Median download speed Japan: 63 mbps [sic] !!!

[logos34]

The median download speed in the U.S. is 2.35 Mbps. Densely populated Japan has an eye-popping 63.60 Mbps, according to figures from the (http://www.itif.org/) Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. (http://www.itif.org/)

http://www.informationweek.com/news/telecom/policy/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210002769



For all U.S. readers, doesn't this just make you sick? I know I am.

Especially when you consider how much less everyone else (Koreans, French, etc.) seem to be paying for relatively lightning-speed service (+20 mbps).

USA is a HUGE RIPOFF! WE ARE GETTING ROYALLY FLEECED AND JUST TAKING IT LYING DOWN (along with sky-high energy prices, wage stagnation, etc. etc.) THANK YOU MONOPOLY TELECOM GIANTS! THANK YOU CONGRESS.

LET ME OUT OUT OF THIS PLACE! (But I still love the natural scenery in this country--what's left of it).

[Masoris]

My internet has 95mbps upload and download speed. And I pay for about 25$ USD per month.
I think it is passable because South Korea and Japan has more internet user per same area than other country. It allow to install internet with shouter cable length and lower cost.
I wonder that is internet expensive and slow even in a metropolitan city in U.S.?

[lzfy]

I pay 20 euros for a 20 mbit line. I can't complain.

[billgoldberg]

I pay 20 euros for a 20 mbit line. I can't complain.

Damn you.

I pay 60 euros for 12mbit (in reality only aroun 7mbit) line and a 60gb traffic limit.

I must say that I never had any problems at all with my connection.

[geoken]

It's a trade-off. A large part of their internet speed is due to a population density which eclipses that of the U.S.

[logos34]

My internet has 95mbps upload and download speed. And I pay for about 25$ USD per month.

see, just what I was talking about.

I'm happy for you, but 95 mbps? Jeez, you've made me even sicker :cry:



I wonder that is internet expensive and slow even in a metropolitan city in U.S.?

Because we have GIANT corporations that control every f***ing thing in this country--including 'our' elected representatives. No oversight, no regulation, everything PRIVATIZED, nothing but HUGE profits for crappy service at sky-high prices. American capital wants MASSIVE profits YESTERDAY, unlike other countries where there is still some restraint, an ethic of long-term investment at reasonable rates of return, and social responsiblility to provide public sector infrastructure so everyone, not just the affluent, can participate.

[aaaantoine]

Yeah, we have crappy connections, and we pay a crapload for them.

This may be a problem for the people who want to watch several HD movies back to back that they've Bit Torrented from the net, but I don't really have a need for that much speed. YouTube is probably the most bandwidth-demanding page I visit.

Just 10 years ago when I started using the Internet (holy crap, has it been 10 years?), it would take all night to download the 50MB demo for Diablo. These days I can download a 700MB Ubuntu ISO in 15-20 minutes, and I have no problem with that rate of progress.

Granted, I'm not paying for the connection myself, so my response is invalid.

[doorknob60]

Meh, I (well my parents :-D) pay like $37/month for 8 mbps...we could get 16 mpbs for more...I guess this explains it best:

http://i33.tinypic.com/ezrgpd.png

We have the bronze, I'm satisfied with the speed, I certainly don't need 63 mbps (but it would own) but the price should be a lot lower... EDIT: We get the bundled rate cuz we get digital cable and phone from them too.

[blazercist]

I pay $40 for 20Mbps/5Mbps in NYC, I got the "boost" package, its the fastest internet I've heard of at this price. Verizon Fios is supposed to be 50Mbps down 20Mbps up but the don't have it in my zipcode yet and I've heard the 50Mbps package is very expensive.

I also heard rumors a year or two ago that Cablevision was going to drop 100/100Mbps lines on everyone, but I have no evidence and the source wasn't extremely credible either.

[timzak]

Yeah, we have crappy connections, and we pay a crapload for them.

This may be a problem for the people who want to watch several HD movies back to back that they've Bit Torrented from the net, but I don't really have a need for that much speed. YouTube is probably the most bandwidth-demanding page I visit.

Just 10 years ago when I started using the Internet (holy crap, has it been 10 years?), it would take all night to download the 50MB demo for Diablo. These days I can download a 700MB Ubuntu ISO in 15-20 minutes, and I have no problem with that rate of progress.

Granted, I'm not paying for the connection myself, so my response is invalid.

I agree. I'm more than happy with my 10 megabit connection that probably averages 5-7 megabit in reality. I only ever really benefit from the speed when downloading other distros to try out. I'm not jealous or envious at all for the download speeds the Japanese receive.

People have a way of basing their happiness on how much better they have it than the next person. When someone comes along with a bigger, better, faster WHATEVER, suddenly we go from happy to bitter and angry.

[logos34]

I agree. I'm more than happy with my 10 megabit connection that probably averages 5-7 megabit in reality. I only ever really benefit from the speed when downloading other distros to try out. I'm not jealous or envious at all for the download speeds the Japanese receive.

People have a way of basing their happiness on how much better they have it than the next person. When someone comes along with a bigger, better, faster WHATEVER, suddenly we go from happy to bitter and angry.

I wish I could say 'speak for yourself', but apparently there are quite a few people 'satisfied' with their relatively slow service.

The issue here (at least in my mind) is: WHY are we here in the U.S.--the place, after all, that invented the internet, for chrissake (and remember it was taxpayer dollars to DOD's ARPA project that gave birth to it)--paying so much for relatively crappy download speeds? We are the leading industrialized country with pretty high median standard of living (but the stats are somewhat misleading due to the superrich class--another story) and lots of huge suburban concentrations of population, even the rural areas (except alaska) are not that far off the beaten track (unlike parts of China or Russia). Why oh why is even Rhode Island way, WAY BELOW some other countries--countries that were, moreover, devastated by war only half century ago to boot--i.e. Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, etc.? Doesn't that strike anybody as ironic?

The issue is quality of service and value. We could have the best infrastructure in the world providing affordable, high-qualilty (i.e. fast) service to virtually everyone, like other parts of the globe. But no, we have a handful of megacorporations with a stranglehold on the fiberoptic pipelines who are always bitching about the increasing bandwidth demands. And they charge outrageously even for crappy dial-up.

I'm in the same boatload as the rest of you--I don't download HD movies, I hardly watch YouTube, which is a complete waste of time, but it would be nice to be able to dl, say, a 700 MB linux .iso in a few minutes as opposed to 90 minutes or whatever. And just think how much more inclined windows users would be to download a linux distro if they had really fast internet and could get it along with all the updates in the blink of an eye?

So, I just don't understand the reasoning of those who say they are satisfied with the status quo.

You could have it so much better...

[Darkhack]

The real sad thing is how this was one of the biggest scandals in US history, but was hardly even mentioned in mainstream news.

The United States gave the telecoms $200 billion (about $2000 per household) to have a fiber optic network completed. The agreement stated that by 2006, 86 million households should have had a service capable of 45 Mbps in both directions, (to and from the customer) could handle over 500 channels of high quality video and be deployed in rural, urban and suburban areas equally. And these networks were open to ALL competition.

http://www.saschameinrath.com/2006jan31the_200_billion_broadband_scandal_aka_whe res_my_45mb_i_already_paid_for_it

2006 came and went and absolutely nothing happened; not a single line laid. In other words. They stole the money. They stole $200 billion from the United States government. You're probably thinking, "They sure must be in a lot of trouble", but you'd be wrong. They stole $200 billion and got away with it. The government let it pass. Very few media outlets covered the story (AFAIK, none of them were mainstream outlets either).

Steal $200 billion and you're golden. I guess our nation is more concerned over the 'real' issues like gay marriage, the war or terrorism, and the war on drugs. Not those stupid things like our nation's infrastructure or education.

[logos34]

The real sad thing is how this was one of the biggest scandals in US history, but was hardly even mentioned in mainstream news.

...

http://www.saschameinrath.com/2006jan31the_200_billion_broadband_scandal_aka_whe res_my_45mb_i_already_paid_for_it



wow, I have to confess I didn't know the details...been reading more here. (http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html) I used to be a policy wonk on a number of issues, believe it or not, but I just gave up a few years ago, totally worn out...scandal and greed on an epic scale wherever you look (iraq war, health care, congressional pork barrel spending, on and on ad infinitum) and no one gives a sh*t, they'd rather be watching Star Search on their nice new FPTVs inside their sub-prime mortgaged homes...the Telecom act of '96 was a scandal at the time--again, hardly covered by the MSM, and hardly surprising given they stood to gain so much by it. To think that Bob Dole, a Repub, was one of the few to oppose it.

i'm really ranting today and i don't care

[happysmileman]

I pay 20 euros for a 20 mbit line. I can't complain.


I pay 20 or 25 euros (can't remember which) for 512kbps.

Ireland FTL

[Zeotronic]

I'm shelling out $60 a month for less than a megabit per second... with additional restrictions. There's simply nothing else in the area, its horrible. I'd run the line myself (to get ANYTHING ELSE), but I doubt they'd accept it.

[ghindo]

It's incredibly ignorant to compare Japan's infrastructure to the US's infrastructure without compensating for things like population density, terrain, existing infrastructure, how much of the tab is picked up by the gov't, etc. This thread seems largely like a knee-jerk reaction.

This thread really belongs in OMG [color] PONIES

[logos34]

It's incredibly ignorant not to actually read the thread one is responding to...As has been stated, the problem is not just Japan vs. the U.S.--many other countries have much better service than Americans at a fraction of the cost. The geographical question doesn't hold up, as even the most densely-populated sections of the eastern U.S. seaboard don't come anywhere even close to what other countries have.

[ghindo]

It's incredibly ignorant not to actually read the thread one is responding to...As has been stated, the problem is not just Japan vs. the U.S.--many other countries have much better service than Americans at a fraction of the cost. The geographical question doesn't hold up, as even the most densely-populated sections of the eastern U.S. seaboard don't come anywhere even close to what other countries have.I read the whole thread. Nice try. The points I made in my post still apply to other countries as well.

[Icehuck]

It's incredibly ignorant to compare Japan's infrastructure to the US's infrastructure without compensating for things like population density, terrain, existing infrastructure, how much of the tab is picked up by the gov't, etc. This thread seems largely like a knee-jerk reaction.

This thread really belongs in OMG [color] PONIES

They are giving FIBER connections to users for $50 and giving you 10 mb connection. At what point do you want to stop making excuses and actually admit there is a problem?

[K.Mandla]

25Mbps down, 20Mbps up for roughly US$30 a month.

When I lived in the U.S., I thought $55 a month for cable broadband was a good deal. I'd never live there again.

[Biochem]

25Mbps down, 20Mbps up for roughly US$30 a month.

When I lived in the U.S., I thought $55 a month for cable broadband was a good deal. I'd never live there again.

I pay 50$ for unlimited 6Mbps dowload and 0,8Mbps upload :(

It takes for ever to transfer my data from the university...

So I looked around for somthing with more upload speed. A 3Mbps bidirectional was more than 200$

I can say in all honesty that I'm very jealous.

[yatt]

I pay 50$ for unlimited 6Mbps dowload and 0,8Mbps upload :(

It takes for ever to transfer my data from the university...

So I looked around for somthing with more upload speed. A 3Mbps bidirectional was more than 200$

I can say in all honesty that I'm very jealous.
I think 5Mbps is the fastest available here in Vancouver (for about $50 per month too).

However, I used to live in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Its the center of the oil fields, and is about 5 hours away from a village with more than 10,000 people, and could get 10Mbps for $40.

I don't pretend to understand.

[ghindo]

They are giving FIBER connections to users for $50 and giving you 10 mb connection. At what point do you want to stop making excuses and actually admit there is a problem?Did I ever say that there wasn't a problem? The US obviously lags behind in internet performance, but that doesn't mean making such ignorant comparisons will do anything to solve the problem, or even create a constructive dialogue.

[ghindo]

Slashdot just had an interesting article/discussion relevant to this thread, so I thought I'd share:

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/13/1648211

[the_darkside_986]

Japan... isn't that the same country where someone was arrested just for writing software of anonymous P2P. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/10/winny_founder_arrested/

Not sure if I would trade more speed for less freedom.

[zmjjmz]

For all U.S. readers, doesn't this just make you sick?
It makes me want to move to Japan.

[BrokeBody]

Oh, look who's all complaining here. :D

I pay €50 for 1Mbps download and 512Kbps upload. :(

[ACMiller]

The US definately isn't the worst around. Here in South Africa, I pay the equivalent to about US$70 a month for a 384kbps line with a maximum monthly download of 2gigs of data! I'd definately swap that anyday for a 2mbps line with no download limit at half the price!

There was an article out in a newspaper here a while ago saying how it would be cheaper and much faster for a South African to fly to Japan, set up an internet connection and download 100gigs of data and then fly back, than stay at home here and use our own internet to download it... Proof that jets can fly faster than the internet!

[timzak]

It makes me want to move to Japan.

Faster internet is no reason to walk out on your country. If it is that important, than you might want to reexamine your priorities.

[logos34]

Faster internet is no reason to walk out on your country. If it is that important, than you might want to reexamine your priorities.

relax, I highly doubt zmjjmz is seriously considering moving abroad over that

[zmjjmz]

relax, I highly doubt zmjjmz is seriously considering moving abroad over that

Actually, I've been studying Japanese for a while...


EDIT: But no seriously, I'm still a minor, so moving to Japan wouldn't be all that easy.

[piousp]

You think thats bad??

Here in Costa Rica, i pay $15 for just a mere 256KBps!!!
Now i'm sick!

[barbedsaber]

$80 AU per month (about 80 US)
20 gig up, 20 down
about this one time it got to 1.2mbps, normally about 700kbps
its down about 10 hours a week.

[sonofusion82]

in Malaysia, I am paying MYR60 (approx. USD18 ) for 384kbps down/128kbps up ADSL line.

on average, i m getting much less. it takes me almost 1 week to download a kubuntu CD ISO
talk about sick!

[Erik Trybom]

I have 100 MB down, 10 MB up ethernet in my apartment. 228 Swedish crowns per month equals 24.27 euros or 36.13 US dollars in today's rate. No download limit.

I think it's a good price for a good service, but they actually raised the rent (slightly) for all tenants when they installed the cables. A few of my neighbours were quite pissed about that, going as far as writing a protest list. I didn't sign it though and, luckily for me, it didn't do any good.

[SupaSonic]

About 30$ for 4 Mbps up and down, Estonia. I can't say I need more. My connection is mostly idle anyway.