Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 343 posts

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#101

Post by ilikehurdles »

krzyk wrote: post #85
duxup wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly would expect that at a national park. To me that would be what a national park ... just is.

But this is the place where you might get lost and without cell service, you are really lost. This is quite annoying in the US, that national parks or deserts have no cell service. The places that need it most (life and death situations) - this is basically a health service there. In comparison to Europe the mobile density is quite sparse there.

Cell Towers have no place in National Parks/Forests and other nature preserves. If you're in the middle of the ocean you're not going to have cell phone service either, and you should plan accordingly.

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#102

Post by ghaff »

krzyk wrote: post #85
duxup wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly would expect that at a national park. To me that would be what a national park ... just is.

But this is the place where you might get lost and without cell service, you are really lost. This is quite annoying in the US, that national parks or deserts have no cell service. The places that need it most (life and death situations) - this is basically a health service there. In comparison to Europe the mobile density is quite sparse there.

Please. If your attitude is that if you get in some kind of trouble, you can just use your cell phone and have someone come get you, you should just stay out of wilderness areas.

You're endangering yourself which I wouldn't care that much about but you're also potentially endangering any search and rescue teams that have to come looking for you.

As for the lost scenario specifically. I don't know. Maybe carry a (paper) map and compass? In addition (not instead of) a GPS doesn't need cell reception to operate and works most places. (Some exceptions, like narrow canyons.)

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#103

Post by robert_foss »

I'm centrally located in Berlin, and have an unmetered 400/12mpbs cable connection for 40Eur/m.

I can't say that I'm impressed, but having just lived in Canada which is _far_ worse I'm happy about it not being quite as bad.

However, 10 years ago in Sweden I had an unmetered 1000/1000mbps fiber connection for 4Eur/m. I feel like I'm doomed to forever have a shittier connection.

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#104

Post by ghaff »

amarshall wrote: post #100
krzyk wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is the place where you might get lost and without cell service, you are really lost. This is quite annoying in the US, that national parks or deserts have no cell service. The places that need it most (life and death situations) - this is basically a health service there. In comparison to Europe the mobile density is quite sparse there.

There’s a reason it’s called wilderness. One should have basic orienteering skills if they venture away from the popular, touristy locations. If things really do go awry, bring (and use) an EPIRB. I would never rely on a cellular phone for safety in the wilderness. Cellular service and geolocation was never be 100% reliable, and batteries die. A paper map, a compass, basic skills, and knowledge of one’s limits go a l…

I'm not sure how big I am on even encouraging everyone who gets off the beaten track to carry an EPIRB. However, if I'm being honest, if I did any amount of solo backpacking--especially in less traveled areas--I'd probably consider it these days.

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#105

Post by k__ »

hannob wrote: post #20

Just a bit more background from Germany: This article largely focusses on broadband connections. It doesn't even begin to adress the even bigger issue, which is that mobile internet is extremely bad compared to most other european countries. Also interesting that even the reporter fell for one of the lamest excuses: "Among them are the country’s large geographic area". Northern neighbor Sweden, which happens to be on…

I have the feeling with 4G it gets better. Sadly the costs are rather prohibitive.

For example, I pay 35€ for 16GB LTE.

Also, while the Vodafone net is rather good, I read they are replacing their 3G with 4G, which means stuff gets faster, but only for people with newer phones.

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#106

Post by ghaff »

bobthepanda wrote: post #73
throwitawayday wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having recently visited the Yellowstone National Park, the situation you describe for the North Sea side of Germany applies but worse, the cell phone data connection being non-existent, and with the added issue that only one hotel offered wifi, and it was out of service for the entire duration of our visit.

It's a national park - this is an intentional policy. There is some cell service, but the park specifically does not want cell towers everywhere. > In 2009, Yellowstone completed a plan for wireless communications in the park. The plan dictates that cell phone and wifi will only be allowed for visitor safety and to enhance park operations. It restricts towers, antennas, and wireless services to a few limited location…

I think that's fairly common in a lot of the bigger and more remote national parks. Death Valley has decent cell reception at Furnace Creek (the main visitor center and lodging area) but AFAIK there's none in the rest of the 3,000 square miles.

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#107

Post by throw7 »

barsonme wrote: post #31
deminature wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Home internet regularly costs $80 in the US, or roughly €72. €40 seems pretty reasonable by comparison.

Really? $80? I haven't seen $80 for internet. In a suburban area outside of Tacoma ~300mbps was about $50, and now just outside of Seattle I pay $75 for 1 gbps . The non-gigabit plans were south of $50. I Googled a bit and most websites said Americans generally pay somewhere between $50-$60.

I'm upstate ny and pay $80 for internet. This gets me 100Mbit down and a paltry 10Mbit up. I don't consider this "broadband" as the upload speed is so slow. It's also highway robbery... there's no choice here.

Re: Germans Grow Frustrated with Their Slow-Poke Internet

#110

Post by heroic »

close04 wrote: post #97
IfOnlyYouKnew wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's far cheaper than the US. I get 6MB/s downloads for 15€/month. For mobile, there's a chart making the rounds on Twitter, and it seems to me Germany is very much in line with other countries. Of course it's more expensive than it is in poorer countries in eastern Europe, as everything is.

For a while in Germany I was paying 30€/month for 10Mbps. Meanwhile other EU countries gave you 1Gbps for ~10€/month. Germany is definitely at the lower end of internet infrastructure.

This is probably the only thing I feel great about in the Indian communication domain! I pay <$2 a month for about 1.5GB 4G every DAY! Speeds generally vary from crap to 11 Mbps
Post reply on HN