America’s Internet Isn’t Ready for the PS4, Xbox One

"The PS4 and Xbox One beckon you online. But if you live in America, your Internet may not support your dreams"

[sigfredod]

A reliable and fast internet is still an issue, only a few european and asian countries have a real top notch service and even them in just specific cities, it will be a while until a real fast internet service is available for everyone

[darthv72]

Next on the president's agenda....affordable internet act.

@cleft....zing

[cleft5]

Actually, I would be okay with that but only if they had someone else design their web site.

[decrypt]

Haha if the government designed anything it would be a catastrophe just like Obombacare. Most people insurances actually cost them more now before Bombacare.

[Jeedai Infidel]

NO. Do not let the government, especially this administration, ever regulate the internet. They would appoint an internet Tzar that would monitor the sh*t out of everything we do on here. Don't get me started about these Marxist/Progressive clowns that are ruining this country. Sorry.

[Corpser]

We'll give everyone internet access by giving fines to those that don't have one!

[KillrateOmega]

Crap! Someone beat me to the Obamacare website joke...

[GameSpawn]

@Darth and Cleft - Lolz.

@Jeedai Infidel
Take off the tin foil man. We aren't talking full on regulation here. Just a kick in the pants to ISPs to (1) lower their outrageous rates - (2) funding for government development projects to seriously upgrade the infrastructure responsible for delivering the internet throughout the country.

Personally I think there are more important aspects of the US's infrastructure that are in dire need of repair/upgrading vs the internet, but it is definitely an issue that needs addressing.

[dcbronco]

The Pricing on American Internet is so high because there is no real competition. Except for a few markets. Washington DC is one of those markets and Comcast offers 150mbs ans Verizon offers 300mbs.But the country has been divided amongst the companies so that they don't rip each others profits apart. It's the "free market" we hear so much about.

[kreate]

@darth

For the first time, i agree with u with a smile.

[cogniveritas]

Google is coming to the rescue http://www.google.com/loon/

[FarEastOrient]

They're not coming fast enough, come on Google we know you can do it.

[Battlefieldlover]

I have 30 down and 5 up. PS3 only showed 10down and 1.5 up and I was happy with my online gaming. If the ps4 (which is in KS right now) can get more I'll be happy as hell :)

[Toman85]

I have 100mbit up and 100mbit down (100/100mbit) with fiber. Then my internet is ready for PS4 and Xbox One :)

But im not a american hehe :P

[Battlefieldlover]

@Toman You have 100mbps upload?!?! Holy shiiiii"tacos are good". No offence but stay out of US severs, we can handle that kind of awesome.

Edit: Can't

[AirHype]

I get business class speeds from comcast to my home free :))

[Neonridr]

I always go wired whenever I can. I have a port switch at the back of my TV stand with an ethernet cable running through the wall to around the corner where my router is located. You can't see any of the wires, and this makes my Wii U, 360, TV and Home Theatre systems all used wired connections.

[UnHoly_One]

Yeah my cable modem and router is in my entertainment center, so ALL of my stuff is wired.

Although now that I think about it, I probably need to grab a bigger switch to add more connections, or else I'm going to have to change my PS3 and 360 to wireless.

I can't imagine this guy was having so many problems, even with a 12 mbps connection. When mine was slower than that I could still multitask like crazy and never had issues with voice chat or anything.

[Neonridr]

My connection is 15mbps. I usually am not doing a lot of internet heavy traffic while I am playing online though, so I usually don't have any issues. If I am downloading a game from Steam or streaming movies, I usually do that when I am not doing any online gaming.

[AaronMK]

Just because his connection is rated at 12 Mbps does not mean he actually gets that speed.

When I had paid for a 20 Mbps connection on Verizon, I got those speeds consistently with everything for which you could reasonably expect.

With Bright House I have at least 15 Mbps, but it is a crap-shoot if I actually get that speed, most of the time I don't. (For example, it struggles to keep up with Netflix streams which max out at 7 Mbps when that is the only thing running.)

[SpinalRemains138]

Speak for yourself. I have superb data speeds here in NY.

[Cyb3r]

Most people don't

[True_Samurai]

Got good internet at home in Alabama and at my college

[saikorican]

Once again, that is good for you but most people don't. High speed reliable Internet is still ugh more expensive/hard to find than it really needs to be at least in my case in the US.

[Hicken]

I think, rather than speaking for every single individual, the article is talking about "in general."

In other words, far too many people DON'T have superb data speeds. I mean, do all 300+ million Americans live in New York?

[SpinalRemains138]

No, but the US has many many urban areas with superb data. You see, most of those 300 million are concentrated within those areas. Those are the customers.

Yes the US is huge and yes there are areas which lack the infrastructure to run contemporary technology through a high speed internet connection, but we can't make the mistake of speaking as if the US is internet is so bad that "its not ready for ps4..."

That just isn't true.

[Hicken]

Not true at all. Here in Atlanta, we've got wifi out the wazoo, but general internet speeds are pretty slow.

In fact, about the only places that are really ready are the few cities with Google Fiber. Everybody else is just pretending.

[Death]

Maybe someone should let the author know that wifi limits your internet speeds. The reason it is recommended plugging into the ethernet jack is these limits are removed. It doesn't matter how fast you providers speed is if the wireless speed your router has is capped.

[AaronMK]

While more wireless devices will cut down on wireless capacity available for each device, the bottleneck for most people is still their Internet connection, even with many devices on the same access point.

[TheFallenAngel]

My 4g is ready.

[CalebZachary8411]

60 MBPS ready.

[pivotplease]

That's like science fiction compared to what we have here. I have 5 MBPS and it's actually drastically better than my old "high-speed" internet which was probably 1 MBPS

[Cobberwebb]

It's Mbps(Megabits), MB=Megabytes ;)

[dcj0524]

LOL ONE? lol sorry. I just got off of a 7mpbs connection to a 50 ( they ripped me off SO BAD the 50 only costed $20 more dollars) and although I have a family with multipke connections it was slow as sh!t.

[pivotplease]

Ya I didn't think there were capitals there. I was just going for consistency with the previous comment. But yeah... the vast majority of rural Canada is only pulling off numbers that barely put dial up to shame (literally cannot find above 10 without exorbitant monthly fees).

[MightyNoX]

You do realize there are OTHER countries in the world, right? That's not arguing the point of the article, that's reinforcing it. The whole world's infrastructure cannot support an always-online DRM with no physical media.

[KingPin]

probably only 5% of the world has internet ready for ps4 and xbox one.

[Jeedai Infidel]

That's kind of sad in 2013.

[Battlefieldlover]

Holy molely, I've never been in the top 5 percent of anything... Ya me :)

[cellfluid]

We good out here in new York... Verizon or optimum online.. Take ya pick

[lazyboyblue]

If you don't have great internet you can buy xbox 360. - microsoft

[solidboss07]

Our American friends need to get a PS4 to fulfill their dreams. As for Internet, we are all in the same boat.
Only South Korea, and Japan have good internet connectivity. Hell, their Wi-Fi puts our Broadband Internet to shame.

[dcj0524]

Dude. Their mobile data is faster than my "high-speed internet".

[kingPoS]

Oh 'Snap' you're right. That's faster than my 3mb dsl. http://www.youtube.com/watc...

3G is is good enough for the Vita... in Japan.

Gateway MT6706 2008

[solidboss07]

Dude, that's what I am trying to say.

[HammerKong]

if this is case with U.S, so what with other countries ,they must be much preety backward in terms of internet,even in india they have 512kb/sec in common and those who have 7.2mb/s are not allowed to go above 5gb for a month.

[Eck0]

you'll be surprised how slow the internet is here in the U.S. compared to some other well developed countries... U.S is like dial up compared to them..

[HammerKong]

what is common internet speed in U.S ,i dont know now but soon i will get to know when i will be there to study further ,but i would like to know it from you.

[Battlefieldlover]

@hammer. I think "average" is 7 down and 1 up. I pay a pretty penny for 30 down and 5 up and there is still an option in my area for 50 down and 5 up.

[Godmars290]

That's going to become clear quickly.

[MaverickStar7]

Its not that the internet speed is not capable in the US, its that the US is not as small and densely populated as other countries. Outside of cities and towns, many people live in areas where high speed internet is not available and the cost to run lines out to everyone is just too much.

[Ravenor]

In Canada it's largely the same deal, I live on the outskirts of a small city and I've been waiting for Fiber Optics to get out here for what feels like ages. In Toronto though I had fairly reliable 150mbs down, and where I am now I'm down to 25mbs.

I miss the city. :(

[MaverickStar7]

I live in a small "city" in Virginia, just south of Washington, DC. I have no problem with the internet. I've had Fiber Optics for years. My friend who lives 6 miles from me, and only 15 minutes from the center of town can't get it. Outside that there is a lot of territory where people live in rural areas and have crap internet. I imagine thats even worse out in the middle of the country. Its all about the infrastructure.

[AaronMK]

@MaverickStar7

I think I know the town you are talking about.

It is all the more frustrating for its residents because Verizon was scheduled to roll out Fios there. Right as it was about to happen, Verizon decided rolling out fiber did not make business sense and cancelled all new deployments.

I remember most people in the area having at least two or three big players competing for dollars, with prices and service reflecting that, except for that town where your friend lives.

Verizon seemed to be the only company doing meaningful upgrades to our infrastructure in more than a few cities. Too bad they quit and no one has really stepped up since.

[isa_scout]

This is the only thing that leaves me worried about the industry going digital. I get 2.4MBps and it moves like a damn snails pace. Frontier says they can't get it any higher until 2015 when they replace the station, then I'll be able to get 15MBps. Until then though I'm stuck with this shite. God how did I ever survive as a teeanager with dial-up?

[Jeedai Infidel]

At least we don't have to yell at our sisters to get off the phone so we can download five songs per hour, lol.

[joeyisback]

my 105 mpbs speed is ready :-D

[Felonycarclub8]

I have to download things after midnight when nobody around my area seem to be using it, bright house sucks and is so expensive

[Holeran]

I pay $65 a month for comcast cable and my current readings off speedtest are 10ms ping 74.27 download and 11.85 download. I think that should be sufficient.

[Eck0]

holy hell.. im sure we got the same package.. but on my good days i only get close to 55-57 mb/s like 11.5 up

[N8]

100% agree. Our data plans are a ripoff on top of it

[shaft0140]

America ranks #11 on worldwide internet speeds.

What happened to Google Fiber? Any of you lucky people have it?

[---stone---]

Austin Tx, Provo Ut and Kansas City are the only cities that have the Google Fiber architecture that I can recall at the moment. (would love to have it in my area)

[BattleTorn]

Canada has decent speeds. (major city btw)

[Zancruz]

Fiber cable needs to be everywhere.... Service is cheaper and faster than Cable Internet.

[FlyingFoxy]

I thought around 10-20mbps was the average today? Been on 100mbps down 10mbps up for quite a while now. In the UK of course.

[lassenwolf]

Dude is full of it. Comcast non subsidized is 30 megs. They doubled their speed. Second the consoles don't even run as fast as pc and its the same networks as far as isp's.Even with ps4 and xbox1 you would only need 10 megs. The wiiu has been out a year and , its not a factor with comcast,tw,charter, Att. etc. etc. The article is full of poop. I worked for tw and comcast. It will be the servers if theres as issue. And comcast sells 100 meg if you want it. In 2014 comcast is going to 200 meg as a max. Banwidth can downscale from a Modem it won't upscale unless the firmware will allow it like a docsic 3 modem will do 100 meg but non 3 won't even if your paying for it. and the modem must not be tapped off by Isp

[Muadiib]

I have 8 megs and I see absolutely no reason to go any faster than that honestly, I can stream movies in 1080p with no problems and I doubt I will ever download full sized games digitally as I can get hard copies for way cheaper on amazon (no tax here in Jersey). It helps that I live alone and I'm not using wifi I suppose.

[KingDadXVI]

The number one problem he has is that he is one PSN which is notorious for not being the best when it comes to on line play or chat.

He is correct in that you need a decent connection but much of that depends on the servers you are connecting to and whether you are gaming on a peer 2 peer system which requires one of the online gamers to host the game on their console. If their connection sucks then the match sucks period.

This is one of the main differences you will see with the Cloud infrastructure that the Xbox One is bringing to the game (yes I think the name "Cloud" is lame too). One of the advantages that the Xbox One has is that it will have its 300,000 servers located world wide so that your game will be hosted by their server with guaranteed high bandwidth and low ping times. These servers are also distributed world wide so access will be readily available to anyone who has a broadband connection.

At a bare minimum you should have at least 3 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up for decent gaming. This does not take into account ping times which can be affected by the type of broadband you have (i.e. DSL is affected by distance from your node). Your home network setup can definitely have an affect on ping times and speeds as well. Your console should be behind as few transfer points in your system as possible (preferably connected directly to your high speed modem (it is generally your gateway/router also) and not a splitter. On top of that you should avoid wireless if at all possible for both gaming and streaming (too much chance of interference and speed drops). You are much better off to use a Cat 5e or even better Cat 6 wired Ethernet connection.

I personally have 3 PC's, 3 Xbox 360's, 1 WiiU, 1 PS3, and 3 HD Smart TV's wired to my home network and have 2 laptops, 2 smart phones, and 3 printers on the same network via wireless. My internet, TV, and phone are all feed from a fiber op line to the house. The wired network is all Cat 6. The gaming consoles that get played the most online are directly connected to the modem as they are the most sensitive to latency/ping time. The HDTV feed and pc's are all run though a 12 way splitter to the modem. I should also not that one of my pc's is a HTPC (home theater pc) that I set up to stream movies and other media to my TV's all in HD which requires up to 25 Mbps on my internal network.

I have absolutely zero problem having 2 consoles gaming online at the same time while someone else is streaming HD media to a TV and downloading from the internet at 10 to 12 Mbps.

That being said I have 80 Mbps down and 25 Mbps up which is middle ground here in Canada. The 80/25 Mbps only comes into play for the gaming and internet however.

In this guys case even if he only has 12 Mbps which is definitely on the low end of the spectrum here in Canada he should not be having a problem with his online gaming. Hulu HD only requires 3.2 Mbps and assuming he is getting say 1.5 Mbps download on his laptop download he should have had lots for playing Diablo 3 online. This guys issue is that he is using PSN and he is connecting to his modem via wireless. His suggestion that upping your service to 15 Mbps will improve your wireless is complete bullshit. Your wireless is limited by the structure of your house, the distance from the modem, and the bandwidth of the wireless standard the is using (generally g or n these days). Bottom line get Xbox Live and run a Ethernet cable you cheap lazy fool.

@Battle Torn It is great to be in Canada.

[Nintenja]

lol.

My ping is 40 ms on average for FPSs and can stream Netflix on two TVs, download torrents and play online without lag. :p

Maybe they meant South America.

[Harmy666]

With Google Fibre, it's possible to receive a Gigabit Internet Connection. How are we not ready yet?

[MasterCornholio]

100MBS ready

Nexus 7 2013

[Strange_Days]

120mb down 12mb up here in the UK. will be getting a free bump to 152mb next year. B-)

[naBs]

Virgin Broadband ftw? xD

[user6697483]

Everytime the government makes or messes with ends going bankrupt.

[thejigisup]

google fiber i wish i was in kansas

[ajax17]

1mbps up and 1mbps down. Yeah, I'd say I'm not ready for anything. It's fucking bullshit! Minimum speeds need to be increased to like 5mbps nationwide for all companies.

[starscream420]

I have 1 meg down and 375 kbps up.....,its the very best I can get......the switch was put in about 3 years ago. It was 2010 before I could get dsl now its so slow I can bareley get a positive kd in COD

[Chrisgamerguy]

I only get 10 Mbps download on a good day

[Benchm4rk]

Lucky to get 6 down and 1 up here. Cant even stream hd videos with out it stopping every 10 seconds to load.

[quenomamen]

That's cuz the ISP here have a monopoly and do everything they can to keep it that way.