fibre optic cable internet

[xiaoxiaocao]

Is anyone out there using/has used a fiber optic connection for their internet? It is expensive (around 800rmb/month) but supposedly guarantees constant up/download speeds of at least 2mb. Any feedback would be appreciated!

[jbradfor]

2 Mbps over fiber? [i assume you mean Mbps, not mb, and not MBps either.] That's absurdly low. You can get that over copper. If you're paying that much and using fiber you should be getting at least 10x if not 100x that speed.

[roddy]

Unless it's the upload speeds that are important for some reason. Does seem low though.

[xiaoxiaocao]

In theory it will be 10x faster but like all internet providers they talk the good talk. They guarantee it will be at least 2Mbps up/download ALL the time. I tested their service at a company that has it installed and the up/download speeds were around 20Mbps but I'm just wanting to get some feedback on the consistency of these speeds.

I currently have a 4Mbps broadband connection and just tested it on http://www.speedtest.net, my result - 1.1 download and 0.17 upload. This is not uncommon. The speeds that the providers state don't mean anything.

Just saw your post Roddy, and yes, upload speed will be important

Edited March 16, 2011 at 02:44 PM by xiaoxiaocao

[jbradfor]

I have 10 Mbps down / 1 Mbps up over cable; just tested it, got 13.7 down / 1.1 up. Paying USD 45/mo.

I would ignore the fact that it's over fiber, that really doesn't matter to you. You can get that speed over copper as well, if the system is done right. You can get horrible speed over fiber, if the ISP is cheap and doesn't have a big enough connection to the rest of the internet relative to their number of subscribers, or is otherwise incompetent. If it were carried via chipmunks-on-speed, but it's fast, would you care?

If that is the best ISP for you based on your needs, then go for it.

[xiaoxiaocao]

jbradfor, That kind of connection would be fine if I were in the USA where speeds are guaranteed by the provider. Here there is no guarantee. I tested two 8 up/down and one 16 up/down connection last week, they were fine for the first few hours and then dropped right down to less than a quarter of that. So I have been through all the broadband internet providers and none can meet my needs. It is consistent speed 24hrs/day that I need and the optic cable provider seems to be the only way to guarantee that, but I want to make sure before committing to it as you are required to pay the first 6 months up front (4,800rmb) with no trial period.

edit- it is 4Mbps up/down that the optic cable provider guarantees.

[pandaxiongmao]

I can't speak for mainland China, but I've used FTTH in both Japan and in Taiwan.

In Japan, I had 100M up and down. That was back in 2002. As time went on, more customers in the neighbourhood got FTTH service, so the switch for the neighbourhood was saturated. When that happened, they couldn't guarantee speed greater than about 62M. I imagine that China's fibre technology and network would be newer and would not have the same problem. I imagine Japan has resolved those speed problems, given 1,000M connections are available in major cities now for less than I paid for 100M back in the day.

In Taiwan, I went from a 8M down/768k ADSL connection to a 20M down/ 2.5M up FTTH connection, but the difference in speed was actually far greater because I always got the promised speed on the FTTH connection. The FTTH connection also had significantly less latency compared with DSL, but I am not sure how the infrastructure in your area compares to where I lived in Taipei.

If I were you, I'd go for it! I am also interested how it works out if you do. One of the reasons I left mainland China was because I couldn't get things done effectively on the 2M DSL connections I had there - too slow and too latent.