Reply #40: Comcast's "rolling blackouts"

[ovidsen]

Here in Atlanta, where Comcast has a cable tv/modem monopoly, the company is apparently rationing Internet service to residential customers. My new Acer laptop has a window in the lower right hand corner that intermittently flashes "internet service on", or "internet service off". Whether this is a feature of new Acer PCs running Vista or something that's incorporated in Microsoft's Vista itself, I can't tell you.

What I can tell you is that the "internet off" notice is most evident during periods of high traffic, sugesting that Comcast is rationing its (allegedly) insufficient bandwith to neighborhods on a rotating basis. What that means in practical terms is that I might be able to access a DU story on Bush's latest antics (when the internet is "on"), but should I try to open a link within that DU story and the "internet is off" flag appears, all I get is a "sorry, you may have mis-typed an address or a cable might be loose" notice.

No mention at all that Comcast might not have the bandwidth to meet customers needs at peak hours, so it is rotating access, not unlike Southern California electricity utilities instituting "rolling blackouts" when it doesn't have the supply to meet demand during peak electrical use hours. This is all conjecture on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. Needless to say, it's highly annoying when one wants to learn about a news item during "peak hours". And it's interesting to note that as I type this at a little after 1am this Sunday morning, Web service has been as smooth as silk, with nary a glimpse of that "no internet connection" advisory.