In looking at some potential options for ETS going forward, one question is what sort of Internet connection do most of our visitors have? Please take a moment to fill out this poll.

We just did a survey just like this for AT&T (a client of ours) and I've done this survey in a few other markets, and it's always the same:

55-65% DSL
35-40% Cable
5% and less dialup.

For what it's worth, I'm posting this via a Treo 650, which is configured as a dialup networking "modem" connected wirelessly via Bluetooth to a Macbook Pro. I also have used the Verizon wireless broadband card recently and ordered one of my own today. That's a 770K connection that works in most metro areas and while mobile.

In a connectivity survey we did for another company, we also found that FIOS - the fiber-to-the-home service is growing astonishingly fast. Finally, we're seeing a slow, but steady, increase in the use of metro Wi-Fi. It's still down in the range of statistical noise, but it's starting to show signs of real growth.

Martin,

Thanks much for the feedback. I suspect we'll get similar results, but I suppose I'm a belts and suspenders type of guy. I am loathe to shut out even a small portion of the ETS visitor population, but... <shrug>

Why do the totals appear not to add to 100%?

Glenn

The results I just looked at as of the timestamp on my post were:

• High Speed - Cable: 48% (36 votes)
• High Speed - DSL: 36% (27 votes)
• High Speed - Other: 8% (6 votes)
• Dial-up: 8% (6 votes)

These do add up to 100% and the percentages are correct.

You might be confusing the counts and the percentages. Right now it shows 48%+36%+8%+8%=100%.

I have cable but I hope the site won't need it.

In a survival situation I may need to reach the website for critical info. What's the recommended procedure for cobbling together an Internet connection using string, a knife and duct tape? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Well, I don't know if my opinion is wanted, but I'm going to give it. First, my background is that I've been an internet tech support specialist for over 5 years. I'm actually a supervisor for embarq DSL and I've worked with Direcway Satellite, Dialup (28-56k), ISDN, and a wide variety of DSL (SBC, Qwest, verizon, embarq, covad) ..

Here's my recommendation. If you are looking for reliability and ease of use I highly recommend cable. This is specifically because the architecture of cable lends itself to a trouble-free setup and configuration. Further it's far easier to maintain a quality cable network versus DSL. DSL suffers from a line quality issue which specifically means that if you are further away from the central office your connection gets exponentially worse.

Further the phone system is about 100 years old. There's alot of phone equipment on the lines which can greatly interfere with DSL.

Now from a security aspect, DSL is more secure. DSL offers a dedicated connection (versus shared) which means that your line is literally that: YOUR LINE. If they run out of room on the server it doesn't mean your connection slows, it means that no one else gets sold an account until an upgrade is performed. Cable connections have significant security difficulties because of the shared architecture; it's alot easier to get hacked if you're not a security geek on cable. DSL you generally have two layers of NAT firewalling. one from the modem to the pc and the other on the backend in a system called a redback. Bottom line is it's more secure.

Avoid satellite connections like the plague.

That being said, just so you know I use cable. I keep my system secure and enjoy the no hassle connectivity and generally higher bandwidth than DSL allows.

Ciao!

Depends on where I am. Everything from dial up on Eisenhour era lines to a good chunk of a ten meg line. And our overseas friends might be on dialups that are almost fast as some of the slower broadband options out there, the only reason why the US is maxed at 56K (theoretical) is because US law says so.

Doug, what I will say is that it sounds like you are thinking about adding flashiness. The basic forum can be a dog on dial up already, as can the main site, just because of the shear amount of information. Making them more bandwidth intensive would suck unless there was a REALLY good reason and an option to get around the flashy bits.