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Thread ID: 138311	2014-11-09 08:09:00	Why do we use phone lines for Broadband?	mzee (3324)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1387838	2014-11-09 08:09:00	I have VDSL coming in at 21Mbps and about 6Mbps out. I have a Skinny cell phone that when used as a modem comes in at 6Mbps. The "faster" VDSL when playing a Video will often stop to recharge the buffer. The "slower" Skinny phone plays them non stop! WHY? Why don't we all use Broadband on Cell phones? They would have to beef up their transmitters and lower the price. Lets face it, most of the phone lines are very old and grotty, I am always surprised that they work at all!	mzee (3324)
1387839	2014-11-09 08:20:00	If you are still getting Buffering at 21, then there's something wrong with the equipment some where. At that speed it should be consistent /Smooth. You are right, copper phone lines are old and to slow, it is amazing some of it still works.	wainuitech (129)
1387840	2014-11-09 09:15:00	"Why do we use phone lines for Broadband?" Because the water pipes just can't handle the bandwidth. Hydraulic morse code is really slow, even with fat pipes. ;)	R2x1 (4628)
1387841	2014-11-09 09:39:00	It's kinda the reason behind the whole ultrafast fibre project that's going on. We use copper because it was already there and the internet evolved from a dial up service and has always used phone lines. Replacing the copper network is a huge and expensive undertaking which is why no one had really started doing it until the government started the utrafast thing (whether you agree with them doing that or not) I think you'll find that "beefing up" the transmitters would be a multibillion dollar operation if you wanted it to perform anything like copper or fibre based broadband. It works pretty good on current technology (I got a 15Mbps speedtest on 4G) but I'm sure part of the reason it's so expensive is because the network just can't support the sort of traffic it's get if it was as cheap as normal broadband. Cell sites haven't had the backhaul capacity of cabinets and exchanges in the past although with 4G that's changing. Still it could go that way in the future. On the other hand, those ancient old copper lines can perform incredibly well when in good condition and connected to a modern fibre fed cabinet. By keeping the line length under 900M speeds of up to 50M and reliable service is entirely possible. I never see buffering on my VDSL connection unless there's a problem at the other end, I can stream HD movies from Googles service or the MS one seamlessly and youtube as well. Maybe you have a bottleneck somewhere upstream of your connection.	dugimodo (138)
1387842	2014-11-09 11:08:00	If you are still getting Buffering at 21, then there's something wrong with the equipment some where. At that speed it should be consistent /Smooth. You are right, copper phone lines are old and to slow, it is amazing some of it still works. Could be a faulty modem/router. I am still using the "INBOX" which is said to have problems. When the winter financial slump is over I may get a new one.	mzee (3324)
1387843	2014-11-09 17:39:00	On the other hand, those ancient old copper lines can perform incredibly well when in good condition and connected to a modern fibre fed cabinet. . Yep, don't knock it....it's been around a long time and look what we do with it now.....remember what it was originally for.	pctek (84)
1387844	2014-11-09 20:33:00	The "faster" VDSL when playing a Video will often stop to recharge the buffer. The "slower" Skinny phone plays them non stop! WHY? Probably the quality of the video. VDSL will probably default to HD video and the mobile to lower quality. As said before, your video shouldn't buffer with that kind of speed.	autechre (266)
1387845	2014-11-09 20:37:00	The "faster" VDSL when playing a Video will often stop to recharge the buffer. The "slower" Skinny phone plays them non stop! WHY? It could be that the ISP supplying your VDSL is hoplessly overloaded, poorly configured or throttled/restricted, or they dont want to buy the required international bandwidth. Could be the ISP screwing the video stream , hence the buffering . ?	1101 (13337)
1387846	2014-11-10 00:24:00	Could be a faulty modem/router. I am still using the "INBOX" which is said to have problems. When the winter financial slump is over I may get a new one. Who are you with - I might have something suitable you could have (for courier costs only)....	johcar (6283)
1387847	2014-11-10 00:51:00	Why don't we all use Broadband on Cell phones? Not everybody is that keen on wireless technology, and many are happy with basic cellphone functions, not wishing to be exposed to RF radiation for everything they do. Abandoning the copper network (in reality simply abandoning the last link to consumer from a fibre based network) would disenfranchise all those people who either can't access wireless or simply don't wish to be tied to cellular providers. My cellphone is used for occasional text messages and a very small number of voice calls. The system is not that far advanced yet anyway, I am barely 10 minutes from the Auckland CBD, a kilometre from our nearest exchange and 100 metres from the nearest roadside cabinet but I still don't have access to broadband any faster than the basic ADSL I've had for the last 9-10 years One size does not fit all. Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
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