[macgeek2005]

Is it true that in Tokyo, the entire city is one endless 100mbps wireless hot spot?

If so, how come America is missing out on the action?

[SpaceMonkey]

Aliens.

[besson3c]

Perhaps because North Americans are happy to support companies like Walmart that produce cheap crap, partner with companies that prey on the competition, buy them out, and continue their quest for complete consumer lock-in on a very apathetic and sheep-like population?

Maybe this is the same everywhere in the world though, I don't know.

[CharlesS]

Because it's Tokyo. I mean, c'mon.

Don't they kick everyone's ass at pretty much all things technological?

[Big Mac]

With a concentrated population in relatively small space, it's not hard to get fiber everywhere.

[Biest]

It is just like Korea, where every new build home must at least be able to connected to T1 line

Also remember that japan/korea have a way higher population density then the US

[Big Mac]

And while Japan may have great Internet connectivity and cell technology, I have read that many of its buildings lack centralized air conditioning. Just some perspective for you.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

And while Japan may have great Internet connectivity and cell technology, I have read that many of its buildings lack centralized air conditioning. Just some perspective for you.

Because using localised air-conditioning is more efficient perhaps?

It is rare outside new, large commercial buildings to have centralised air-conditioning in this part of Asia, especially in Hong Kong.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

With a concentrated population in relatively small space, it's not hard to get fiber everywhere.

Plus, they don't have to worry about backward compatibility because every time Godzilla destroys the place, he takes down most of the legacy infrastructure.

[Chuckit]

Because you touch yourself at night.

[moonmonkey]

America is behind Asia and Europe with lots of things, particularly telecommunications infrastructure and security.

Until you have cleared through customs at an airport using your thumbprint you haven't lived.

[cheruman]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Plus, they don't have to worry about backward compatibility because every time Godzilla destroys the place, he takes down most of the legacy infrastructure.

[Randman]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

America is behind Asia and Europe with lots of things, particularly telecommunications infrastructure and security.

Agreed. It always feel like I've regressed whenever I go home to the States, until I visit a supermarket.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

Until you have cleared through customs at an airport using your thumbprint you haven't lived.

Exactly

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by Randman 

Agreed. It always feel like I've regressed whenever I go home to the States, until I visit a supermarket.

You need to go to TASTE when you are next in Hong Kong, its amazing, I think its the best supermarket I have ever seen in my life.

[Andy8]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

You need to go to TASTE when you are next in Hong Kong, its amazing, I think its the best supermarket I have ever seen in my life.

I have to concur with you on that.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

With a concentrated population in relatively small space, it's not hard to get fiber everywhere.

And there is your answer.

And it's the correct one at that.

[osiris]

I think that size has a role in this situation - America is a huge place, and updating all that infrastructure costs plenty. + the FCC, the telcos, taxes. It's a mess.

Anyhoo, Speedtest.net has the global list:
Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test
Top 10
Japan
Sweden
Latvia (maybe it's the hats)
Romania
Bulgaria
Netherlands
France
USA
Germany
Singapore

[Kevin]

Its an odd comparison anyhow.

Comparing a crowded small piece of city to a huge country... wth..

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

Until you have cleared through customs at an airport using your thumbprint you haven't lived.

I'll pass, thanks.

[Kevin]

Who is bandwidth King?

The Daily Blog | U.S. Is Bandwidth King; London The Top City

The U.S is the world's bandwidth king, with 1.4 Tbps bandwidth and 704 Gbps peak traffic, according to Om Malik's blog. London, though, is the top city, with 1.1 Tbps bandwidth and 439 Gbps peak traffic

* The top Internet route is London-New York, with 320 Gbps bandwidth and 153 Gbps peak traffic.

* The fastest growing region for traffic is Latin America, with 70% average growth.

* The top ISP, rated by autonomous system connectivity is MCI, with 3,102 connections.

* The top ISP rated by number of countries connected is AT&T, with 52 countries.

* The cheapest country to buy GigE backbone access is the US of A, where you can buy it at $13 per Mbps per month.

* The highest bandwidth per capita is Denmark, with 38 Kbps per person.

What does all this tell us? Volume drives down price, because the US has the most bandwidth, and the cheapest rates for it.

[Ado]

Japanese have pride in what they do....
This is a state of the art sewage in Tokyo
Crooked Brains by Venus

[OldManMac]

Because the Japanese people care more about having faster bandwidth.

That is the correct answer.

[Aeternus]

cuz.

[Aeternus]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

You need to go to TASTE when you are next in Hong Kong, its amazing, I think its the best supermarket I have ever seen in my life.

Poor dogs.

[CheesePuff]

Because they didn't spend the money on a Disney World, since no one was tall enough to ride the rides.

[macgeek2005]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Plus, they don't have to worry about backward compatibility because every time Godzilla destroys the place, he takes down most of the legacy infrastructure.

[PaperNotes]

In most of Asia we have very bad air conditioning in buildings. Every room in every house and office has an A/C and the water drips down the side of buildings staining the walls. It is very bad for global warming to have so many A/Cs. Apart from Japan and Korea I can tell you Asia's internet infrastructure is like this>>>>>> The ISP's cable goes from their office across many rooftops until it reaches our roof. We have a router on the roof the ISP's cable connects to. From the router our own ethernet cable is hanged down the side of the building and comes in to the room from the window. That is how ISP's connect people in Pakistan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, etc etc We have like 1000 people with their own internet accounts but with the same router IP address. Some people when they hit their transfer limit change their personal internal IP and hop on to another person's account with anyone knowing. Lot of bandwidth stealing goes on.

[davesimondotcom]

. <- that's the size of Japan. (377,873 km² according to Wikipedia)

This whole sentence is the size of the United States. (9,631,420 km²)

There are 4 states of the 50 that are larger than Japan... Alaska, Texas, California and Montana.

Put 2 + 2 together.

[Kevin]

Doesn't matter. The U.S. is still bandwidth King!

[iREZ]

USA...USA...USA...

[analogika]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

America is behind Asia and Europe with lots of things, particularly telecommunications infrastructure and security.

Until you have cleared through customs at an airport using your thumbprint you haven't lived.

U.S. customs required a finger print from me last autumn...

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by iREZ 

USA...USA...USA...

You know they do that in Japan too, right? It's called oogui.

[analogika]

I thought the point was that the past few years, a Japanese guy has WON the hot-dog-eating championships - presumably the guy at left in the image?

[Chuckit]

Oh, that is Kobayashi. D'oh. For some reason he looked white to me there.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by analogika 

U.S. customs required a finger print from me last autumn...

Lots of countries have biometric data in passports, but here (and in other modern countries) you clear through customs with a smart card and a fingerprint, no queuing at all, in my experience US and Canadian airports are just one big queue.

Originally Posted by jokell82 

I'll pass, thanks.

You like the queue for passport control?

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by macgeek2005 

Is it true that in Tokyo, the entire city is one endless 100mbps wireless hot spot?

If so, how come America is missing out on the action?

Because they like being fast and don't care about spending money for quality? Because America is quite cheap? Because they are organized?

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

You like the queue for passport control?

No, I just don't like all of my personal information stored digitally on something so easily hacked. The less information I have to keep in a government database the better.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

No, I just don't like all of my personal information stored digitally on something so easily hacked. The less information I have to keep in a government database the better.

It's just a little late to worry about that. Actually, your credit card companies and banks have just as much info on you as the government, and it's a lot.

[Randman]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

You need to go to TASTE when you are next in Hong Kong, its amazing, I think its the best supermarket I have ever seen in my life.

Where is it located at?

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

With a concentrated population in relatively small space, it's not hard to get fiber everywhere.

That doesn't really explain it: there are quite a few big cities in the US, even there you don't have internet connections as fast as those in Japan and Sweden? (Not that Germany is any better.)

But as it stands now, I've had faster internet in 2003 (22 MBit, although you could get 100 MBit as well) in Japan than I do now in the US or in Germany.

[Biest]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

America is behind Asia and Europe with lots of things, particularly telecommunications infrastructure and security.

Until you have cleared through customs at an airport using your thumbprint you haven't lived.

I prefer the retina scan, so much more personal

@Okie

Till we get 100Mbit in germany the T-Com (or whatever they are called now) will be bankrupt. I think the max is 16MBit at the moment for "normal" people.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Biest 

Till we get 100Mbit in germany the T-Com (or whatever they are called now) will be bankrupt. I think the max is 16MBit at the moment for "normal" people.

I think some of them offer up to 24 MBit these days, although my parents are `stuck' with 6 MBit via mnet.

[Biest]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

I think some of them offer up to 24 MBit these days, although my parents are `stuck' with 6 MBit via mnet.

well i am just going by what i can get at my home. which is the 16mbit T-Doff (sry insight joke) and i live 30 minutes away from one of the internet backbones in europe

[OreoCookie]

That's still damn good considering I have 3 MBit dsl in Munich. If I need to download anything big, I use my connection in the office (I effectively get 100 MBit).

[Biest]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

That's still damn good considering I have 3 MBit dsl in Munich. If I need to download anything big, I use my connection in the office (I effectively get 100 MBit).

That is pretty weird. Well you never now. I remember when i only got 1mbit and the guy down the street could get 3mbit.. I guess it is the waiting game as usual

[OreoCookie]

Well, no, it's not weird, it's one of the advantages of being connecting your laptop to the G-Win, GigaBit-Wissenschaftsnetzwerk
I think we have one 2.5 GB line and one or two 155 MBit `backup' lines, nothing you can afford as a normal human being

[GSixZero]

Originally Posted by Biest 

It is just like Korea, where every new build home must at least be able to connected to T1 line

T1 is only 1.5Mbit, not really very fast anymore. My cable internet is 6Mbit.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by GSixZero 

T1 is only 1.5Mbit, both ways. My cable internet is 6Mbit download, but I probably don't get 1.5 Mbit upload.

Fixed that for you.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by analogika 

I thought the point was that the past few years, a Japanese guy has WON the hot-dog-eating championships - presumably the guy at left in the image?

Yes but had an American won it someone would be going on about "Those gluttonous Americans... no wonder."

So thats a title they can win. And I think it was a girl?

AS far as bandwidth, I pay for far more than I use right now. Why would I want to go higher? (As a matter of fact, I am lowering my contract to go down another notch on the bandwidth belt.

No need to pay for bandwidth not using.

 

You can have all the bandwidth in the world. It only matters how fast the server you are getting the file or web page from. Most of the time it has less bandwidth alloted to you than you have available. So a lot of people are wasting money on bandwidth they don't need today. I guess just to have their internet peni bigger.