nanog mailing list archives

Re: New minimum speed for US broadband connections


From: Wayne Bouchard <web () typo org>
Date: Fri, 28 May 2021 06:18:30 -0700

I fear there are too many areas that are still limited by *dsl
technology so trying to define a certain minimum for upstream
transmission rates is problematic. (Also a pet peave of mine since it
makes moving video and audio project files areound a PITA.)

Personally, I think we're probably best sticking with the current
figures until what is widely available as a top end service begins to
reflect different figures and I don't see that that has happened yet.

-Wayne

On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 08:29:08PM -0400, Sean Donelan wrote:

What should be the new minimum speed for "broadband" in the U.S.?


This is the list of past minimum broadband speed definitions by year

year  speed

1999  200 kbps in both directions (this was chosen as faster than 
dialup/ISDN speeds)

2000  200 kbps in at least one direction (changed because too many service 
providers had 128 kbps upload)

2010   4 mbps down / 1 mbps up

2015   25 Mbps down / 3 Mbps up (wired)
         5 Mbps down / 1 Mbps up (wireless)

2021   ??? / ??? (some Senators propose 100/100 mbps)

Not only in major cities, but also rural areas

Note, the official broadband definition only means service providers can't 
advertise it as "broadband" or qualify for subsidies; not that they must 
deliver better service.

---
Wayne Bouchard
web () typo org
Network Dude
http://www.typo.org/~web/


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