Archive for April, 2009

Internet Speed for Streaming Movies

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Watching movies is probably the most common way to unwind. Movies come in a wide variety of genres and languages, and they are appealing to people from all walks of life. At present, the internet has become one of the most preferred mediums for watching movies, because it offers a huge selection of movies and it provides a very convenient and affordable way for people to watch their favorite movies.

In order to watch streaming movies with the least hassle, you need to have a fast broadband connection, or at least a 56K modem. A faster internet speed will allow fast buffering of streaming online movies. Additionally, you will have to enable cookies on your web browser and use a suitable media player to view the movie. A dial-up internet connection is not recommended for online movies, as its bandwidth speed may not be sufficient for streaming any type of media. When it comes to broadband, your best choices will be DSL, T1, satellite, or cable. Cable and DSL are the most widely used connection types, but if you want a faster internet speed, you should go for new broadband options such as T1 and satellite.

A good bandwidth speed will facilitate enhanced sound effects as well as crisp picture quality. If you are equipped with fast internet speed, it will appear as if you are watching the movie on a DVD player. That‘s what fast bandwidth speed can do to the quality of streaming movies. As the technology behind streaming movies keeps evolving, it won’t be long before streaming movies edge ahead of DVDs as the main platform for movie-watching.

Wi-Fi in the Sky

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

According to the Wall Street Journal, American Airlines is loading up another 150 planes this year with Wi-Fi Internet service. They began offering wireless Internet to domestic customers on 15 of their Boeing 767’s last August. Their next step is to start adding service to 153 of their Boeing 737’s in time for 2010. This is just the latest sign that high-altitude, high-speed Internet  is becoming a standard on domestic flights.

Several U.S. airlines are planning on or considering offering Internet on domestic flights. Delta Air Lines plans to equip more than 300 planes with wireless Internet access by year end. Southwest Airlines Co. began testing a satellite-based Internet service on four of its planes earlier this year. United Airlines plans to offer air-to-ground Internet service on 13 of its planes in the second half of the year.

But it’s not for free—with airlines looking for ways to make money any way they can these days,  American is charging $7.95 for customers who use hand-held wireless devices, fees for laptops range from $9.95 for short flights - $12.95 for longer flights. Delta’s prices are the same. United’s air-to-ground internet service will cost $12.95 and be restricted initially to flights between New York and California. While Continental Airlines Inc. and U.S. Airways Group Inc. are still studying the situation before offering in-flight Internet access to their customers.

Both American and Delta are using air-to-ground technology developed by Aircell LLC, an Illinois-based company. Customers can surf the Web and check emails at speeds of up to three megabits per second, faster than many connections on land. Download Speedplexer to your laptop and you can clock your speed while you’re in the air!