Friday, April 26th 2019
Net Netrality Redux: COX Service Provider Launches "Elite Gamer" Fastlane Add-on Service
I'll abstain from commenting and just let you guys sort this news piece out: internet service provider Cox has introduced a new fast lane option to their internet service. Dubbed the "Elite Gamer" add-on, the optional $15 service will work to ensure gamers get the best possible experience in their favorite multiplayer games. According to Cox, this "hidden" fastlane for internet traffic will be routed through a gaming-centric routing network, which will allow for up to "34 percent less lag, 55 percent fewer ping spikes, and 45 percent less jitter" than its existing internet service.
Apex Legends, Fortnite and Overwatch are the current games being touted as having specific routing pathways, and this will work with absolutely no input from the user. Data packets from these applications will be automatically sorted and rerouted through Cox' servers, which also means that this service does exactly - and limitedly - what it aims to. There will be no other improvements to the overall "interneting" experience: it's a cool $15 for what amounts to (prospectively) higher K/D ratios. It remains to be seen what impact this actually has in the competitive scene, and whether or not the listed games' lag compensation techniques serve to even the playing field somewhat. Let me throw a small wrench into the equation here: more services like this will eventually appear, which may or may not be specifically geared towards gaming. Nothing prevents ISP's from creating application or content-specific data caps, for which you'll then have to purchase data bundles or subscription services (this happens in Portugal already, but it's mostly limited to mobile bandwidth). A bright, split-lane future awaits all of us.
Source:
via Tom's Hardware
Apex Legends, Fortnite and Overwatch are the current games being touted as having specific routing pathways, and this will work with absolutely no input from the user. Data packets from these applications will be automatically sorted and rerouted through Cox' servers, which also means that this service does exactly - and limitedly - what it aims to. There will be no other improvements to the overall "interneting" experience: it's a cool $15 for what amounts to (prospectively) higher K/D ratios. It remains to be seen what impact this actually has in the competitive scene, and whether or not the listed games' lag compensation techniques serve to even the playing field somewhat. Let me throw a small wrench into the equation here: more services like this will eventually appear, which may or may not be specifically geared towards gaming. Nothing prevents ISP's from creating application or content-specific data caps, for which you'll then have to purchase data bundles or subscription services (this happens in Portugal already, but it's mostly limited to mobile bandwidth). A bright, split-lane future awaits all of us.
97 Comments on Net Netrality Redux: COX Service Provider Launches "Elite Gamer" Fastlane Add-on Service
In US an electrical engineer makes around $100k a year. We live in suburbs so far one from another that we have to drive 30-40 minutes to work. Yeah, you have to take the good with the bad - I don't have to hear my neighbor above me playing loud manele at 2AM.
Population Density per square mile:
USA 87.4
England 1,349
Germany 595
Cheap, fast, reliable and <5ms ping to Chicago.
Please, stop defending shitty practices the USA ISP's has.
And sure, every one of those "evil" companies should give away free stuff... You start first, go to work and demand not to be paid for what you do. Oh, wait, probably you are not working anyway...
"Isn't" was refering to the net neutrality debate, at any rate. No one in that cares about upload it's all about fast lanes.It's pretty damn bad here, truth be told. If you don't believe it look abroad in countries with a similar economic development level for a few minutes. Pretty much only the UK and Australia/New Zealand has it this bad. Those are Islands.
Of course, it's good to point out the vast majority of Canada and USA is rural terrain, makes it harder to provide service. But not THAT much harder.
Yeah, you can tell people "Don't like it? Leave!" but honestly that is not how most things work. Emmigration isn't easy and many people like their home.Not really. If anything they are competitive across most of europe on average. But the taxes are much higher.
ya, our internet sucks, but alot of that has to do with the fact that people continue to vote for those who would keep it that way. another part has to do with the fact that the U.S. system of government is designed so that change happens slowly. its to make sure things dont go so far out of line they cant be corrected. in addition, our citys are so far apart from one another in some places and that adds to the cost. then there is a problem with the amount of debt the u.s. is in. if a company charges more for their services and makes more profit so does the tax man. once the debt goes up in flames than the rest of the world will see how cheap their fast service really is. the cost of services in those parts of the ward is distributed fairly well among the working class but if they have no jobs because nobody is buying what they have to offer than that service is going to be either vary limited or non existent.
You often do not even have more than one ISP in whatever location, because any newcomer is blocked due to absurd rules made by lobying, and then the sole provider does whatever they want and people swallow it, because there is no alternative. Again, because no one can come in.
The company I work in has business in USA. Oh, AT&T, go die in a dumpster fire.
So the result was that, after I spent 5 extra years of my life in a prison called university, I was supposed to work hard and make lots of money. So politicians can take a big chunk of my money to give it away as bribe to fellow voters that were to lazy or too stupid to go further than a high school or aquire some useful skills.
So I moved in a country that I thought it represents the last basion of the free enterprise and freedom. Left everyone that I love, that I knew behind.
Now the free loaders are coming here too. Because politicians know that stupid, welfare-dependent voters are easier to bribe/convince... The free-loaders are electing more and more politicians in their image. Until this country runs out of other people money, like the one they just left. And what locusts do next? Move to the next green pasture.
Until there are no more green pastures left, and locusts will die - of hunger, or fighting for the last scrapes of food. Together with their host.
After all its fun and games over there. :roll:
Really feeling for poor folks in US. In so-called 3rd World you are happy if you can check e-mail without problems or government reading every single word. In US it is the other way round. They still read every single word, but You have to pay through the roof to get decent enough service. And I don't even talk major FTTH infrastructure. When I read how much people in US are forced to pay even for ADSL it's mind-boggling. ironic we had debate like that on TechSpot last week. I have no intention of Copy/Paste. Suddenly South Korea or EU are like oasis of cheapest internet connectivity imaginable (excluding of course extreme cases like living on top of Alps or on some tiny little island in the Orkney).
Guys do what you do best over there. Sue the crap of US gov for screwing your lives. :)
The workers that put that in and maintain the network want to be paid $25-30/hr. Plus benefits. That's great, isn't?
City, state wants taxes for Internet infrastructure. If they sell telephone service or CATV, those are exempted, because the law was made in 1984 and never updated.
So now they force us to buy "bundles" to qualify for exemption. The Internet-only service is made more expensive to allow for the "bundles" discounts. The channels on CATV want money for their programs, so that's another cost. Especially for the stupid sports channels, watched by stupid people.
A public company has to make money, because the people that bought their shares want a return. Those people are mostly 401K pension type of people, that want to retire and have that extra financial nest on top of a measly Social Security (in US you can't live of the Social Security).
Yeah, is not because "they" are greedy. We all are greedy. Greed is good in general, moves people off their asses and makes them do things that they can sell to others (goods/products). If they are also smart and lazy, they might invent things to make the production of those goods/services easier.Yeah, you keep thinking that... meanwhile keep using your "free" gmail, facebook, instagram and whatever you use.
But some backstory is fitting.
For a long time there was one telephone operator in Norway (Telagrafverket) , it was state owned, funded in 1855 and was first in the telegraph business and expanded to telephone.
During the 1990’s the telephone market was deregulated, and in 2000 the state owned company, now called Telenor, was privatized, but with the national government still retaining a governing share in the company.
In the late 70’s the national telephone grid was basically obsolete, the hole backbone was therefore rebuilt with fiber infrastructure during the 90’s. This meant that the only copper wires were the last mile to the consumer. When the market was deregulated and there was competition Telenor was still the owner of the mentioned copper wires to every home, but was forced to rent the wires to its competitors at cost prices.
Just recently there was a press release that Telenor no longer will repair the copper wires, as more and more fiber is being rolled out to consumers. Even though the 4G coverage in Norway is reasonable (most population centers and major highways between them have good coverage) there are still some remote locations with bad cell coverage where ADSL or land lines still are the preferred communication solution.
Alowing ISPs to build and own their own parts of the fibre network is a nice idea, but the problem is that they're never going to make provision for getting fibre to rural communities, because it isn't cost-effective. If you make internet access a utility, and require providers to set aside money to ensure rural communities are connected, then nobody gets left out. Fees overall will be higher, because the urban areas essentially end cup subsidising the rural ones, but that's the tradeoff you make for equal access.
As for Cox's "fast lane" service, it's not even snake oil, it's worse: they are essentially deprioritising gaming traffic for no other reason than they can, then charging people to get back to normal priority. Net Neutrality will prevent that too.