[WEB4LIB] Re: Cable Internet for library services

[Andrew I. Mutch]

Bob,

I was involved in some initial discussion of bringing "Broadband" cable
service into the library I previously worked at.  You are correct that the
upload and download bandwidths are different.  We were told that our
download would be the equivalent of a T-1 while the upload was around
300K.  Because we were not hosting our web site on-site, upload bandwidth
wasn't a big concern for us - it might be for a site that is.  

Another consideration is cost.  The national cable provider association
recently (last 3 months) committed to providing free cable Internet access
to the public libraries in those communities with high speed cable
service.  They had already made that commitment for schools and in that
community, the local high school's Internet service was provided by the
cable company.

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician 
Charter Township of Waterford, MI
Waterford Township Public Library




On Mon, 21 Dec 1998, Bob Rasmussen wrote:

> I don't have direct experience with this, but I have a suspicion.
> 
> Some communication technologies are asymmetrical - they have higher bandwidth
> in one direction. I suspect that cable modem connections are optimized for
> DOWNLOAD. That is, the equipment at the cable company is optimized at sending
> OUT large quantities of data over the modem, as they would need to do to
> support a typical user. However, a library's main function is as a provider (a
> server) of content, and so most of its load would need to go "UP" the cable.
> 
> So I'm curious if anyone knows whether this is true, and if anyone using a
> cable modem setup has tested bandwidth.
> 
> Regards,
> ...Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.
> 
> personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
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