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United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

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Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#81

Post by lucb1e »

foofoo4u wrote: post #77

Whenever it comes to comparisons between the United States and other countries of the world, it is best to keep in mind the difference in mass between the two. I put together this map to illustrate what I mean: https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTY2MDk5MTk.NzY3NTM1NA*... As you can see, ALL of the countries that rank higher are significantly smaller than the United States. In fact, some of them are even smaller th…

Size doesn't matter though, I think the measure you're looking for is population density and perhaps terrain (thinking of Switzerland's mountains here).

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#82

Post by clairity »

chadash wrote: post #31

1 Singapore 262.20 2 Hong Kong (SAR) 254.40 3 Monaco 242.89 4 Switzerland 222.00 5 Thailand 221.00 6 Romania 217.91 7 South Korea 216.67 8 Denmark 216.13 9 Chile 209.83 10 France 201.61 11 Hungary 201.55 12 United States 199.00 First of all, Singapore, Hong Kong and Monaco really can't be compared to the US. Two of them are wealthy city-states and Monaco is very small (and wealthy). Once you get to #4 Switzerland, th…

note that we don’t need 50mbps (and certainly not 200) for most homes/families either. 25mbps comfortably supports 3 1080p streams with room left over for web, email, and other apps.

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#83

Post by vel0city »

jeffbee wrote: post #39
badsoftware wrote: post #2

I often see people commenting on the poor quality of America’s internet compared to European countries, but how much of that is due to the physical size of America? I imagine it’s much more difficult to build out a larger network especially when many parts of America are not very populated.

The thing about rural America is nobody lives there. More than 80% of Americans live in urbanized areas, the same fraction as France, Norway, Spain, and the world generally. The reason America doesn't have broadband or trains is not because of its extent, it's because our war budget is $2000 per capita per year.

"Urban" in the US can still be quite different from "urban" of Europe or other places around the world.

I live in a really close suburb of one of the biggest cities in the US. I technically live in an "urban" area, and places further out from the actual city that are less dense are still considered "urban". The population density here is ~4,000 people/mi^2. A similar comparison to Paris location-wise would be something like Le Blanc-Mesnil, which has a density of 18,000 people/mi^2. Both of these are considered "urban", but they are extremely different kinds of cities density-wise.

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#84

Post by mrguyorama »

vel0city wrote: post #73
arbitrage wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they should treat it like Texas treats its grid like garbage that falls apart when people actually need to use it? or like a regressive money funnel to line the pockets of an oligarchical captured regulatory body? texas' power grid is not a goal any serious advocate can advance as doing anything right.

Texas' grid is the reason why 100% of the dollars I spend on electrical energy goes towards renewable energy sources at $0.084c/kWh for energy+transmission. What do you pay and what mix is renewable? Texas' grid also makes it incredibly easy for you to get your local solar/wind connected to the grid to sell your electricity back, further incentivizing local and renewable energy production. Finally, when Texas' grid h…

>Finally, when Texas' grid has issues with big events which knocks out power, it captures national headlines for months on end. When California has blackouts, its just California being California

Meanwhile, the other 48 states, including a tiny island and a giant tundra wasteland larger than Texas have no problem keeping their power on in adverse weather.

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#85

Post by KozmoNau7 »

jeffasinger wrote: post #78
scottshamus wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t mind, could you provide any more info on how to find providers for point to point relays? I didn’t even know this was an option and I’m having a tough time finding any information that isn’t specific to large businesses.

Not the OP, but the people I've seen this do it DIY have all done it with Ubiquiti products. A single link can get a mile of range with clear LoS. Depending on how far out you are, that lets you connect to a "real" internet connection for cheap.

Mikrotik products are very popular among people running WISPs, and their product range reflects this, with a whole range designed specifically for that purpose.

Even their standard wall/ceiling-mount AP is weatherproof and comes with pole mount attachments.

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#86

Post by vel0city »

mrguyorama wrote: post #84
vel0city wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Texas' grid is the reason why 100% of the dollars I spend on electrical energy goes towards renewable energy sources at $0.084c/kWh for energy+transmission. What do you pay and what mix is renewable? Texas' grid also makes it incredibly easy for you to get your local solar/wind connected to the grid to sell your electricity back, further incentivizing local and renewable energy production. Finally, when Texas' grid h…

>Finally, when Texas' grid has issues with big events which knocks out power, it captures national headlines for months on end. When California has blackouts, its just California being California Meanwhile, the other 48 states, including a tiny island and a giant tundra wasteland larger than Texas have no problem keeping their power on in adverse weather.

I have family in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and other states. They've definitely lost power in major snowstorms before, sometimes for multiple days. I've lost power from hurricanes and other kinds of weather events elsewhere. Losing power from big weather events isn't an incredibly uncommon thing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/over-1-million-lose-pow...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/death-toll-rise...

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2020-08-06-isaias-...

Were you really trying to suggest the other 48 states never lose power in extreme weather situations?

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#87

Post by silicon2401 »

Arubis wrote: post #22

That’s…not terrible? Getting broadband in rural America is rough, and the permissive atmosphere for monopolistic behavior by ISPs is maddening. Pricing for internet access is way worse than in East Asia or western and central Europe. Some folks can’t get real broadband at all, and they’re disproportionally lower down on the socioeconomic spectrum. That’s not fair. These issues are real. But overall, 12th sounds…prett…

I had similar feelings. At least in populated cities, internet speed has always been pretty great for me. I'm more concerned with the absurd notion of bandwidth caps and the exorbitant cost. Access is tricky: on the one hand, it's pretty unreasonable to expect internet companies to get cables out all the way to every mountain cabin and desert house; on the other hand, they charge so excessively and get so much government assistance that they should have more than a few dollars to spare.

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#88

Post by lhorie »

You should consider population density when evaluating broadband penetration:

    Country      Mbps    People per km2     
    ---
    Singapore    262.20  8,041
    Hong Kong    254.40  6,677
    Monaco       242.89  19,341
    Switzerland  222.00  207
    Thailand     221.00  135
    Romania      217.91  82
    South Korea  216.67  511
    Denmark      216.13  133
    Chile        209.83  25
    France       201.61  118
    Hungary      201.55  104
    US           199.00  34
So most of these countries have population density ranging from twice as high to several orders of magnitude higher compared to the US, with the exception of Chile, which has 1/20th of the US population.

What the ranking obviously isn't showing is variability in the bell curve within a country. In the US, you can get fiber in big motropolitan areas, but at the same time, there are plenty of areas in the US where you just don't get any connectivity at all.

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#89

Post by jeffbee »

vel0city wrote: post #83
jeffbee wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing about rural America is nobody lives there. More than 80% of Americans live in urbanized areas, the same fraction as France, Norway, Spain, and the world generally. The reason America doesn't have broadband or trains is not because of its extent, it's because our war budget is $2000 per capita per year.

"Urban" in the US can still be quite different from "urban" of Europe or other places around the world. I live in a really close suburb of one of the biggest cities in the US. I technically live in an "urban" area, and places further out from the actual city that are less dense are still considered "urban". The population density here is ~4,000 people/mi^2. A similar comparison to Paris location-wise would be somethi…

"Our urbanized places are garbage" is a completely different statement from "our country is large". One of them is circumstance and the other is self-inflicted.

Re: United States Broadband speed ranks 12th according to SpeedTest Global Index

#90

Post by foofoo4u »

lucb1e wrote: post #81
foofoo4u wrote: post #77

Whenever it comes to comparisons between the United States and other countries of the world, it is best to keep in mind the difference in mass between the two. I put together this map to illustrate what I mean: https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTY2MDk5MTk.NzY3NTM1NA*... As you can see, ALL of the countries that rank higher are significantly smaller than the United States. In fact, some of them are even smaller th…

Size doesn't matter though, I think the measure you're looking for is population density and perhaps terrain (thinking of Switzerland's mountains here).

Population density and terrain are important factors as well. Including those two other factors on top of size actually supports my argument further. The United States is significantly larger, less dense, and has a wider range of terrain/elemental conditions (ie. mountains, wetlands, deserts, forests, etc.). The fact that the United States ranks this high with these un-optimal conditions is again rather good.

And to address your point that size does not matter is incorrect. Size certainly does matter. It is more cost effective to service a small region of land where high amounts of people are concentrated than it is to spread infrastructure thin across great swaths of land to service the few.

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