Does Internet Speed Vary by Season?

Wed Oct 7 14:52:22 UTC 2009

On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 7:16 AM, Patrick W. Gilmore <patrick at ianai.net>wrote:

> I read the article and the follow up posts and I wonder if we are all using
> the same definition for "speed" here.  The article seems to imply you don't
> get 6 Mbps on your DSL line in summer because the copper is hotter and it's
> harder to push electrons down the link.  That is clearly BS, the clock is
> ticking six million times per second, period.
>

So you're saying that if I put in an 8Mbps ADSL1 connection, then I'm going
to get a guaranteed 8Mbps point-to-point back to the exchange, regardless of
the quality of my phone line, or the distance from the exchange?

 That laser is blinking at 10 billion times per second whether the queue
> behind the port is full or not.  (And don't tell me the laser is quiescent
> when the queue is empty, you know what I mean.)
>

Laser?  Perhaps this is a different type of ADSL than most people here are
used to?

(I'm not saying that the article is right, but...)

  Scott