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Comcast Announces 2GBPS Fiber Internet for Homes

Internetcomcast, fiber, internetOphtek, LLC

Aug 2015

Comcast’s new 2gbps (gigabits per second) broadband service – Gigabit Pro – is here and they hope it can challenge Google Fiber. Can Comcast compete?

Google Fiber currently offers a 1 GBPS broadband service and that’s currently seen as eye poppingly quick and without compare. However, Comcast is keen to get into this super-fast broadband market and has decided to double the speed offered by Google Fiber in order to entice subscribers.

Let’s take a look at exactly what Gigabit Pro has to offer.

The Basics of Gigabit Pro

Gigabit Pro is a form of high speed internet service known as fiber to the home (FTTH) where a fiber optic communication runs from the central office directly to the subscriber. The only other competitors in this arena are Google and AT&T.

Comcast has spent the last decade laying around 145,000 route miles of fiber to facilitate the launch of Gigabit Pro; at present the availability of Gigabit Pro is limited to selected cities in the following states:

Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan
Tennessee
California

Benefits of Gigabit Pro

Obviously, the most mouth-watering aspect of Gigabit Pro is the insane speeds being offered. These speeds are possible due to the use of fiber optics to send signals across huge distances with barely any signal loss. Standard, everyday broadband uses copper wires and is prone to significant signal deterioration.

But what do these high speed fiber connections mean for their users? Well, just imagine how quickly you’ll be able to download, stream and transmit data – this is essential for businesses and any increase in speed and reliability will always be welcomed.

Fiber is also seen as being relatively ‘future-proof’ as the fibers are not limited in the speeds that they can offer. The only limits are imposed by terminal equipment, so it’s highly unlikely that users or providers will need to update their fiber.

The Downsides of Gigabit Pro

Comcast has certainly gotten people’s attention with the announcement of Gigabit Pro, but the service is not without its problems.

The main issue facing Comcast is the prices they’re charging for Gigabit Pro. That cost is a huge $300 per month along with fees of up to $500 for installation and a further $500 for activation. Subscription fees in the Midwest will be available for $159 per month, but that reduced prices comes in the form of a 3 year contract.

The next issue for Gigabit Pro is its limited availability. In order to sign up for Gigabit Pro’s service you need to be living within 1/3 of a mile of the fiber network. This is frustrating for the vast majority of internet users and reduces Comcast’s potential revenues.

Final Thoughts

Comcast has the right idea by entering into the fiber market and, by providing Google with another rival, is ensuring that consumers will eventually get better service due to the competition.

However, in the present time, the costs are very high – particularly for domestic internet users – and the availability is low.

Fiber, though, is the future of broadband and as costs fall you should see fiber becoming more prevalent in internet users’ lives.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

Internet as a Utility: What Does This Mean For You?

Networkfcc, internet, networkOphtek, LLC

Apr 2015

(Photo by Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

The internet has recently been classified as a utility by the FCC. Read our article here to find out what this means for you and your business.

As of February 26, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission ruled to classify broadband internet as a utility. This is a landmark achievement for individuals and groups supporting net neutrality or the movement to ensure the internet remains free and open to the public.

According to FCC Chairman, Tom Wheeler, the decision was needed to protect innovators and consumers preserving the internet’s role as the “core of free expression and democratic principles”. The two other commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Cyburn who voted in favor of the decision are also supporters of net neutrality. Cyburn cited the important role broadband internet plays for low-income families as their only opportunity to get access to the internet. Other notable supporters of the net neutrality include Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Netflix, and President Barack Obama.

But not all the parties are happy with the ruling. Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Verizon are expected to sue the FCC and make a court appeal on its recent policy decision. Verizon claims that instead of making the internet free, it’s actually putting the network under stricter government control. Instead of price reductions to internet services, it will likely help promote the emergence of higher or new taxes since the new ruling can discourage the entry of new ISPs that would ensure strong competition.

What does this mean to personal or home broadband users?

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Credit FastCompan.com

How will this new FCC ruling affect ordinary broadband users in the United States?

Better and wider access. Once a product or service is classified as a utility, the government is recognizing that it has become an essential part of daily living similar to water and electricity. This means having broadband internet is already a right for the public including those living in remote areas.
No more blocked content. Some web pages and content, even if they are lawful, are blocked due to geo-targeting or marketing only to certain locations. The new ruling prohibits unlawful blocking of content.
Eliminating the data capping problem. Perhaps, the most significant effect of the FCC ruling is the elimination of data capping concerns. If you are using broadband or wireless internet, you certainly have experienced slower and even hampered internet connection even if your internet provider has promised an unlimited plan or higher speeds. Have you also noticed that wired internet is faster than broadband internet? It’s not really about signal or connection but the speed throttling practices of ISPs.

How about websites and corporate users?

This is certainly good news for website owners and corporate users of broadband internet or the internet in general. The new ruling will eliminate the existing paid prioritization or pay-to-play fast scheme of ISPs. For websites and companies who need massive bandwidth and speeds like Netflix, they often need to pay more to ISPs just to ensure their viewers can experience uninterrupted media streaming.

Additionally, the FCC classification will improve internet media competition. New ventures won’t be discouraged to spend more just to gain faster speeds. This will eventually result in expanded internet use and provide further media options to the public.

It’s important to note that the FCC doesn’t plan to meddle with each ISP’s pricing scheme and engineering decisions.

For more information on how the FCC’s ruling can impact your business and operations, contact your local IT professionals.

What is Google Fiber?

Office Networkgoogle, internet, networkOphtek, LLC

Feb 2015

Google Fiber is a new Gigabit Internet provider that could be coming to your area. What is Google Fiber and what should you know to be ready?

Will Google have to step on anyone’s toes to roll out such service and what impact can Google Fiber have on businesses and private users? Before we delve into all of this, let’s first understand what Google Fiber is.

What is Google Fiber?

Google is expanding their service portfolio to provide fast Internet to the market and become an established Internet Service Provider (ISP), in hopes of joining the ranks of their competitors AT&T, Comcast and others.
Google is also pushing out the boat by claiming to provide 100 times faster internet speed than other ISPs, with Gigabit (1000 Mbps) download speed. Google Fiber also offers 1TB Cloud storage and TV packages, in addition to their Internet service, to make the plan more appealing and practical to their potential customers.

With Google Fiber, businesses and private users would benefit by having:

lightning speed access to the cloud storage
high speed access between office locations
generous cloud storage capacity
quicker cloud backup and recovery
smooth video-conferences over VoIP
fast internet browsing
seamless video streaming

The Roadblocks for Google Fiber

Google is looking to roll out their Google Fiber services across the United States, and have already planned to include metropolitan areas such as San Antonio, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Portland, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.

Since this covers a wide geographic area with different topology to contend with, Google needs to be able to access the utilities infrastructure in order to install the service, which has become their main obstacle. Therefore in efforts to overcome this obstacle, Google has filed a request to reclassify ISPs under Title II of the Telecommunications Act to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). If reclassification is granted by FCC, then Google will be able to run their Fiber installation on the same poles their competitors currently use to provide broadband.

This would be a huge victory for Google, but a nightmare for Comcast, AT&T and other broadband providers as they’ll need to adapt to newer regulations and give up a share of the market.

If Google has Title II rejected by the FCC to use the already established infrastructure, this would hinder Google Fiber’s roll out across the country as they’d need to literally build around it, making it even more costly business venture for them.

Where is Google Fiber Active?

At present, you’ll find Google Fiber rolled out and live in the area of :

Austin,
Kansas City
Provo

Google provides a website to check if your address is serviceable by Google Fiber.

If Google is granted Title II by the FCC, that’d make the infrastructure available to move the service quickly across to other cities and areas.

For more ways to speed up your office network to ensure business continuity, contact your local IT professionals.

3 Reasons to Block Advertising on your PC

Internet, Office IT, Security, Uncategorizedadvertising, browsing, internet, securityOphtek, LLC

Jul 2014

Does advertising improve your web browsing experience or make it worse? Even legitimate advertising can cause major headaches to major infections.

Advertising can be a great source of revenue for websites that offer content and information for free. Major websites that you use everyday have taken this to an extreme by serving up video ads that talk to you and track your online behavior. However the more websites rely on advertising for their revenue the more willing they will let any run an ad on their networks. Here are three reasons why advertising has reached a point where it can be a threat to the average user browsing the internet.

1. Malware spreads through legitimate advertising

There have been many cases in the last few years where hackers and criminals have used legitimate advertising and banners in websites and in videos to spread their malware. One example is a bitcoin mining virus being spread through Yahoo advertising. Even Youtube fell victim to advertising serving up remote code execution. These major website quickly patched up the problem but it will take more than a break-fix approach to end this cat and mouse game.

2. Are you really getting what you click on?

Accidentally clicking on the wrong link when you want to download a song, file or program from the internet can open the flood gates of junk on your computer. The above image shows a legitimate download website. Can you guess which link is the correct link to download your program?

3. Popups, search engine hijackers and junk programs

Once junk programs from advertising get their foot in the door, it can be very difficult to detect or even remove the software. The above search engine may look like Google, but it is a knock off website meant to steer you to their partners websites.

For now until major websites have better safeguards in place to prevent malware, junk programs and sneaky advertising methods from their ad networks it’s better to steer clear from advertising all together. We recommend running Firefox or Chrome with ad block plugins installed.

For more tips on staying safe online at your home or office, contact your local IT professionals.