Can I benefit from "Gigablast" service?

[ElCuco68]

Our internet service provider, Cox, is offering me "for a limited time only!" a service called Gigablast. I currently have download speeds of up to 170 or so megabytes per second, depending on what time of day it is, etc. For$27 more (plus some other hidden charges, no doubt, like a faster modem/router rental), I can get up to a gigabyte per second download speed, or, for about $20 more, I can get up to 550 MBPS.

 

Right now, we have a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, and 2 fartphones. I play DCS and a lot of other VR games, and we watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm fine right where I'm at, though it is often frustrating that things can take a long time to download, and it's a mood-killer when the naughty stuff that my wife likes to watch ends up needing buffering time (though this is infrequent.

[MAXsenna]

Our internet service provider, Cox, is offering me "for a limited time only!" a service called Gigablast. I currently have download speeds of up to 170 or so megabytes per second, depending on what time of day it is, etc. For$27 more (plus some other hidden charges, no doubt, like a faster modem/router rental), I can get up to a gigabyte per second download speed, or, for about $20 more, I can get up to 550 MBPS.

 

 

 

Right now, we have a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, and 2 fartphones. I play DCS and a lot of other VR games, and we watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm fine right where I'm at, though it is often frustrating that things can take a long time to download, and it's a mood-killer when the naughty stuff that my wife likes to watch ends up needing buffering time (though this is infrequent.

 

Apologies if I'm wrong, but I think you confuse bits for Bytes. 1 Byte = 8 bits

So if you actually have 170MBps that means you have 170MBps*8bits=1,36 Gbps, and should be very adequate for what you describe your needs as above.

But it could depend on how many concurrent downloads, streams, games etc are running. If you haven't run in any trouble/slowdowns yet, I'd say your fine, even with 170Megabit per second.

Cheers

 

Sent from my ANE-LX1 using Tapatalk

[ElCuco68]

I'm really not certain. It says "Up to 1000 MBPS download speed", so whatever that means in standard usage. I'm not as computer-savvy as I'd like to be ,or ought to be, considering the obscene amounts of money I mindlessly blow on this stuff, which drives my wife crazy. When I'm selling the latest gadget purchase to her, though, I sound like an IT guru.

[Cake]

170 MB or 170 Mb, either way your probably fine. People often neglect considering upload speed. For example, I have fiber with 350Mbps down, but its only about 30 up. At another house, we has 30 down and 3 up..... You can imagine this is a problem. What if someone saturated the uplink by sending a file or the downlink by downloading a file while you're on short final?

 

I think this is where some sort of QOS to prioritize the most important thing in life (i.e., the game) is useful.... Now if the MegaLoad or whatever they are calling it also cuts your latency and 10x, it may well be worth it.

[Cake]

Btw ElCuco, I was in Enfield CT a few times to drive cars at this place called RC Madness... I wonder if it still exists?

[Emmy]

FWIW, I’m on Cox in AZ and Cox rarely (if ever) announces when they make any changes to their tech specs. Case in point, I have a DOCIS 3.0 modem coming next week (slow boat from Amazon) because Cox went from DOCIS 2 to DOCIS 3 without saying anything. At least they didn’t say anything here in PHX.

 

I’ve been experiencing a great deal of lag in 2.5.6 and I’m hoping the modem upgrade will help.

 

Oh, and Cox does offer a Gamer Deal which they claim minimizes hops between user and servers.

 

I’m currently on their 200 service.

[panton41]

Cox went from DOCIS 2 to DOCIS 3 without saying anything. At least they didn’t say anything here in PHX.

 

They probably stopped supporting IPv4 routing. Chances are the number of people with DOCSIS 2.0 modems was so low it was easier to handle it in the call center as opposed to some kind of DNS hijack (which don't work that well anymore) or mailer that would simply confuse people before it got thrown in the trash.

 

I worked for Charter 10 years ago and they'd already dropped support for DOCSIS 1.0/1.1 and DOCSIS 2.0 was on life support. I got tons of calls telling people to upgrade their customer-owned modems. If Cox is only doing this now they dropped the ball big time seeing how DOCSIS 3.1 is rapidly becoming standard (with the possibility of symmetric gigabit) and DOCSIS 4.0 is on the drawing board. If a node only had DOCSIS 3.0 modems they could support vastly more bandwidth, but even a single 2.0 modem would crippled an entire node until it was removed and replaced. (DOCSIS 1.1 and 2.0 had less interference.)

 

As for the OP's question, it really depends on a lot. I get 400Mbps from Spectrum, despite Gigabit being available for a ruinous price, and don't have problems despite heavy streaming, lots of gamers and even frequent torrenting. If AT&T built out their fiber to my neighborhood I'd have switched months ago, but as it stands my working-class single-family home neighborhood has 25Mbps DSL, but the apartments three blocks away that no one will deliver pizza to because it's such a slum has fiber....:/

 

If you can easily afford it I'd do it, but I doubt you'll see a lot of benefit other than on sustained downloads like from Steam. (Which is why I didn't bother.) On cable with laughably asymmetric connections it's just a way to say you have the bigger epeen. On fiber, with gigabit both ways, I understand it's a game changer.

Edited April 30, 2020 by panton41

[ElCuco68]

Btw ElCuco, I was in Enfield CT a few times to drive cars at this place called RC Madness... I wonder if it still exists?

 

https://rcmadness.com/

 

You betcha!

[Brewnix]

They probably stopped supporting IPv4 routing. Chances are the number of people with DOCSIS 2.0 modems was so low it was easier to handle it in the call center as opposed to some kind of DNS hijack (which don't work that well anymore) or mailer that would simply confuse people before it got thrown in the trash.

 

I worked for Charter 10 years ago and they'd already dropped support for DOCSIS 1.0/1.1 and DOCSIS 2.0 was on life support. I got tons of calls telling people to upgrade their customer-owned modems. If Cox is only doing this now they dropped the ball big time seeing how DOCSIS 3.1 is rapidly becoming standard (with the possibility of symmetric gigabit) and DOCSIS 4.0 is on the drawing board. If a node only had DOCSIS 3.0 modems they could support vastly more bandwidth, but even a single 2.0 modem would crippled an entire node until it was removed and replaced. (DOCSIS 1.1 and 2.0 had less interference.)

 

As for the OP's question, it really depends on a lot. I get 400Mbps from Spectrum, despite Gigabit being available for a ruinous price, and don't have problems despite heavy streaming, lots of gamers and even frequent torrenting. If AT&T built out their fiber to my neighborhood I'd have switched months ago, but as it stands my working-class single-family home neighborhood has 25Mbps DSL, but the apartments three blocks away that no one will deliver pizza to because it's such a slum has fiber....:/

 

If you can easily afford it I'd do it, but I doubt you'll see a lot of benefit other than on sustained downloads like from Steam. (Which is why I didn't bother.) On cable with laughably asymmetric connections it's just a way to say you have the bigger epeen. On fiber, with gigabit both ways, I understand it's a game changer.

 

 

 

 

So for general knowledge said named telecom was filling a quota in part of the agreement in buying one of the recent companies they bought. That's why they thru fiber at the Multi Dwelling Units. Just wanted you to know it wasn't you and your neighbor hood in general it was the volume they needed.

[panton41]

So for general knowledge said named telecom was filling a quota in part of the agreement in buying one of the recent companies they bought. That's why they thru fiber at the Multi Dwelling Units. Just wanted you to know it wasn't you and your neighbor hood in general it was the volume they needed.

 

My parent's working-class neighborhood a few miles away has it, as does most of them around me. AT&T pretty much got to my corner of a couple major roads, decided not to cross and then decided stock buybacks were more important than reinvesting in their network. I could draw a map, but it would be pointless, but there's two major roads they never crossed that would have covered my subdivision and newer ones near me. (I started plugging in other houses on other streets near me into their tool to feel out where they stopped.)

Edited April 30, 2020 by panton41

[Brewnix]

Right, I 110% agree its irritating no matter how you look at it.

[Burt]

I upgraded to the Cox Gigablast last month and I'm getting 650-750 download and about 30 ish upload. I'm new to DCS and I haven't got the nerve yet to get on Multiplayer until I get a better grip on things. Will the cox Gigablast be a good/better performance on the Multiplayer servers?