Hasta La Gadget!

Familiar with Johnny Appleseed? He who traipsed ’round the country with a sack ‘o seeds on his shoulder, planting trees hither and yon leaving apple orchards blooming in his wake? Gig. U is similar, only it’s a project that aims to plant Gigabit networks in 29 collegiate communities to facilitate research, attract start-ups, and stimulate local economies. The plan is just getting underway, and the schools in question — including Virginia Tech, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Alaska — are asking private telcos and companies to help make their high-speed dreams a reality. In addition to benefiting the immediate areas, Gig. U sees these swift new networks functioning as hubs in a faster nationwide broadband system. The colleges claim that construction of these new information superhighways won’t start for several years, so it’ll be some time before they can help elevate us from our current state of broadband mediocrity. Chop, chop, guys.

Gig. U hopes to bring Gigabit networks and straight cash, homey, to university communities originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alanis Morrisette couldn’t have possibly thought up something this ironic to put in her hit song. On the same day Sprint launches an ad campaign trashing T-Mobile’s “unlimited” plan for throttling its data speeds, the Now Network announced that it intends to begin throttling Virgin Mobile’s broadband sometime in October. Those who use larger amounts of data on the prepaid brand will experience the briskness of 256kbps as soon as they hit a monthly threshold of 2.5GB. This won’t affect postpaid customers on Sprint for the time being, but it’s hitting a little too close to home. After all, the company — always playing the role of consumer advocate — is now at least experimenting with the idea of employing the same practices it’s currently trashing its competitors for. Those who’re taking full advantage of Dan Hesse’s spoils are safe for now, but the question remains: who’ll throttle the throttlers? Check out the vid and press release in all their irony-dripping glory after the break.

[Thanks, John]

Continue reading Sprint’s Virgin Mobile brand to test throttling while Sprint pokes fun at throttlers (video)

Sprint’s Virgin Mobile brand to test throttling while Sprint pokes fun at throttlers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Too little, too late, we’re afraid. For the past decade or so, the RIAA (amongst others) have spent every waking hour figuring out how to best sue and frighten every internet-connected human that even dares think about an illegal download. Now that said practice has failed miserably, it’s finally resorting to something sensible. The entity announced today that AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have teamed up with the RIAA and MPAA in order to agree upon a six-stage notification system that’ll electronically alert internet users whenever their account is used for wrongful downloading. It’s actually not all that much different than the systems that have been in place at Suddenlink for what feels like eons, but at least this creates a standard protocol that the whole lot can adhere to. Oh, and before you ask — under no circumstances will any of these notices result in termination of your broadband connection. There’s no way an ISP would agree to such a thing, and indeed, they haven’t here. The full run-down can be delved into below, but it’s worth noting that no extra “watching” procedures are being put into place; your ISP will only drop you a line if a content overlord asks ’em to. Good times, no?

Continue reading ISP’s agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements

ISP’s agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rick Karr is a journalist and frequent contributor to The Engadget Show.

If you’ve stayed with friends who live in European cities, you’ve probably had an experience like this: You hop onto their WiFi or wired internet connection and realize it’s really fast. Way faster than the one that you have at home. It might even make your own DSL or cable connection feel as sluggish as dialup.

You ask them how much they pay for broadband.

“Oh, forty Euros.” That’s about $56.

“A week?” you ask.

“No,” they might say. “Per month. And that includes phone and TV.”

It’s really that bad. The nation that invented the internet ranks 16th in the world when it comes to the speed and cost of our broadband connections. That’s according to a study released last year by Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society on behalf of the Federal Communications Commission.

Continue reading Why is European broadband faster and cheaper? Blame the government

Why is European broadband faster and cheaper? Blame the government originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’ll be forgiven for not being intimately familiar with Californian ISP Sonic.net, though we get the feeling you’ll also wish it operated a little closer to your abode by the time you’ve finished reading this. You see, Sonic has always dabbled in the business of high-speed, low-price internet connectivity, and now it’s going for the jugular with a new fiber-to-the-home service, which costs just $69.95 a month, reaches speeds up to 1Gbps, and bundles in two phone lines and unlimited long distance calling. Just for reference, Comcast’s “Extreme” 105Mbps connection costs $105 a pop when taken as part of a bundle, whereas Sonic’s budget menu option will net you a 100Mbps line for $39.95 (plus a phone line with unlimited calls). Understandably, Sonic’s grand plan is starting out small, with a trial in Sebastopol spanning 700 households, but provided the company doesn’t go bust by giving people so much for so little, expansion to bigger cities will follow, with San Francisco and Santa Rosa being the prime candidates. And just in case you’re questioning Sonic’s credentials, Google’s chosen the ISP to manage its gigabit fiber network at Stanford University, and who knows ultrafast broadband better than Google?

[Thanks, Roland]

Sonic.net starts trial of 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home internet in California, asks just $70 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 02:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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