Those on Comcast Internet Essentials are getting some good news, with the ISP's low-income plan doubling its speed for the same price. Launched in 2011, and then extended indefinitely in 2014, Internet Essentials had until now been offering 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up.
One would think that using your own equipment that you bought yourself would mean avoiding having to rent something similar and pay for that rental. That common-sense line of thinking, however, didn't seem to apply to Internet broadband providers who still charge subscribers for the ISP-provided routers they don't use anyway. Starting next week, however, that will finally become illegal thanks to a new law that was actually written to protect consumers from hidden cable-TV subscription fees.
Google Fiber has switched on its fastest service ever, with 2 Gig downloads promising double the speed of the ISP's already-potent connection. A work-in-progress since Google's internet provider arm announced it would be testing 2 Gig back in August, the good news is that it's not extortionately priced. The bad news, though, is that availability is very limited.
Eero today announced a new initiative that will see it take its business in a surprising direction. The Amazon-owned company has revealed Eero for Service Providers, which is described as a "premium hardware and software offering" that's aimed at helping internet service providers bolster their WiFi services. So, it might not be long before your ISP is shipping you an Eero-made mesh router with their own branding on it.
SpaceX is building 120 of its Starlink satellites each month, paving the way for a significant expansion in its wireless internet service, but also potentially causing more concern over those worried about the impact on astronomy. Starlink will use a mesh of low-orbit satellites to deliver internet access to users equipped with an auto-tracking dish that can be mounted on a home or RV. However it has not met with universal approval.
SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation may be starting to take shape in orbit, but we're only just starting to find out what the user-experience of the internet service will be like down on the ground. Elon Musk's ambitious plan to build a network of satellites tens of thousands in number will eventually, if the plan pans out, deliver internet connections to areas previously underserved by ISPs or offline altogether.
Oregon has taken the latest step in its effort to maintain an open Internet. On Monday, Governor Kate Brown signed the state's net neutrality bill, which passed the Oregon House in February and was sent to Brown in early March. The bill prohibits state entities from doing business with Internet service providers that don't follow net neutrality principles.
Back in November of 2017 we took a look at a bit of legislation from the FCC that'd all but destroy the program called Lifeline. Lifeline was created all the way back during the Reagan administration to help the poor afford telephone service. The FCC during the W Bush administration updated Lifeline to include wireless internet, then the FCC during Obama's presidency updated Lifeline to include broadband. Now the Trump FCC wants to gut Lifeline like a fish.
The days of content software receiving notices of copyright infringement from their internet service providers are about to come to an end. The Center for Copyright Information announced today that it's killing off its Copyright Alert System, which began seeing use four years ago. The system would send a number of warnings to consumers when ISPs, studios, and artists detected copyright infringement through P2P file sharing, with different punishments envisioned depending on how many warnings a person had received.
When I want to check on my internet speed at home, or anywhere else, I typically go to SpeedTest.net. The site has been around for years, and has never failed to give me the data that I’m looking for. However, the site can be a bit overwhelming for some people. And that’s why Netflix has decided to launch their own speed testing site, simply called Fast.
Gigaclear is an ISP serving Britain and the company is set to trial a blazing fast internet service that is aimed at businesses and consumers. The company claims to have launched the fastest internet package available in Britain with speeds of up to 5Gbps. That much speed comes thanks to fiber optic connectivity.
Last week, the UK telecom TalkTalk was hit with a cyberattack, and a short while later it revealed that a ransom had been made by an individual claiming to be behind the hack. The cyberattack was described as being “significant and sustained,” though later on it stated the attack wasn’t as bad as previously feared. Now a teenager has been arrested by law enforcement in Northern Ireland in connection to the cyberattack.