Feedback about HOT as an isp

[geoffrey mendelson]

On 1/5/2014 10:06 PM, Mord Behar wrote:
>
>
> Also remember that HOT uses co-ax cable and not DSL lines, so they 
> really can't give you any kind of assurances as to upload/download 
> speed. It depends on how man people in your area are connected to the 
> cable and how much they are using the internet at any given time.
That's both untrue and not true. HOT (actually 4 cable companies that 
merged to become HOT) got into the game so late that there 
infrastructure is fiber optic cable, not coax. Their fiber optic cable 
is leased from BEZEQ.

They use fiber optic cable to connect to their local distribution point 
(aka "on your block") and then coax to connect to your home.

BEZEQ, now that NGN has been deployed throught (most of) the country, 
uses fiber optic cable to your block and then copper to your home. In 
some places where there is lots of existing copper wire to switching 
offices, they run copper all the way to switch for VOICE and overlay 
vDSL on your block.

aDSL is dead here, it has been replaced with vDSL equipment which can 
run at 15 megabits or below in aDSL-2 compatibility mode, although poorly.

Personally I don't know how long that the overlay is going to last, 
there is more than enough scrap value in the copper wire to make it 
worth replacing it all with fiber end to end.

Since they are primarily a TV service, they use DOCISS to emulate IP. 
BEZEQ uses ATM and emulates ethernet. Both are switched packet networks, 
and neither bear any resemblance to IP.

As for upload/download speed, BEZEQ and HOT both overcommit their 
bandwidth. The most BEZEQ will guarantee, is 20mbit download/1.5mbit 
upload. If you buy a vDSL line with higher bandwith, you are competing 
with your neighbors.

Then of course, your ISP does not have 20megabits per second of incoming 
or outgoing bandwidth reserved for you. When things get busy, your 
available bandwidth goes down.

You can of course buy real fiber to your home, and get real bandwidth to 
your ISP, and dedicated bandwidth to anywhere in the world you want to 
pay for it. It's not cheap. It used to be about $1000/month per megabyte 
to the US, I hope by now it has gotten cheaper.

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson 4X1GM/N3OWJ
Jerusalem Israel.