| Let's talk turkey for a moment (or Vonage if you want | | | | backhaul carriers might charge a metered circuit, most |
| to throw a pun into the discussion ha ha.). | | | | sell fixed amounts of bandwidth. That's why your ISP |
| The age old question (OK recent topic of concern) | | | | has little statements like; "UP TO 1.5MB" or "Speeds |
| among VoIP users and those whose bandwidth is | | | | may Vary". Just because voip has started making a |
| used to make those calls is......how much bandwidth | | | | presence, doesn't mean that ISP's have had to |
| does VoIP use? | | | | automatically start buying more bandwidth from the |
| Well Virginia....that's an interesting question. Any | | | | backbone. |
| discussion may illicit potentially tense reactions. So let's | | | | If they tell you that, they are full of ......it. When DSL and |
| try and shed some light on the subject....in a practical | | | | cable broadband are sold to you, the max bandwidth |
| fashion. | | | | that you are buying is formulated into their pricing and |
| Bandwidth isn't measured like it was a garden hose of | | | | bandwidth demands. |
| water. ON and OFF, measuring it's usage. It can be | | | | For what it's worth, more bandwidth was probably |
| read that way, but it isn't actually looked at that way. | | | | used, until recently, on streaming audio/video, torrent, |
| Not by most providers anyway. (Unless of course | | | | MP3 downloads, distributed computing, etc. If your |
| they are trying to rationalize prices to the FCC). | | | | service provider gets too saturated, they will offer |
| For instance; as a business you may have numerous | | | | more bandwidth at a higher price, which is what they |
| DS3/OC circuits that you pay for each month. A DS3 | | | | will use to buy from the backbone/backhaul providers. |
| for instance rounded off is 45mb of pipe. Now, you | | | | However when you have 10 people that are using the |
| pay the same thing for that circuit each month | | | | bandwidth (for VoIP) that would supply 50-100 |
| whether you put 1 voip line on it, or an entire network | | | | average (internet using) joes..... not only is that causing |
| with hundreds of computers and such. | | | | more congestion at that junction box, but you are also |
| Same with your VoIP. You pay the same amount on | | | | causing the provider to buy more bandwidth. |
| an unlimited calling plan whether you make 1 phone call | | | | You know as well as I do they will not make another |
| or 1000 calls. To try and measure actual Mega or | | | | tier! They will just raise the prices on the ones already |
| Terabytes of data as a means of determining cost is | | | | established. How many average people max out their |
| pure rationalization. | | | | connections on a regular basis? |
| Ma'Bell, Level 3, or any other backbone has "X" | | | | Anyway, the VoIP companies for the longest time |
| amount of bandwidth that they can use simultaneously. | | | | have been getting pretty much a free ride on the |
| Some of that bandwidth is dedicated, some isn't. Some | | | | PSTN and the ISPs.... plus were not subject to the |
| are using ATM so it can better utilize the bandwidth | | | | same taxes MaBell is. So.... you can see why there is |
| among inconsistant users, while there are also other | | | | so much tension about bandwidth? |
| flavors like Frame and TDM. | | | | If you'd like help find just the right VoIP based |
| The point is, while some providers and backbone and | | | | solution....covering all the bandwidth in's and out's..... |