Computer Tips, Home Networks - TVs, Online, & Computers, Online, Online Video »

From www.speedtest.net; Shows my wifi speed is only 34 Mb/s and should be 60 Mb/s. Note how fast files download in box upper left.

I’m all for fast internet.  My local provider, BendBroadband, offers us 60 Mb/s download.  Let’s compare that to what most people can get now.  (Note: these are not scientific, they are based on my experience having had these speeds and tested it out extensively.) DSL offers 1 to 6 Mb/s. (Megabits per second) The speed of your internet connection determines how fast the data loads on your computer–that is, how fast does a page with lots of pictures show up or how fast movies start to (and continue to) play from online on your computer.

At 1Mb/s, you can’t really even stream Netflix movies from online.  That usually takes a minimum of 2 Mb/s and does better closer to 5 Mb/s.  At lower internet speeds, you have to wait while the movie “buffers,” –downloads the movie to the device that is playing the “Watch Instantly” movie that comes with most Netflix subscriptions.  When you see that buffering notice, you have to wait until more of the movie loads until  it will continue playing. At those speeds, it can be annoying watching a movie or TV show at an online site.

Once you reach speeds of 10 Mb/s or more, you can start watching High Definition videos with relatively little interruption.  Moving up to 20 Mb/s,  websites load almost instantly and there are few buffer problems.  At 20 Mb/s, it is pretty fast to download a high definition movie you have bought or rented from an online service.  At 60 Mb/s (the speed I have now), there is rarely buffering of video (if there is, it’s because the website can’t deliver it as fast as I can get it), and I can, in many cases, download a high definition movie in under 15 minutes.

Now, Google has announced that they want to deliver high speed internet to homes competing with cable and satellite internet providers and DSL.  They are claiming that they can give you 1 Gb/s.  That’s a Gigabit per second or 1,000 Mb/s (compare that to 1 Mb/s or even the not-yet-available 100 Mb/s).  That’s ridiculously fast.  Can a website even deliver content to you that fast?

For many years I lived in a rural area and waited about 5 years after everyone else I knew got DSL.  Some friends in that rural area still can’t even get DSL.  We were told that it was too costly to lay the cables to provide fast internet to less populated areas.  A couple of years ago, cable providers were saying that it cost about $500 to $700 to lay the cable past each house in a surburban area. That didn’t include how much it cost to set up and services the equipment once it was installed.  How long would it take for them to recoup that cost at your house (at $50 per month).

Now I want to present you the article from VideoNuze that discusses whether they believe that Google can actually provide this fast internet.  It talks about their return on investment and other interesting facts.

What internet speed should you choose if you want to be able to watch movies?  Reread the paragraph above explaining how fast movies download at each speed.  Broadband provides the speeds above 10 Mb/s.  If, like me, you want to be able to get a good picture on your big flatscreen TV, you’ll want to go for closer to 20 Mb/s if you can.  If you want to download those movies and watch them within an hour of when you start downloading them, faster is better.  Or if you get impatient with how slowly pages and videos show up on your computer, you may want a faster speed.

But here is the big caveat…

Everyone who gets Broadband shares those speeds (actually called bandwidth).  People who hog the bandwidth by downloading lots of movies, etc. will get charged more if they use more than their fair share.  That’s why you may see a monthly limit of 100 or 150 GB per month.  You get charged extra for each gigabyte you use above and beyond that amount.  A high definition movie can be 3 GB.  If you watch more than one movie everyday (say you watch one and your kids watch one–that can easily be 7GB), plus download photos, watch YouTube videos, upload photos to Facebook or a website…once you combine all that it adds up.  A “free” Netflix movie could end up costing you $3.00 once you surpass your allotted 100 GB per month.  I have gone over a few times.

So fast internet is great.  But you have to pay attention to how many movies, etc. you are watching.  Many people have given up their cable to save money and think they’ll just watch videos, TV shows and movies online.  Be aware that you could end up spending the money you would have paid for a cable subscription.  Take it from my experience.

You can read more about your broadband limits here.

Home Networks - TVs, Online, & Computers, Online, Online Video, Uncategorized, What to watch »

Watch Video Snippets but only full videos if you subscribe. (Screenshot of website copyright NBC)

We’ve been thinking that we can just get rid of cable and get all of our TV shows from online, but cable companies are finding ways to keep us subscribing.  This became evident when I wanted to watch live events for the Olympics.  On the NBColympics.com page, it showed that some events were available to watch live in their entirety.  I was excited.  But, when I clicked on the link, the page asked me to provide information about my cable provider.  I only have local channels, so when I filled out the form, it denied me access to those live events.

It seems that you could only watch the live events if you subscribed to a cable package that included CNBC and MSNBC. The service is called “Olympics Online Connect.” It requires authentication from your cable provider to access those videos.  Alas, I was only able to get video snippets instead of the full event replay video streams.

Premium cable/satellite stations like HBO and Showtime let you see snippets, teasers, interviews, etc. by signing up on their page, but, again, will authenticate that you are indeed a subscriber before you can gain access to watch full episodes.

How long will it be until you can’t get your ABC, NBC, or CBS TV shows online without paying?

Indeed, TANSTAAFL – (there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch) – and soon there may be no such thing as free online TV shows.

Let’s enjoy the TV shows that are free for now, and be patient with the short 30 second advertisements that are embedded in the videos.  It may be the only way we’ll get to continue seeing those shows for free.