Absurdly fast internetconnection - Why the hell for?

[Realitycrash]

Don't be rude?
As I clearly stated, the average person isn't a gamer, and won't be using Steam, not will the average person (as of yet) often buy ANY large file online, at least not where I live, where piracy is pretty everyday.
My point was that even for someone who want to "buy a movie online", 100mbit seems rather overkill, considering how rare it is.

And my point is that it's stupid to assume everyone who wants a big connection is a damned dirty pirate. There's plenty of legit, non-gaming uses for such a connection, and I'd bet good money the majority of people who would want such a tube are perfectly legit with what they download.

Well, honestly, when it comes to the people I know (i.e young men and women), that is pretty much the only reason they would want it (gaming not included).
Sure, there are certainly those who DO use it for other reasons, but I just pointed out that the average use for the average user prooobably isn't buying a movie now and then, or streaming..

Ever heard of Netflix?

Just sayin.

Yes, and A: it isn't available in my country (nor is any similar service that I am aware of) and B; Streaming doesn't seem to be very popular, even for those that are aware of it (again, where I live).
I do hope it catches on, though.

No Netflix in Sweden?

Well regardless, the average net user in most other countries does use some sort of streaming application atleast now and again.

Like I edited into my other post.

That's pretty common these days. So is the use if iPlayer, ITVplayer, 40D, Sky online, itunes, amazon and a whole host of other applications and sites that allow the majority of net users to download and stream movies, music and TV programs.

I'd say about 90% of my friends use atleast 3 of those on a regular basis.

Edit: Also Last FM. I probably use that more than my own music collection these days.

True, there are plenty of streaming going aroind, but how much bandwith does it really take?
I guess some families could potentially use the 'with, but I can stream several things just fine with my old "limited" connection.

 

[Mr Jack]

Demand for bandwidth will go nowhere but up. May as well upgrade now right?
Currently, most people do not require a 100Mbit connection, but streaming, gaming and downloading are becoming more popular all the time. have you considered that many people would stream more content if they were able? On YouTube, even "1080p" videos have a lot of compression to make them stream faster, as does Netflix. As more media is delivered over the internet, higher bandwidth will allow the use of higher fidelity codecs.

 

[Realitycrash]

As far as I know, at least from what I can tell from the people I know, piracy is far more widespread than buying books/music/television online. It might be because of where I live, but in Sweden it is so popular that the government, in order not to alienate young voters, said it wouldn't want to "criminalize a youth-movement" (i.e they called pirating a youth-movement).
So even if it is true that you CAN, I just can't think of that many people (non-gamers) that do buy big files that take time to download.
Of course, there are some. I just can't see the "average internet-user" being one that regulary buys DVD's, music and television. Not here. Not where I live.

It might because of where you live, but it's still hard to deny that digital services have been rising steadily for the last decade and will eventually gain complete prevalence over physical media. Hell, Steam continues to see EXPONENTIAL growth...Oh, wait, you don't count gamers.

Well, that's convenient, I guess. I'm sure that all the other major rises (iTunes, Amazon's download services/cloud, etc) can now all be discounted because they're gamer related or something. It's kind of a "No true scotsman" fallacy in itself.

Sigh. I didn't count gamers because they don't represent even close to a sliver of the population.
All the other causes can fairly be counted with (unless they are equally rare), and even if I agree that it is on the rise, and will probably explode in the future, the average-internet user most likely does not use those services often enough to merit such alarge broadband. Once again, where I live.
However, as has been pointed out, if an entire family uses these services at the same time, it might be warranted.

 

[Jowe]

I guess for people who download all of their games digitally via Steam, D2D, Impulse etc. it's really handy. Also two or three of my friends are in game design and are frequently downloading eachother's work, usually rather large files.

Sure it's situational, but the only reason there isn't an application for it yet is because it's not widespread enough. Once the whole world it operating at these speeds there'll be more uses for the speed.

Wait, Doesn't Steam limit connection speeds to 2 meg, because that's all i got when downloading games, and i have a 14meg connection.

Also, I believe certain sites put a cap on download speeds if I'm not mistaken.

Ok, there is quite a large difference between Mb/s (Megabits per second) and MB/s (Megabytes per second). Mb/s is what most ISP's advertise as their download rates, while steam uses MB/s. the difference between these is to do with how a computer stores information, in strings of eight bits (1's and 0's), which form a Byte, normally in computer storage things are referred to in Bytes. actually forget this

TL;DR : your download speed in things like speedtest.net etc will be about eight times the steam download rate, give or take.

 

[Realitycrash]

Don't be rude?
As I clearly stated, the average person isn't a gamer, and won't be using Steam, not will the average person (as of yet) often buy ANY large file online, at least not where I live, where piracy is pretty everyday.
My point was that even for someone who want to "buy a movie online", 100mbit seems rather overkill, considering how rare it is.

And my point is that it's stupid to assume everyone who wants a big connection is a damned dirty pirate. There's plenty of legit, non-gaming uses for such a connection, and I'd bet good money the majority of people who would want such a tube are perfectly legit with what they download.

Well, honestly, when it comes to the people I know (i.e young men and women), that is pretty much the only reason they would want it (gaming not included).
Sure, there are certainly those who DO use it for other reasons, but I just pointed out that the average use for the average user prooobably isn't buying a movie now and then, or streaming..

Ever heard of Netflix?

Just sayin.

Yes, and A: it isn't available in my country (nor is any similar service that I am aware of) and B; Streaming doesn't seem to be very popular, even for those that are aware of it (again, where I live).
I do hope it catches on, though.

No Netflix in Sweden?

Well regardless, the average net user in most other countries does use some sort of streaming application atleast now and again.

Like I edited into my other post.

That's pretty common these days. So is the use if iPlayer, ITVplayer, 40D, Sky online, itunes, amazon and a whole host of other applications and sites that allow the majority of net users to download and stream movies, music and TV programs.

I'd say about 90% of my friends use atleast 3 of those on a regular basis.

Edit: Also Last FM. I probably use that more than my own music collection these days.

True, there are plenty of streaming going aroind, but how much bandwith does it really take?
I guess some families could potentially use the 'with, but I can stream several things just fine with my old "limited" connection.

I'd say your average family of 4 probably needs atleast 20MB if we assume that at some point they're each going to be streaming something simultaneously.

Even Youtube takes up more than bandwidth than you'd think.

20mb = mbit, or megabyte? I'm getting lost in the terminology.
Well, yeah, an average family of four might need it, but I was confounded over the 100mbit upgrade they did for everyone ^^

 

[MrTub]

Don't be rude?
As I clearly stated, the average person isn't a gamer, and won't be using Steam, not will the average person (as of yet) often buy ANY large file online, at least not where I live, where piracy is pretty everyday.
My point was that even for someone who want to "buy a movie online", 100mbit seems rather overkill, considering how rare it is.

And my point is that it's stupid to assume everyone who wants a big connection is a damned dirty pirate. There's plenty of legit, non-gaming uses for such a connection, and I'd bet good money the majority of people who would want such a tube are perfectly legit with what they download.

Well, honestly, when it comes to the people I know (i.e young men and women), that is pretty much the only reason they would want it (gaming not included).
Sure, there are certainly those who DO use it for other reasons, but I just pointed out that the average use for the average user prooobably isn't buying a movie now and then, or streaming..

Ever heard of Netflix?

Just sayin.

Yes, and A: it isn't available in my country (nor is any similar service that I am aware of) and B; Streaming doesn't seem to be very popular, even for those that are aware of it (again, where I live).
I do hope it catches on, though.

No Netflix in Sweden?

Well regardless, the average net user in most other countries does use some sort of streaming application atleast now and again.

Like I edited into my other post.

That's pretty common these days. So is the use if iPlayer, ITVplayer, 40D, Sky online, itunes, amazon and a whole host of other applications and sites that allow the majority of net users to download and stream movies, music and TV programs.

I'd say about 90% of my friends use atleast 3 of those on a regular basis.

Edit: Also Last FM. I probably use that more than my own music collection these days.

True, there are plenty of streaming going aroind, but how much bandwith does it really take?
I guess some families could potentially use the 'with, but I can stream several things just fine with my old "limited" connection.

I'd say your average family of 4 probably needs atleast 20MB if we assume that at some point they're each going to be streaming something simultaneously.

Even Youtube takes up more than bandwidth than you'd think.

20mb = mbit, or megabyte? I'm getting lost in the terminology.
Well, yeah, an average family of four might need it, but I was confounded over the 100mbit upgrade they did for everyone ^^

The thing is, it cost them close to nothing to upgrade people if they already built the infrastructure so it gives them goodwill with their customers and good publicity.

 

[VladG]

Plenty of reasons to have fast internet. Sharing your connection for one. I have 3 computers in my house and I don't want to be unable to play an MMO because someone else is streaming something. Not waiting 20 hours for a Steam download to finish is nice as well.

OnLive is also a good example why you'd want a better connection. It's an interesting service, especially for those who don't want to invest in a gaming pc, or use a laptop. However the service at this point is very crappy in my opinion. The stream is low quality and even so there's a slight delay (and this with a 100Mb/s connection).

And don't discount downloads either. I sometimes share GB worth of pictures at once, and it's nice to be able to do it in minutes (and still have a usable internet connection)

There's also the matter of convenience. Why do people buy color TV's? You can watch a movie just as well in b/w, but it's a lot nicer if it's color. Same with fast internet.

 

[Realitycrash]

Don't be rude?
As I clearly stated, the average person isn't a gamer, and won't be using Steam, not will the average person (as of yet) often buy ANY large file online, at least not where I live, where piracy is pretty everyday.
My point was that even for someone who want to "buy a movie online", 100mbit seems rather overkill, considering how rare it is.

And my point is that it's stupid to assume everyone who wants a big connection is a damned dirty pirate. There's plenty of legit, non-gaming uses for such a connection, and I'd bet good money the majority of people who would want such a tube are perfectly legit with what they download.

Well, honestly, when it comes to the people I know (i.e young men and women), that is pretty much the only reason they would want it (gaming not included).
Sure, there are certainly those who DO use it for other reasons, but I just pointed out that the average use for the average user prooobably isn't buying a movie now and then, or streaming..

Ever heard of Netflix?

Just sayin.

Yes, and A: it isn't available in my country (nor is any similar service that I am aware of) and B; Streaming doesn't seem to be very popular, even for those that are aware of it (again, where I live).
I do hope it catches on, though.

No Netflix in Sweden?

Well regardless, the average net user in most other countries does use some sort of streaming application atleast now and again.

Like I edited into my other post.

That's pretty common these days. So is the use if iPlayer, ITVplayer, 40D, Sky online, itunes, amazon and a whole host of other applications and sites that allow the majority of net users to download and stream movies, music and TV programs.

I'd say about 90% of my friends use atleast 3 of those on a regular basis.

Edit: Also Last FM. I probably use that more than my own music collection these days.

True, there are plenty of streaming going aroind, but how much bandwith does it really take?
I guess some families could potentially use the 'with, but I can stream several things just fine with my old "limited" connection.

I'd say your average family of 4 probably needs atleast 20MB if we assume that at some point they're each going to be streaming something simultaneously.

Even Youtube takes up more than bandwidth than you'd think.

20mb = mbit, or megabyte? I'm getting lost in the terminology.
Well, yeah, an average family of four might need it, but I was confounded over the 100mbit upgrade they did for everyone ^^

The thing is, it cost them close to nothing to upgrade people if they already built the infrastructure so it gives them goodwill with their customers and good publicity.

Sure, this I know, but it just brings me back to the original "what kind of average person would warrant this upgrade in infrastructure?".
But perhaps cloud-computing will kick-through.

 

[VladG]

I am baffled what uses someone could necessarily see in a 1gig-line, but some people do like the best of the best, no matter if it is necessary (I have a similar friend, actually, but he games online).

Web Hosting. There's just one example for you. I have a friend who hosts a number of sites, servers and so on on his home computer. He earns some cash out of it without having to do anything basically. For that he needs a 1Gb/s connection.

 

[MrTub]

Don't be rude?
As I clearly stated, the average person isn't a gamer, and won't be using Steam, not will the average person (as of yet) often buy ANY large file online, at least not where I live, where piracy is pretty everyday.
My point was that even for someone who want to "buy a movie online", 100mbit seems rather overkill, considering how rare it is.

And my point is that it's stupid to assume everyone who wants a big connection is a damned dirty pirate. There's plenty of legit, non-gaming uses for such a connection, and I'd bet good money the majority of people who would want such a tube are perfectly legit with what they download.

Well, honestly, when it comes to the people I know (i.e young men and women), that is pretty much the only reason they would want it (gaming not included).
Sure, there are certainly those who DO use it for other reasons, but I just pointed out that the average use for the average user prooobably isn't buying a movie now and then, or streaming..

Ever heard of Netflix?

Just sayin.

Yes, and A: it isn't available in my country (nor is any similar service that I am aware of) and B; Streaming doesn't seem to be very popular, even for those that are aware of it (again, where I live).
I do hope it catches on, though.

No Netflix in Sweden?

Well regardless, the average net user in most other countries does use some sort of streaming application atleast now and again.

Like I edited into my other post.

That's pretty common these days. So is the use if iPlayer, ITVplayer, 40D, Sky online, itunes, amazon and a whole host of other applications and sites that allow the majority of net users to download and stream movies, music and TV programs.

I'd say about 90% of my friends use atleast 3 of those on a regular basis.

Edit: Also Last FM. I probably use that more than my own music collection these days.

True, there are plenty of streaming going aroind, but how much bandwith does it really take?
I guess some families could potentially use the 'with, but I can stream several things just fine with my old "limited" connection.

I'd say your average family of 4 probably needs atleast 20MB if we assume that at some point they're each going to be streaming something simultaneously.

Even Youtube takes up more than bandwidth than you'd think.

20mb = mbit, or megabyte? I'm getting lost in the terminology.
Well, yeah, an average family of four might need it, but I was confounded over the 100mbit upgrade they did for everyone ^^

The thing is, it cost them close to nothing to upgrade people if they already built the infrastructure so it gives them goodwill with their customers and good publicity.

Sure, this I know, but it just brings me back to the original "what kind of average person would warrant this upgrade in infrastructure?".
But perhaps cloud-computing will kick-through.

The swedish state recently gave half a billion swedish kr for to expand the infrastructure in Skåne and Im quite certain they are giving it to other places so that might be the reason and I guess its also so they will not loose customers to other companies that are offering 100mbit

http://www.skane.se/sv/Skanes-utveckling/Ansvarsomraden/Infrastruktur/Bredband/Statligt-stod-for-anlaggning-av-kanalisation-for-IT-infrastruktur/

 

[Silas13013]

Well, honestly, when it comes to the people I know (i.e young men and women), that is pretty much the only reason they would want it (gaming not included).
Sure, there are certainly those who DO use it for other reasons, but I just pointed out that the average use for the average user prooobably isn't buying a movie now and then, or streaming..

Prejudice like that is why the majority of us have to put up with shit like SOPA. People assume EVERYONE ON THE INTERNET is a damned dirty pirate, guilty until proven innocent comes into play, and it's a huge clusterfuck.



Like I said, it's stupid to assume that everyone who wants that large a connection is a pirate. Just because your friends are pirates doesn't mean everyone else is.

No, not everyone, but as I stated: I am an avid online gamer, and I did just fine with my 25mbit line. More than fine, actually. It was smooth. I questioned that the hell an average, non-online gamer would ever need with a 100mbit line, especially since buying books, music and movies aren't that widespread, and ESPECIALLY since it seems to be fairly quick either way (though people do tend to complain no matter how short the timespan is).

Just because you don't seem to understand everyone is not you, doesn't mean that people do not utilize more than that. my neighbor has a 50Mb/s connection. Not a single one of them games past some flash games on newgrounds. They very frequently max bandwidth with multiple streaming movies however. I understand that living alone might give you the idea that everyone has the same internet consumption but that simply is not the case.

tl;dr Not everyone uses your level of internet consumption, that's why.

 

[VladG]

You know, I can imagine that if you have say a family of four, all using the internet at the same time, streaming/gaming, it would slow things to a crawl. Perhaps I just haven't experienced many people using such services at the same time, especially streaming. I honestly don't think it has caught on with the wider public so much that an average-family does it at the same time.

Really? You've never seen multiple people use Youtube at the same time? That is streaming. It's also very bandwith intensive if you go over 480p.

 

[Justanewguy]

*snip*

Two words. Streaming Porn.

Actually, come to think of it, I don't know where you live, but I don't know of ANYONE who doesn't stream movies or music. I could see my family easily being on Pandora on their computers, watching a movie on netflix off the wii, and playing a video game on the xbox, all at approximately the same time. A family of four may have less needs, but I can't think of anyone who isn't streaming regularly. So, in essence, you're wrong. I don't know who you hang out with, but streaming definitely IS popular enough to require more bandwidth nowadays.

 

[Realitycrash]

Don't be rude?
As I clearly stated, the average person isn't a gamer, and won't be using Steam, not will the average person (as of yet) often buy ANY large file online, at least not where I live, where piracy is pretty everyday.
My point was that even for someone who want to "buy a movie online", 100mbit seems rather overkill, considering how rare it is.

And my point is that it's stupid to assume everyone who wants a big connection is a damned dirty pirate. There's plenty of legit, non-gaming uses for such a connection, and I'd bet good money the majority of people who would want such a tube are perfectly legit with what they download.

Well, honestly, when it comes to the people I know (i.e young men and women), that is pretty much the only reason they would want it (gaming not included).
Sure, there are certainly those who DO use it for other reasons, but I just pointed out that the average use for the average user prooobably isn't buying a movie now and then, or streaming..

Ever heard of Netflix?

Just sayin.

Yes, and A: it isn't available in my country (nor is any similar service that I am aware of) and B; Streaming doesn't seem to be very popular, even for those that are aware of it (again, where I live).
I do hope it catches on, though.

No Netflix in Sweden?

Well regardless, the average net user in most other countries does use some sort of streaming application atleast now and again.

Like I edited into my other post.

That's pretty common these days. So is the use if iPlayer, ITVplayer, 40D, Sky online, itunes, amazon and a whole host of other applications and sites that allow the majority of net users to download and stream movies, music and TV programs.

I'd say about 90% of my friends use atleast 3 of those on a regular basis.

Edit: Also Last FM. I probably use that more than my own music collection these days.

True, there are plenty of streaming going aroind, but how much bandwith does it really take?
I guess some families could potentially use the 'with, but I can stream several things just fine with my old "limited" connection.

I'd say your average family of 4 probably needs atleast 20MB if we assume that at some point they're each going to be streaming something simultaneously.

Even Youtube takes up more than bandwidth than you'd think.

20mb = mbit, or megabyte? I'm getting lost in the terminology.
Well, yeah, an average family of four might need it, but I was confounded over the 100mbit upgrade they did for everyone ^^

Megabytes. I've never actually heard of a provider selling megabits before. Maybe it's just a US to UK thing. Like the OP said, the US is pretty notorious for bad network infrastructure.

But yea, 100 Mbits is what... about 13 Mbytes? So that's less than what I'm getting. Granted there's 5 people in our family. But I'd say there's only 3 of us that regularly net dive. And we usually stream on one device if we're going to do it.

Usually through Netflix on the PS3 in the living room. Good way to watch movies together.

Alrighty! I guess a large family can have need of it.

 

[VladG]

Sure, this I know, but it just brings me back to the original "what kind of average person would warrant this upgrade in infrastructure?".
But perhaps cloud-computing will kick-through.

We're not even talking cloud-computing here. When that kicks through, the 100mb/s connection will be inadequate.

 

[Mafoobula]

People generally don't appreciate what they have until it's gone. I was used to some pretty damn good Internet, but now I'm stuck with this piss-poor connection. When I get my very own connection, you'd best believe I'm going to fork out for the speed. I have a crap-ton of games and DLC to download, HD video streaming, and yes, online gaming. My first couple weeks with mach 2 high speed Internet, you'd best believe I'm going to make full use of it.
Besides, I'm just used to having the good stuff. $3,200 laptop and all that, of course I'm going to pay for the top-notch Internet.

 

[McMullen]

Alright, I'm aware that the US has some rather (extremely) crappy broadband infrastructure, so I can see why you would want somewhat faster and cheaper, but bear with me.

Erhm. So my broadband-provider called today out of the blue and asked me if I was pleased with my current service (25mbit/sec for 29Ea month, around 38 USD or so). I confirmed that I was, and braced myself to ignore a pointless salespitch. Well, the pitch didn't come. Instead, the man in the phone said that they would be upgrading me to 100mbit/sec, four times as fast, if I just signed up on their website and confirmed.
"What's the catch?" I asked.
- "No catch, we're just upgrading our infrastructure and your apartment-building happens to be one of the first to have it installed. It's the same price as before.
" Uh, so 100/mbit a sec for 30E?"
- "Yes."
-" Okeeey..."

After I hung up, I started thinking. "Why the hell would I ever need this?"
I could come up with two reasons anyone would ever need that fast a connection in our current world.
1: They really, really love their online games, and can't handle the tiniest of lag.
Sure, I used to play a shitloads of WoW, and lag bugged me to no end, but with my 25mbit/sec connection, the only time I ever truely lagged seemed to be when the servers were overloaded. So in fact, even if I had a 1000mbit/sec, it wouldn't help me if the servers couldn't handle the traffic.
2: Downloading stuff. I.e pirating stuff. That's the sole reason I could think of anyone ever needing faster than what I already had. I already load everything online in an instant unless the servers are heavily taxed (*cough* Escapist on Wednesday *cough*), even online streaming is perfectly smooth. The only time something lags for me is due to my computer getting a bit old and can't process things fast enough. So this is most likely the same for everyone else in my area, right?
So pretty much my broadband-provider is encouraging me to download stuff (meaning pirate, in most cases. How often do you otherwise really download things that take any considerable amount of time? When downloading from Steam, perhaps), and that seems to be their entire selling-point.
"Go fast, go bigger!"
- "Uh, why?"
- "Well..Eh..Makes getting that latest Game of Thrones DVD a lot smoother!"

Now I'm not complaining that I got it for free, I just wonder what the hell ordinary people would ever use it for, and thus why the insane rush to upgrade an infrastructure that most already aren't using to their full potential as it is. I get that it is a marketing-strategy ("We got the fastet and cheapest!"), but hell, this just feels redundant, especially since most people don't play online games anyway!


(And oh, I live in Sweden, if you want to know)

I love how so many people immediately assume that the only reason to have massive bandwidth is for illegal purposes.

I spend quite a bit of time waiting for my illustrations and animations to upload to my client's servers, or downloading multi-gig datasets from NASA, NOAA, and USGS, and my bandwidth is already well above average for my provider.

 

[Adam Prescott]

For those posting from the UK, everything is advertised in Mb = megabits, not MB which is megabytes. To download a film (around 700 MB) on a 100Mb connection would take around 60 seconds (give or take). That is 1 min which is at the minute more than enough.

However for those people discussing lag, after you have 5-10Mb connection per computer then increasing the Mb per second connection has absolutely no effect on online gaming experience (excluding services like Onlive). The reason for this is it doesnt matter how much information you can get at one time if it takes a long time to go across the internet. For example if your connection was 100Mb then you could get 100Mb of information every second but that is no good if that information was sent 2 seconds ago because you would be behind everyone else. This is where ping comes in. A low ping <25 means that the information is arriving with you at almost exactly the same time as it was sent from someone else, hence reducing lag.

 

[MrTub]

For those posting from the UK, everything is advertised in Mb = megabits, not MB which is megabytes. To download a film (around 700 MB) on a 100Mb connection would take around 600 seconds (give or take). That is 10 mins which is quick but not instantaneous.

Moreover for those people discussing lag, after you have 5-10Mb connection per computer then increasing the Mb per second connection has absolutely no effect on online gaming experience (excluding services like Onlive). The reason for this is it doesnt matter how much information you can get at one time if it takes a long time to go across the internet. For example if your connection was 100Mb then you could get 100Mb of information every second but that is no good if that information was sent 2 seconds ago because you would be behind everyone else. This is where ping comes in. A low ping <25 means that the information is arriving with you at almost exactly the same time as it was sent from someone else, hence reducing lag.

Actually it would takes around 63 seconds since with 100Mbit/s you will download at around 11.1Mbyte/s which means 10seconds =111Megabyte
700MB/11= 63

 

[Adam Prescott]

yes i saw it immediately, (early morning arithmetic error)