Are you feeling left out from the broadband gusher that most users in Asia are enjoying? Are you wondering when ADSL 2 will find its way to the American shores? How about I tell you that you can expect more bandwidth from boring old bells by the time kids head back to school after their summer vacations? Here is why? 2Wire, which is one of the main suppliers of boring stuff like DSL modems to the likes of SBC has just announced a new gateway, 2000 Series, which has an ADSL2/2+ modem chip built into the box. ADSL2+ is a DSL technology doubles the downstream bandwidth, increasing the downstream data rate to as much as 25 Mbps. In addition the company announced that it will do remote software upgrades of all its boxes – over 2.5 million – already deployed to handle ADSL2/2+ speeds. It has some other features – integrated Voice over IP ports (including support for VoWiFI via built in WiFi), and a USB 2.0 port that will also enable expansion applications. The company says it can do wireline/wireless convergence on this little gateway, a feature both Cingular owners – SBC and BellSouth have expressed an interest in. (Full laundry list of features, here!) Right now the gateway is being beat-up in the labs and normally it is put through stress tests by the carriers for about 90 days. And another 90 days before it starts shipping in volume. I think 2Wire gateway is a harbinger of good broadband tidings!
I share your excitement Om, but by fall, most people are still going to be on 1.5-3Mbps DSL lines.
ADSL2+ home hardware means nothing if the networks and central offices aren’t upgraded as well….
And I think SBC is thinking VDSL….
Karl, given how often we have been disappointed, I agree with you. The progress made by lightspeed and other initiatives at bellsouth tell me that we might be pleasantly surprised. i hope…. :-) fingers crossed!
I use Speakeasy DSL at home, will I see any speed improvements any time soon?
i think the folks over at speakeasy will upgrade when covad upgrades their loops, perhaps later this year as well
The main issue with ADSL2+ is that you are limmited to a short distance for the higher speeds. This is a great technology for ramping up speeds in a apartment building that is connected to your fiber backbone without rewiring the apartments, but it does nothing for the guy who lives more than a mile from the CO.