[TriLUG] Google Fiber

[Wes Garrison]

This is very true RE: Uverse.

The sales reps will even tell you it is fiber.  They aren't lying on
purpose; they're just ignorant.

Uverse is no more fiber than TWC's "Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial" network is
fiber.  It may be fiber to the VRAD (local neighborhood box - the next
generation DSLAM).

Here in Chapel Hill, there are actually 2 types of Uverse.

Downtown is nearly all ADSL2+, which is barely an upgrade to the original
DSL.  It maxes out at 18Mbps.

Other parts of the city that are fed from newer, fiber-fed VRADs are VDSL,
which can support much higher speeds, but only over *very* short distances.

The only way to know which you have is by checking the availability.  If
24Mbps is available, you have a VRAD with VDSL.  Otherwise, it's a plain
old DSLAM with ADSL2+.

I am not aware of any markets where Uverse is "Fiber to the Home", but
there may be some.

-Wes

_________________________________
Wesley S. Garrison
Network Engineer
Xitech Communications, Inc.
phone:  (919) 260-0803
pager:   (919) 869-1744
fax:       (919) 932-5051
__________________________________
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from email."

On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 11:03 AM, Scott Chilcote <scottchilcote at ncrrbiz.com>
wrote:

> On 01/28/2015 10:33 AM, Steve Burnett wrote:
> > I live in Raleigh and AT&T's U-verse is available, but their Giga
> > offering isn't available in my area - at least not yet.
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> One cautionary note regarding Uverse.  A lot of people think it means
> fiber.
>
> When I moved to our current neighborhood in Cary five years ago, only
> Time Warner Cable and AT&T DSL were available when I wanted a fiber
> connection.  I work from home.  So I went with TWC, until 2012 when AT&T
> announced that it was rolling out Uverse.  So I made the switch back to
> AT&T, starting off with their 18 GB service.
>
> In 2014 my employer offered to pay for a faster connection, so I called
> AT&T and asked what their fastest speed was.  They looked it up and said
> 18 GB.  So I asked what if I switched to commercial service.  They said
> that it was still 18 GB.
> They finally admitted that their Uverse service to our neighborhood was
> supported via DSL.
>
> The clouds parted.  What they had really rolled out in our area was
> slightly faster DSL.  Point being, Uverse is a squishy name.  If they
> can get you to switch to DSL by concealing what it is, they will do it.
> I went with TWC business class instead, about twice the throughput.
>
>    Scott C.
>
> --
> Scott Chilcote
> scottchilcote at ncrrbiz.com
> Cary, NC USA
>
> --
> This message was sent to: Wes <wes at xitechusa.com>
> To unsubscribe, send a blank message to trilug-leave at trilug.org from that
> address.
> TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> Unsubscribe or edit options on the web  :
> http://www.trilug.org/mailman/options/trilug/wes%40xitechusa.com
> Welcome to TriLUG: http://trilug.org/welcome
>