RSSTime Warner Cable tests something like 'Powerboost'
By Tim Conneally | Published June 25, 2008, 5:05 PM
Unconfirmed reports have surfaced that Time Warner Cable has begun testing technologies providing a Comcast-like "powerboost" to the beginning portions of file transfers.
Comcast's Powerboost is an initial burst of bandwidth for large uploads and downloads, offering as much as double the regular connection speed.
Cable companies Cox and Shaw both license the technology, and Broadband Reports found out from a "company insider" that Time Warner Cable could be the next to adopt this technique.
Though it is unclear whether it will be a license of Comcast's Powerboost technology or the company's own solution providing similar results, the ISP is reported to be testing in select upstate New York markets, delivering as fast as 16 Mbps boosts in areas that typically get 3 and 5 Mbps.
This has not been confirmed as a fact from officials, but it would fit with recent tests from both Comcast and Time Warner Cable examining methods of controlling bandwidth consumption. In a test market in Beaumont, Texas, TWC has put monthly usage allowances on users, with a dollar-per-gigabyte overage charge. Comcast has announced plans for establishing peak and off-peak hours for usage limitations.
AT&T could enact similar limitations, recently saying that it is considering usage-based pricing, where the more consumptive downloaders get hit with additional fees.
Will these Powerboosts trump or be limited by the throttling polices in place at Comcast to punish customers who use video streaming services from Netflix and other companies?
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|Im stuck with TWC because Im to far away from the office to get DSL. (That was the excuse I was given when I called up Verizon). So its TWC or dial up for me. And with 4 people using the internet in the house dial-up is a joke.
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|IME a streaming video needs to have the next ten
seconds buffered on the machine that is playing
it.
For higher bit rate vids this can be time con-
suming.
Sounds like they are trying to overcome the 2nd
reason I don't bother with streamed content.
(First reason: Is nothing I want that I can't get
more easily.)
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|What is the point of this gimmick? Why not just make the average transfer speed higher?
Is it so that TWC can now give a higher "up to" number for their bandwidth advertisements without really providing that much more bandwidth?
Is it because people don't realize that making the first 25% of a download 2x faster is exactly the same as making all connections 25% faster all of the time? Except that if you make _all_ connections 25% faster all of the time it's actually genuinely better service?
Is it because this makes the (false) argument for traffic sniffing and shaping so that they can use this to justify BitTorrent traffic shaping?
I'm confused.
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|I was given Time Warner "Turbo" upgrade service free for a year.
Even got 1.75mps on Usenet, which TW leases. Time Warner has since done away with Usenet nationwide, to comply with NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo campaign to stop kiddie porn. 88 newsgroups had some sort of kiddie porn on them, last count of this Usenet, there were over 68,000 groups, I'm sure they did to keep our kids safe.
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|I also have noticed this the last couple months. We also only have TWC, other than slow-mo Verizon DSL.
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|At least now I know why bigger downloads in the last 2 (or so) month started to stall after coming in nicely at first.
I just wish I could get rid of TWC but apparently there is no other cable service available here
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