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How fast is your connection? THE USA's connections SUCK!

CindyRilla

CindyRilla

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I just received an email from Working America and found it pretty interesting and thought to share - See email below (be sure to test your internet connection speed from link below too!):

Dear Cindy,

Did you know the United States ranks just 15th among industrialized nations in broadband access? Or that this is costing our economy billions of dollars every year?

The country that invented the Internet should be a leader in broadband speed and access. But right now, the United States is virtually the only industrialized country without a national high-speed Internet policy.

That's about to change-but we need your help to make it happen. The Federal Communications Commission is currently crafting its national broadband strategy. You can help shape this policy by testing your Internet speed right now. The results will be sent to the FCC to provide crucial data for its new policy.

Speed Matters is a project of the Communications Workers of America. CWA has been working for years to close the digital divide in the United States: collecting data, spreading awareness and lobbying our lawmakers about the need for universal broadband.

Still, the United States continues to lose ground to other countries in broadband access and speed. Our government invests relatively less on telecommunications than most other major countries. Consumers are charged more for slower speeds, and our current high-speed networks don't even reach millions of U.S. households.

The result? Every day, American businesses are missing out on opportunities to sell their goods and services in the global marketplace. Every day, working people are missing out on important health and educational benefits. And every day, our economy is missing out on good jobs created by broadband.

The FCC is working to fix this right now, and your data will help them develop the best possible policy. Test your Internet speed, and be part of the effort to bring the benefits of affordable high-speed Internet access to everyone.

There's been a digital divide in the United States for many years. It has cost millions of working people the full benefits of the digital age and has kept our economy from reaching its full potential.

Now we're so close to closing the divide. I hope you'll support this effort.

Sincerely,

Working America, AFL-CIO

---

After you do the SPEED TEST HERE and see where you rank with other countries you can also send a nasty gram to congress. (you know I did!!!) NOTE- You only need to put in your ZIP CODE, you do NOT have to enter your email addy.

Also check out Biden's video on the above link as well. Love that man!

It seems WE (the US) suck at EVERYTHING (ie: education, healthcare, internet and more) and we are a so-called Super power country?!
 
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Wow....my connection is so much better than most in the US and per that list was second to Japan.....but when compared to Japan....10 mps to 51 mps....omg.


-D
 
You have it better than us Aussies though, trust me. We have download quotas, which means if you go over your download limit you're stuck with dial-up speeds until the new month starts.

Combine that with Australia having one of the slowest and most expensive internet plans in the world.. we're getting ripped off big time.

Just to give you an idea..

speedtestk.jpg


Things are starting to change with Ruddy as the new PM. Won't see big improvements anytime soon though, It's going to take years


ETA: But to be fair.. we do have free healthcare :lol:
 
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978kbps! :( 'nuff said lol...I also have a download data limit each month of 20GB Peak and 40GB Off Peak times! Once that limit is used, my connection slows down to dial-up speeds for the remainder of the month before resetting.
 
000cozzie000 said:
You have it better than us Aussies though, trust me. We have download quotas, which means if you go over your download limit you're stuck with dial-up speeds until the new month starts.

Combine that with Australia having one of the slowest and most expensive internet plans in the world.. we're getting ripped off big time.

Just to give you an idea..

speedtestk.jpg


Things are starting to change with Ruddy as the new PM. Won't see big improvements anytime soon though, It's going to take years


ETA: But to be fair.. we do have free healthcare :lol:
Click to expand...

WAIT UP! Hey.. I will trade you my internet connection for YOUR FREE HEALTHCARE - any day!!!:wild:

Seriously, even though we PAY for healthcare and dental care every freaking month out of our pay check and RARELY ever use it, we are just one hospital visit away from Bankruptcy! :(
 
I know what you mean. I never go to the doctor so I forget about it half the time, but it's still reassuring to know that it's there if I ever need it.

And we've scrapped our health insurance. Pay them thousands of dollars and only get a hundred or 2 back? Yeah they can go eff a goat :smilerolleyes:
 
Steve001 said:
978kbps! :( 'nuff said lol...I also have a download data limit each month of 20GB Peak and 40GB Off Peak times! Once that limit is used, my connection slows down to dial-up speeds for the remainder of the month before resetting.
Click to expand...


I have 30gig UP/DOWN per mth at ADSL2 then once the 30gig used i drop to dialup
 
000cozzie000 said:
You have it better than us Aussies though, trust me. We have download quotas, which means if you go over your download limit you're stuck with dial-up speeds until the new month starts.

Combine that with Australia having one of the slowest and most expensive internet plans in the world.. we're getting ripped off big time.

Just to give you an idea..

speedtestk.jpg


Things are starting to change with Ruddy as the new PM. Won't see big improvements anytime soon though, It's going to take years


ETA: But to be fair.. we do have free healthcare :lol:
Click to expand...

We have terrible health care. But that's a different discussion.

I don't think internet in Australia is too bad. I does suck having a usage limit. But I think unlimited net, or at least bigger download quotas for a cheaper price, will come in time. I don't think ruddnet will help much though to be honest.
 
I don't know much about broadband and all the dramas with Telstra abusing its powers, but my brother does and he said that things will improve a lot with what Rudd's doing.

The plan's already in action, but it will take years until we see its results.

Australia announces 30 billion dlr broadband plan
News published by Kioskea on Tuesday April 7, 2009 08:13:23 AM

In a surprise move, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was abandoning a tender process that failed to offer value for money, and that a new government company would instead build the network with private sector support.

Calling Australia a "broadband backwater," Rudd said the current network was hampering the economy and compared the importance of the project to the appearance of electricity in the 20th century.

Providing a fast, affordable broadband network was a major campaign promise when Rudd's centre-left government was elected in November 2007, with the existing copper wire network slower than that in most developed countries.
"Just as railway tracks laid out the future of the 19th century and electricity grids the future of the 20th century, so broadband represents the core infrastructure of the 21st century," the prime minister said.
"Slow broadband is holding our national economy back."

The government had been considering tenders from private companies including Singapore-owned Optus and Canada's Axia NetMedia for a so-called fibre-to-the-node network offering speeds of up to 12 megabits per second.
But Rudd said the government would instead form a company, in partnership with the private sector, that would build a more advanced fibre-to-the-home network offering speeds of up to 100 megabits per second.
He said 90 percent of Australian homes and businesses would be able to receive the new faster connection, with the rest of the country receiving a connection at 12 megabits per second.

He said a government-commissioned panel of experts had recommended scrapping the tender process.
"None of the national proposals offered value for money to the Australian taxpayer," Rudd said.
The overall investment from government and the private sector will reach 43 billion Australian dollars (30 billion US) over the eight year construction phase.
Rudd described the project as "the single largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australia's history."

He said construction would begin early next year, with the government retaining a majority stake in the project and then selling it to the private sector five years after the network is up and running.
Australia's largest telecoms firm Telstra was excluded from the initial tender after failing to meet government criteria for the project but will be invited to take part in the new plan.

Telstra shares, which have dipped as the telecoms giant engaged in a series of regulatory spats with Canberra, rose 4.4 percent to 3.35 Australian dollars on news it would no longer be frozen out of plans for the broadband network.
"We look forward to having constructive discussions with the government at the earliest opportunity," chairman Don McGauchie said.

Rival telecom Optus also welcomed the plan, saying it had always viewed the scrapped fibre-to-the-node proposal as a stop-gap measure.
"It's been a visionary and big step forward that will lift Australia from the broadband laggards where we are today into what we see as being a world-leading broadband future for Australia," an Optus spokesman said.

http://en.kioskea.net/actualites/au...llion-dlr-broadband-plan-12479-actualite.php3
Click to expand...
 
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The beauty of fiber. Japan's download speeds have to be wrong. In any case, if digital distribution of movies, games and the like is ever going to take off, we need affordable fiber optic connections across the country. Far too many places in the USA are currently without a fiber solution of any kind. In 2009, that is unacceptable.
 
1278kbps here.... :no:

I'll tell you what.... I MISS my high speed dsl I had in the states!! When I first got here and got online I was like...Ok what's up with the internet?!
I got my friends to do some research and we are dumping Big Blue and their slow net, low cap and high price. We are going to try TPG starting next week. For the same price we'll be at ADSL2 and have ten times the cap. I hope the service is as good as others have told us it is.

You have a point about the health care stuff though. In the states, before I had insurance, I had strep throat and had to go to ER because I didn't have primary doctor or anything and had a raging fever with it. I ended up paying around $600 for the visit, the antibiotic and the strep test. So, you all are very lucky here in Australia. We could take some cues from you.
 
Reghead121 said:
1278kbps here.... :no:

I'll tell you what.... I MISS my high speed dsl I had in the states!! When I first got here and got online I was like...Ok what's up with the internet?!
I got my friends to do some research and we are dumping Big Blue and their slow net, low cap and high price. We are going to try TPG starting next week. For the same price we'll be at ADSL2 and have ten times the cap. I hope the service is as good as others have told us it is.

You have a point about the health care stuff though. In the states, before I had insurance, I had strep throat and had to go to ER because I didn't have primary doctor or anything and had a raging fever with it. I ended up paying around $600 for the visit, the antibiotic and the strep test. So, you all are very lucky here in Australia. We could take some cues from you.
Click to expand...

Have you tried searching in whirlpool yet? You can put how much you want to pay, how much quota you want, the speed etc and it'll show you all the different plans available from different companies.

It's a handy little site :)

www.whirlpool.net.au
 
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