[Heyitsrick]

I was just visiting my Mom in the Villages. She switched from Comcast to Centurylink last year. I was amazed to see that there limitations to the HD service in that if you have more than two*** HD TV's on at any one time, any subsequent sets trying to view are limited to standard definition.

(***Another relative is limited to ONE HD "stream" at a time in their Villages neighborhood!)

I personally would find that to be unacceptable. This is fiber optic cable we're talking about, and the whole idea behind fiber optic is that its pure digital and has extremely large bandwidth (the "pipe" or the amount of data that can be passed on the cable).

In my area in NY, we have Verizon FIOS fiber optic service. If you've got an HD box connected to any set in your house, you've got HD service, and that's the way it's supposed to be. Of course, you're paying for each HD box rental, but that's the way this kind of service works.

I had to call CenturyLink on Mom's behalf on a separate issue, and asked about this situation. The rep had almost nothing to tell me about upgrades to service where this wouldn't be an issue.

I'm just wondering if it's truly door-to-door fiber optic or if they are using older infrastructure in some areas where fiber only goes so far, and then it's funneled into an older coax topology. Anyone have any clues about this? It's quite odd in this day and age.

[mulligan]

...

[mulligan]

There is no fiber inside the house, so it would appear to this rookie that tha choke point would be the fiber/coax interface on the outside wall

[NJblue]

I too am aware of the HD limitation of PRISM and because of that and other reasons have not switched to them. From what I know of the technology and its difference from FIOS is that FIOS is fiber all the way to the house where it is interconnected to the house's cable system - hence true broadband from end-to-end.

PRISM is fiber to a junction point some distance from the house and then uses normal phones lines with DSL technology for the remaining link. Since this junction can be some distance from the house (up to thousands of feet) and since the distance varies for different subscribers and since the number of copper pairs available for the DSL link varies is the reason why some subscribers get better service than others.

Unfortunately, since the telephone distribution network is not owned by Verizon, it is not likely that we will ever get true fiber to the house technology. I wonder if the new sections currently being built are being "wired" with fiber cables all the way to the houses or if they are continuing to use just copper. Does anyone know?

[mulligan]

I'm in Tamarind Grove , and we have fiber up to the outside wall....owned by Centurylink.

[Heyitsrick]

Originally Posted by NJblue

I too am aware of the HD limitation of PRISM and because of that and other reasons have not switched to them. From what I know of the technology and its difference from FIOS is that FIOS is fiber all the way to the house where it is interconnected to the house's cable system - hence true broadband from end-to-end.

PRISM is fiber to a junction point some distance from the house and then uses normal phones lines with DSL technology for the remaining link. Since this junction can be some distance from the house (up to thousands of feet) and since the distance varies for different subscribers and since the number of copper pairs available for the DSL link varies is the reason why some subscribers get better service than others.

Unfortunately, since the telephone distribution network is not owned by Verizon, it is not likely that we will ever get true fiber to the house technology. I wonder if the new sections currently being built are being "wired" with fiber cables all the way to the houses or if they are continuing to use just copper. Does anyone know?

Well, that's a perfect explanation of why this situation exists; particularly with the DSL topology being used for the "last mile". I wasn't aware of that; thanks NJblue. (The term "last mile" refers to the last leg of the connection between your home and your provider. "Mile" is a relative term.)

With DSL, distance from the phone company's central office determines your potential bandwidth; hence at least part of the reason for the difference in bandwidth available in various Villages neighborhoods. The farther away your home is from the central office (or the fiber junction point, in this case), the less bandwidth (speed, data throughput, etc.) you'll have.

This is obviously a cost-savings implementation for CenturyLink, vs. having to lay fiber cable throughout the Villages. But I would think that new neighborhoods on the rise should have fiber installed as a matter of course. Whether that's true or not is another question.

In any event, I'm sure that CenturyLink customers who've switched away from whoever offers cable service (Comcast?) no doubt have had rude awakenings when trying to view HD on multiple sets concurrently. Perhaps it's not an issue if it's just a husband/wife or single person, but with guests, it's one of those "Oh, well, let me explain that..." things.