[semi-OT] Review: Comcast Workplace cable Internet

Ben Scott dragonhawk at gmail.com
Tue Sep 11 11:36:38 EDT 2007


On 9/11/07, Jarod Wilson <jarod at wilsonet.com> wrote:
> I still don't really know what my SLA is ...

  To the best of my knowledge, if you have FiOS, you don't really have
one, same as with Comcast.

> Just haven't had reason to spend the time doing it, too many other things
> going on, and the service has never been down.

  ToS/SLA particulars are kind of like backups.  A lot of people never
worry about them when everything is fine.  But when they suddenly
become important, it's too late.  :)

  (Note that I'm not arguing you should drop everything and go read up
on this stuff.  I recognize that for a lot of people/orgs, it just
isn't that important.)

> I haven't even lost my connection when power in the neighborhood goes out.

  Interesting.  Do you have your ONT (Optical Network Terminal, the
box the fiber runs into) on an external UPS?  I've read elsewhere that
ONTs are usually provisioned with a local backup battery, but it only
runs the telephone services (not TV/data, to preserve battery for
phone).  I wonder if this is a configuration option, or dependent on
ONT model, or...

  (For those who are wondering what this is all about: Traditional
plain old telephone phone service runs entirely on power provided by
the telephone company's Central Office.  COs generally have a massive
battery plant and a backup generator, and practically never go dead.
The FiOS ONTs, on the other hand, need to be supplied electrical power
from the local premises (e.g., wall outlet).  So if you loose power at
your house, FiOS is going to last a few hours before the ONT's local
battery goes dead, and your landline phone with it.  This isn't
necessarily a major concern (especially with mobile wireless being
ubiquitous today), but it is worth being aware of.)

> ... residential TV service paired with my business data service, which
> ultimately ended up requiring two fibers ...

  Two fibers?!?!  But I thought it was all "True QAM"!!!    /SARCASM  ;-)

-- Ben


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