What would you even do with a 100 mbps Internet connection?


Get it? Fast car, fast Internet connection? I’m trying, folks, believe me.

About a year ago I signed up for Cablevision’s Optimum Online Ultra, and aside from a little snafu that I’m trying to fix right now (don’t ask!), it’s been great. How could you go wrong with a reliable 100 mbps down/15 mbps up connection? Only $100/month, too. Other ISPs are getting close to offering similar speeds, thanks to Docsis 3.0, but some people are wondering: will people even need that sort of speed, and if so, then for what?

So, Cablevision already offers 100 mbps Internet connections for $100 per month. Verizon has fiber to the home, right now topping out at 50 mbps, but there’s capacity for up to 400 mbps. Even outright awful Comcast is getting in on the 100 mbps game, but so far they’ve been charging trial customers in Minnesota $370 per month. So, what I pay $100 for, Comcast wants $370. Makes sense.

The point is, thanks to Docsis 3.0, even the worst ISPs will soon be able to offer 100 mbps connections. You’ll just have to be prepared to pay a little more than you’re used to. The FCC, which wants 100 million homes to have access to 100 mbps connections by 2020, must be happy.

But, what do you do with that kind of speed? (Right now, people in South Korea and Sweden are laughing at us poor Americans for getting excited over a puny 100 mbps connection!) Like I said, I do a lot of Usenetting with Newsdemon—it’s Oscar season, what do you want? Well, if someone like Hulu or Netflix sees that’s X-Number of people now have 100 mbps connections, maybe they’ll start to offer higher-res content? Why offer something if nobody can use it?

If you give people a fast Internet connection, they’ll find ways to put it to good use, believe me.