[NCLUG] Re: DSL Throttling or General Congestion?

[Brian Wood]

DJ Eshelman wrote:
> Heh.
> 
> Not to mention that the 'ping times' reported in most games aren't even
> a very good metric to begin with.  If you can't see the packet size, TTL
> and other data, it's impossible to determine latency.

I'm sure it was added to amuse the gamers, not for any valid technical
reason.

Perhaps I'm a bit biased against the gamer types, but what can you say
when somebody tells you his machine is running much faster since he
installed the 750-watt power supply ??? "It only had 400 before, now it
runs much better".

I suppose if I had spent that much money I might be able to convince
myself that I had not wasted it :-)

But it does point out a problem: there are few tools out there that can
really tell you what's going on with your network connection. Between
fantastic claims by the cable companies and telco, who will then hide
behind the "up to" language in the contract, and the impossibility of
getting any real technical info from the provider it can be a real problem.

DSL and Cable modems were both designed for the consumer user, the fact
that they are good enough to work for some commercial applications is
actually bad, as it gives the accountants an excuse to not buy what they
really need.

But T1 prices are coming down, though certainly not to DSL prices.

beww


beww