CVB IMPLEMEMENTS SMOOTH INTERNET ACCESS INITIATIVE

Although speed is necessary in a broadband Internet connection it is as important to have consistently high quality. Speed tests are typically used to measure Internet connections but they tell only the speed part of the story. Quality is measured by the consistency and latency of the connection. Ping times are often used to measure this latency.

PING

Ping times are a measure of how long it takes to get from one place on the Internet to another and back again. Ping times typically range from 10 to 150 milliseconds but can go all the way up to 500 milliseconds, or 1/2 second for some satellite connections.

JITTER

Jitter is a measure of the variance of these Pings over time. Voice over IP calls start having major problems when the ping times are over 150ms but prefer to have ping times of 100ms or less. This is why VoIP, gaming and VPN’s will not work over most satellite connections.

15ms AVERAGE

CVB currently has local network ping times to our towers that average 15ms, an exceptionally low number for a complex repeated rural wireless backhaul network. This is the result of careful engineering, state of the art equipment and backhaul link optimization. Ping times to your location will vary above this value depending on the type of wireless equipment you have, the quality of the link and the Quality Plan to which you subscribe.

CVB QUALITY PLANS

CVB Quality plans are tiered pricing levels that provide different peak speed limits and increasing priority access during any congestion of the network. Smooth Internet delivery is much more important than peak speeds for Voice over IP, VPNs, Gaming, Video and for a generally excellent Internet experience. Bandwidth is not enough for many new applications such as video streaming, gaming and VPN’s. Quality is also required. So in order to improve the quality of the CVB network we have developed the CVB Quality Control Agent .This software assists in trouble shooting network  connection difficulties and will monitor the quality of your connection over time.

                 
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RAPIDLY GROWING BANDWIDTH USAGE

Median User uses over 23 Gigabytes per month

According to a recent survey studyingbroadband usage the median broadband user generates 23 GB of Internet traffic per month up from 15 GB just six months earlier. Netflix traffic accounts for 30% of peak Internet traffic with real time entertainment feeds accounting for over 50%. CVB Customers Internet traffic is directly in line with these numbers and trends. To keep up with the growing demand for bandwidth CVB has just increased our Internet feed by 10 times and improved our backhauls throughout the CVB network. We are now focusing on increasing the capacity of our local distribution access points so we can deliver all of this bandwidth to you our CVB Customers

CVB QUALITY CONTROL AGENT

To view the “Quality Control Agent Program” go to the CVB website, www.calwisp.com. Logon to the portal. The link on the portal is under Customer Software on the right side bar. Sign-in with your user “id” by using the email address you have with CVB on file. Download and install the Quality Agent on your computer.

BEWARE OF
BANDWIDTH CAPS

A bandwidth cap, also known as a bit cap, limits the transfer of a specified amount of data over a period of time. Internet service providers commonly apply a cap when a channel intended to be shared by many users becomes overloaded, or may be overloaded, by a few users. Implementation of a bandwidth cap is sometimes termed a Fair Access Policy or Usage-based billing. Currently CVB has no data caps

Read More:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/14/att-dsl-adopts-250gb-monthly-bandwidth-cap/

http://gigaom.com/video/att-bandwidth-cap-netflix/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/atts-bandwidth-caps-a-bad-deal-for-whom.html

OUR OWN EXPERIENCE WATCHING MOVIES ON THE NEW SAMSUNG SMART TV

The first month after we added the Netflix streaming service our data usage ballooned up to 150GB with relatively modest usage, a few movies, a few seasons of my favorite TV shows. Our normal  heavy user was between 30 and 40GB per month, so adding Netflix had a definite impact

DSL, Fiber and Cable Implement Data Caps

Every day, more Americans cut the TV cable cord, opting instead to watch their favorite shows on Netflix or Hulu on their own schedule, without having to pay for a DVR. It is convenient, much cheaper than one-size-fits-all cable packages, and all you need is a high-speed Internet connection to access them. Internet service providers are increasingly placing monthly limits on each subscriber's data consumption and charging extra when the limit is surpassed. Analysts see this strategy as insurance for the future, in case viewing shifts from traditional services to the Internet. But be aware it adds up quickly on AT&T (150GB Cap), Wave (100GB Cap) and others - you will be limited which means you have a maximum of 3 hours a day of viewing.

What is 4G  

Perhaps you have heard some of the advertising about 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) from the large mobile phone carriers. LTE will allow customers to use smartphones, laptops, tablet computers and hot spots at faster speeds than the company’s current 3G mobile data network. But as with the 3G Network the throughput is expensive, spotty and best used for mobile applications. As an illustration it can cost as much as $20 in bandwidth charges to download a 2GB HD Netflix movie. Also as in the current 3G offerings reliable rural coverage will be limited to areas closer to 4G equipped cell towers.

With one of the plans it is reportedly possible to use your entire $50 5GB 4G data plan in as little as 30 minutes so be careful if you subscribe to this mobile use service. The large mobile carriers are trying to keep heavy users off the new LTE network — especially anyone who may try to use it to replace a fixed home connection. If a user wants to guzzle gigabytes, the large carriers want to make sure that person signs up for an appropriate fixed Internet solution.

Netflix’s Internet Traffic overtakes Web Surfing

Netflix traffic now takes up more of the Internet pipes going into North American homes. A study published by Sandvine Inc. shows that Netflix movies and TV shows account for nearly 30 percent of traffic into homes during peak evening hours, compared with less than 17 percent for Web browsing. Only about a quarter of homes with broadband subscribe to Netflix, but watching movies and TV shows online takes up a lot of bandwidth compared with Web surfing, email and practically every other Internet activity except file sharing and videoconferencing. YouTube traffic was driving the growth of overall Internet traffic. It now accounts for only 11 percent of traffic into the home at peak hours, according to Sandvine., Inc.

Sign up for the CVB $59.95 consumer plan which gives you the speed you need to do more online – Sign up for a Plan which also provides priority Business Service and Speed.  CVB also provides high end custom installations. Find out if it is available in your area!

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