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0 pointsoostevo11y ago0 comments

I can't think of any place that I've lived in the US which has consistently worse broadband performance than DC and Northern Virginia. This is especially sad given Northern Virginia's density of large tech companies and history as 'internet alley'[1].

[1] http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/internet-alley

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rayiner11y ago

If D.C. and Virginia were countries, they'd be in the top 5 in Akamai's data, between Japan and Switzerland.

Retric11y ago

According to speedtest.net I have a 58 MBit download and 39 MBit upload. Yet, Netflix is basically unwatchable at around 6PM on weeknights. I literally get a better connection on my parents DSL than with Verizon Fios in Northern VA.

Remember Netflix maxes out at 3MBit/second and use useable at .75MBit/second so I am getting ~1-2% of my theoretical connection speed.

rayiner11y ago

That's an issue specific to Netflix, as far as I'm aware, and implicates a wholly separate issue. I'm fully willing to concede that U.S. telecom policy gives infrastructure companies more leverage over content companies.

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0 pointsoostevo11y ago0 comments

[1] http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/internet-alley

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rayiner11y ago

If D.C. and Virginia were countries, they'd be in the top 5 in Akamai's data, between Japan and Switzerland.

Retric11y ago

Remember Netflix maxes out at 3MBit/second and use useable at .75MBit/second so I am getting ~1-2% of my theoretical connection speed.

rayiner11y ago

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