’ or ‘ac’ a router is operating in. This article and the links it has should tell you a bit more about your home network.
http://lifehacker.com/5830886/know-your-network-lesson-1-router-hardware-101
It also covers WiFi security and snooping, which is not a problem if you use the most secure protocols, eg WPA-2.
Then there was a discussion on WiFi extenders and boosters. Essentially, from what I’ve read, a booster is a device that receives your WiFi signal from the router using WiFi and amplifies it to allow you to be further away from the router. A booster will often work by using the electric power circuit of your house (as long as it’s a single fusebox) to connect Ethernet over Power devices – sometimes called PowerNet. The equipment I use is from TRENDnet, called Powerline adaptors, and I purchased from Amazon. Here’s what I purchased in June 2015 …
… it gives me WiFi in the kitchen as well as a wired connection there, if I wanted it. I could connect up to 8 Powerline devices through the electrical mains.
That’s about it. I think I need a glass of whisky!!