U.S. Internet Speeds slow

[Demon_Skeith]

Today, Akamai released its "State of the Internet" for the last quarter of 2012 and TechCrunch reports that though America has increased Internet speeds by 28 percent year-over-year, it still clocks in at 8th place overall.

Outclassed by Japan, Latvia, and Switzerland, among others, the U.S. has an average Internet speed of 7.4 mbps. The U.S. has some serious year-over-year jumps, but its paltry increase of 2.3 percent since the last quarter indicates that the country may be stabilizing a bit and not experiencing as big of a growth in speeds as once previously seen. However, roughly 19 percent of U.S. citizens experience Internet speeds above 10%, so there's hope that the country will catch up to its next fastest competitor, the Czech Republic.

While South Korea remains firmly in the top spot (roughly seven times faster than the average), TechCrunch notes that there's actually been a dip in the country's overall Internet speeds. Users currently browse at speeds that are 4.4 percent slower than last quarter, and 13 percent slower than 2011. South Korea is the only country in the top 10 to have a decrease in speeds, but others only received modest increases over the last quarter.

source

And MS wants to push a always online system on us. Just fail.

 

[froggyboy604]

I read a recent article publish in April 2013 that the Next Xbox won't be always on according to http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/10/next-xbox-is-not-always-online-contains-xtv-new-360-sku-makes-it-backwards-compatible

No “always online”; new Xbox 360 add-on for backwards compatibility

7.4 Mbps is not the fastest, but if the 7.4 Mbps is always at 7.4 Mbps, it is fast enough for HD video streaming on YouTube, and Netflix Super HD video which need 7.0Mbps according to https://support.netflix.com/en/node/306 . It is also fast enough for the recommended speed for Onlive which is 5Mbps : https://support.onlive.com/entries/22264983-computer-and-internet-requirements-for-pc-mac#minimum

A lot of people play Diablo, newer Assasin Creed, and SimCity which has always online requirement, and the game is playable even with people with slower broadband internet.

A lot of people mostly use the internet for text and picture based social networking on Facebook and Twitter, e-mail, and visiting websites, forums, and blogs where 7.4 Mbps is good enough for text and picture based internet.

I think the main reason for the decrease in speed is people who became poor like people who live in Detroit where unemployment is high are subscribing to cheaper internet like dial-up, and slower broadband, or just using the internet on their smartphone, tablet, or at school because they can't afford a better and faster internet plan which is more expensive.