Cable internet access

The term cable Internet access or Cable Internet refers to the delivery of Internet service over this infrastructure. Cable modems, along with DSL technology, are the two primary types of broadband Internet access.

Bit rate of business cable modem service typically range from 2 megabits per second (Mbit/s) up to 50 Mbit/s or more. The upstream rate on residential cable modem service typically ranges from 384 kilobits per second (kbit/s) to 20 Mbit/s or more. Many cable operators offer different service tiers, some with 'home' and 'business' designations.

There are two potential disadvantages to cable internet:

Like all residential broadband network technologies (e.g. DSL, FTTX, Satellite internet, WiMAX), a fixed channel capacity is shared by a population of users (in the case of cable internet, users in a neighborhood share the available capacity provided by a single coaxial cable line). Therefore, service speed can vary depending on how many people are using the service at the same time. This arrangement allows the network operator to take advantage of statistical multiplexing in order to give an adequate level of service at an acceptable price. However, the operator has to monitor usage patterns, and scale the network appropriately, to ensure that customers receive adequate service even during peak usage times. Some operators also use a bandwidth cap.

Many cable Internet providers are reluctant to offer cable modem access without tying it to a cable television subscription. They do this by charging higher rates, say $60/month for cable modem only access, than if one bundles it with a cable TV plan where it might be $40/month for cable modem service plus $40/month for cable TV service. This has ramifications similar to those of the lack of naked DSL. Cable internet access providers who resell access from cable companies, such as Earthlink, are typically not subject to these higher rates. However, they can't give you internet access if you do not have cable service.

Cable Internet Equipment

Broadband cable internet access requires a cable modem (CM) at the customer premises and a CMTS located at a cable operator facility (typically a headend or hub location). The two are connected via coaxial cable or, more commonly, a Hybrid Fiber Coaxial plant. While access network technologies are sometimes referred to as "last-mile" (or "first-mile") technologies, cable internet systems can typically operate where the distance between the CM and CMTS is up to 100 miles (160 km).

Transfer rates offered by various cable operators

Most DOCSIS cable modems have caps (restrictions) on upload and download rates. These are set by transferring a configuration file to the modem, via TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), when the modem first establishes a connection to the provider's equipment.

One downstream channel can handle hundreds of cable modems. As the system grows, the CMTS can be upgraded with more downstream and upstream ports. If the HFC network is vast, the CMTS can be grouped into hubs for efficient management.

Some users have attempted to override the bandwidth cap and gain access to the full bandwidth of the system (often as much as 30 Mbit/s), by uploading their own configuration file to the cable modem - a process called uncapping. Uncapping is almost always a violation of the Terms of Service agreement .

United States

Comcast, the largest cable provider in the United States, caps downstream bandwidth at 4, 6, or 8 Mbit/s and upstream bandwidth at 384 kbit/s (48 kB/s), or 768 kbit/s (96 kB/s) for the 8 Mbit/s downstream package, for standard home connections. In some areas, they are offering 12 or 16 Mbit/s downstream and 2 Mbit/s (250 kB/s) upstream as a more expensive, yet speedier alternative; or to keep customers from switching to Verizon's FiOS. These differing speed options are made possible by loading a specific configuration file, for the respective pricing tier or region, into the modem. Comcast also delivers bursts of 16 to 24 Mbit/s with their 6 and 8 Mbit/s packages respectively. In January 2008, CNN reported that Comcast plans to use DOCSIS 3.0 in order to boost speeds "up to 160 megabits of data per second."

Cox Communications, another major cable provider, recently upgraded its base package to 7 Mbit/s downstream and 512 kbit/s (64 kB/s) upstream, in select markets, from its previous upgrade of 6 Mbit/s downstream and 512 kbit/s upstream. Its premier package allows downstream rates of 12 Mbit/s and upstream rates of 1 Mbit/s. In other markets, such as Fairfax, Virginia Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island the base package is 10 Mbit/s downstream and 2 Mbit/s upstream, with the premier package being 20 Mbit/s downstream and 2 Mbit/s upstream. This is mainly in response to competition from FiOS. Connecticut customers benefit from FiOS competition despite having limited deployments of AT&T's Uverse service due to the fact that the Connecticut and Rhode Island systems are part of Cox's New England network.

Cablevision, serving parts of New Jersey, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, and Connecticut, also faces competition from FiOS and currently offers the fastest 'basic' cable internet service (Optimum Online) in the US, with 15 Mbit/s Downstream and 2 Mbit/s upstream. A premium package offering 30 Mbit/s downstream and 5 Mbit/s upstream is also available.

Time Warner Cable, through its regular Road Runner cable internet service speeds vary depending upon region. Some areas offering 8 MBps[specify] downstream and 512 kbit/s upstream, while others are at 5 Mbyte/s downstream and 384 kbit/s upstream. Areas such as Albany and San Diego now have speeds of 10 Mbyte/s downstream and 1 Mbyte/s upstream. Its Road Runner Premium service also varies, with offers of speeds from 10 MBps (in the NYC Region & Central Texas) to 8 Mbyte/s downstream, and up to 1 MBps (in Central Texas) to 512 kbit/s upstream.

Mediacom, the eighth largest cable provider in the United States, through its Mediacom Online service offers download speeds of up to 8 Mbyte/s and upload speeds of up to 512 kbit/s and for its premium service, Mediacom Online Max, it offers download speeds of up to 15 Mbyte/s and upload speeds of 1 Mbyte/s. Mediacom also offers a lite version in some areas with 768 kbit/s download and 128 kbit/s upload speeds.

CableOne, offers Residential with 1.5 Mbit/s download and 200 kbit/s upload; Residential Plus with 3 Mbit/s download and 300 kbit/s upload; Residential Preferred with 4 Mbit/s download and 400 kbit/s upload; Residential PRO with 5 Mbit/s download and 500 kbit/s upload; and SOHO with 5 Mbit/s download and 768 kbit/s upload.

Charter Communications, basic service offers 3 Mbit/s download and 256 kbit/s upload. Charter now offers premium speeds of up to 10 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload.

Midcontinent Communications, serving South Dakota and parts of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska, offers three grades of service through its MidcoNet cable internet service: Limited Internet service at 128 kbit/s upload and download; Standard service with 8 Mbit/s download and 256 kbit/s upload; and MidcoNet Max with unthrottled download speed (around the DOCSIS limit of 40 Mbit/s) and 768 kbit/s upload.

Verizon FiOS, offers four tiers of residential Internet service: 5 Mbyte/s Download and 2 Mbyte/s Upload; 15 Mbit/s Download and 2 Mbit/s Upload; 20 Mbit/s Download and 5 Mbit/s Upload; and 50 Mbit/s Download and 5 Mbit/s Upload. Verizon offers higher speeds in some highly-competitive areas. It's possible to also increase the Upload speeds in some markets to 20 Mbit/s, providing the fastest Upload speed that home consumers can receieve.

Canada

Canadian cable operators offer varying levels of service based on different price points, though the actual marketing terms vary. Services offered by the major Canadian providers are included below.

Europe

Virgin Media is the largest Cable Internet provider in the United Kingdom, rebranded from a previous merger between two formerly separate cable companies, NTL and Telewest. Since May 2007, their premium package offers download speeds of up to 20 megabits per second, with upload speeds of 768 kilobits per second.

The operator Liberty Global Europe (http://lgi.com/) (formerly UGC Europe, locally known as UPC/GET(In Norway)) is in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Slovakia offers the service chello in ranges up to 36 Mbit/s downstream and 18 Mbit/s upstream.

In Sweden, Com Hem currently provides up to 24 Mbit/s downstream and up to 8 Mbit/s upstream at limited areas.

In Finland, there are three main ISP's for cable internet being Welho, Elisa and Sonera and several smaller local ones. These three largest have told of upgrades to DOCSIS 3.0 speeds as early as by the end of 2007. At least Elisa already offers 10/1M and 30/1M speeds requiring an 3.0 version modem, and providing Netgear CM232 to upgrading customers.

In Belgium Telenet provides up to 20 MBit/s

Telenet recently bought UPC Belgium (Cable deliverer in Brussels and Leuven). Telenet holds a monopoly on the Flemish cable network, thats why prices are high and included bandwidth is low. Telenet plans to use DOCSIS 3.0 as their new standards, they will use the bandwidth to support their High Definition transmissions. Mach3 is the name of this new standard, planned roll out in late 2008. Telenet and Belgacom (ADSL provider and host of the Belgium ADSL-network) hold a duopoly in Flanders. Telenet does not resell their network, they do not allow competitors.

In The Netherlands UPC Netherlands provides download speeds up to 20 Mbit/s and upload speeds up to 2 Mbit/s.

UPC and Cisco announced Europe's first deployment of Euro Docsis 3.0, in an existing cablenetwork. They successfully made testspeeds of up to 120 Mbit/s.

In Norway Get is testing Euro DOCSIS 3.0 at speeds in excess of 300 Mbit/s. with planned role out for Q4 2007

All extra upstream are 49NOK amounth

In Switzerland cablecom GmbH (http://www.hispeed.ch), the Cable Internet, TV and Telephone provider offers Internet access with 10 Mbit/s downstream and 1 Mbit/s upstream.

In the Republic of Ireland, Digiweb currently provide up to 10 Mbit/s downstream using DOCSIS cable internet over wireless microwave links (one line-of-sight link per contract).

Volia (http://volia.com), the Cable Internet and TV provider in Kiev, Ukraine offers Internet access with 38 Mbit/s downstream and 256 kbit/s upstream. Volia is currently offering the following plans:

Nadezhda (http://www.netlux.org), the Cable Internet and TV provider in Donetsk, Ukraine offers Internet access with 1 Mbit/s downstream and 1 Mbit/s upstream. Nadegda is currently offering the following plans:

Akado (http://www.akado.ru) is a major Cable Internet and TV provider in Moscow and is the largest DOCSIS-based provider in Russia. In 2006, Akado had the smallest market share of Moscow's biggest four Internet providers, but reportedly intends to upgrade to DOCSIS 2.0 in 2008. Akado currently offers the following plans:

In Germany, Kabel Deutschland provides up to 30 Mbit/s downstream and up to 2 Mbit/s upstream, tests with 100 Mbit/s downstream are currently done in Hamburg, Cablesurf up to 16 Mbit/s, Unitymedia up to 32 Mbit/s, KabelBW up to 25 Mbit/s and primacom up to 10 Mbit/s.

In Portugal, TV Cabo provides 30 Mbit/s in downstream, and 1 Mbit/s at upstream.

In Spain, Ono offers 6 Mbit/s (300 kbit/s), 12 Mbit/s (500 kbit/s) and 25 Mbit/s (1 Mbit/s) starting from September 2007

In Croatia, B.net provides up to 16 Mbit/s downstream and 1 Mbit/s upstream since November 2007. It offers the following unlimited packets:

Israel

In Israel, Hot (Israel) offers eleven residential cable broadband plans :

Singapore

In Singapore, Starhub offers five residential cable broadband plans:

Note: DOCSIS 3.0 modems (eg. Motorola SB6100) are needed to achieve speeds up to 100,000 kbit/s. MaxOnline Ultimate users with DOCSIS 2.0 modems (eg. Motorola SB5101) would be limited to 32,000 kbit/s.

Oceania

In Australia, Telstra Bigpond offers basic cable with 8 Mbit/s download and 128 kbit/s upload, and a newly revised Extreme plan with 30 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload. As of September 12, 2007, Telstra is offering Extreme with 30 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload in Melbourne and Sydney. In other areas of Australia serviced by Bigpond Cable, users of the extreme plan attain 17 Mbit/s Download and 256 kbit/s upload. OptusNet offers one standard speed of 10 Mbit/s download and 256 kbit/s upload. These cable incumbents in Australia are ramping up speeds to keep product parity with the more competitive ADSL2+ services. Regional operator Neighbourhood Cable allows users to opt for a shaped plan at a lower cost (with speeds similar to those of ADSL providers) or an "uncapped" service, which promises download speeds of up to 30 Mbit/s and upstream speeds of 2 Mbit/s.

In New Zealand, operator TelstraClear provides downstream speeds of 10 Mbit/s, 4 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s, with all plans including an upstream speed of 2 Mbit/s. A new 25 Mbit/s plan is being released in the coming months.

Philippines

[dubious – discuss]

ZpDee Internet, the cable internet arm of SkyCable Philippines offers the following speeds at the following rates to Metro Manila subscribers:

64 kbit/s downstream at P690/month

128 kbit/s downstream at P890/month

512 kbit/s downstream at P999/month

1 mbps downstream at P1999/month

1.5 Mbit/s downstream at P2999/month

In Clark, Pampanga Comclark Network and Technology Corp. offers 2 residential broadband plans.

Comclark also offers 3 Commercial broadband plans.

Offers 4 Businness broadband plans. New Package for Business establishment includes 1st 500 minutes of international calls. For more details visit http://www.comclark.com.