Starry internet (starry.com) is currently installing their equipment in my apartment building, and I was wondering if people could give their opinions on whether their promises are technically possible or not.
Their core idea is that they can provide you ~200-250 megabits/second download and upload speed over a building's existing phone line wiring. The issue I'm seeing here is that my building has older phone lines. Now, I'm not an expert on cable technology, but I've taken a look at the wires in the basement and they don't seem to be even Category 3-level cable. These phone wires are the Yellow-Black Red-Green type (4 conductors total), but they don't seem to be twisted pairs. They do slightly twist around each other but they aren't at all as tightly wound as pictures I've seen of Cat 5/5e/etc Ethernet cable.
So, as a result, I've been having doubts about how much data per second can go over these wires, not to mention the quality of the connection also. Are they using some crazy new networking protocol that can somehow transfer 200 Mbps down/up over some crappy 2- or 4-conductor wires? My apartment unit currently only has coaxial wiring, and the phone line is buried somewhere in the wall in an inconvenient spot and would take some work to fish out. I've emailed them multiple times asking why they can't just use the existing coax wiring, and they won't give an exact answer. They are also hesitant to show me a demo of it working in the building.
In all, do you think what they're promising is true? I'm not doubting whether they can beam their wireless internet to the antenna on the building. But I am doubting whether they can deliver good quality and speed through these phone wires. I'm also the first (potential) user in the building so I can't ask anyone else in the building.
No comments:
Post a Comment