How Lame Is My Internet; Should I Upgrade? ~ Ting Is Coming & Xfinity Is Here 18Jul26

My: Current Situation... My current connectivity is $40/mo forever on bonded twisted pairs from Century Link. Ting will offer me fiber @ 2 Gbps symmetric when CSU completes the fiber through the neighborhood (probably $70/mo); Xfinity offers COAX ATM now (the current deal is $45/mo stable for 5 years, mo-to-mo, @ 300Mbps);  500Mbps for $55/mo or 1Gbps for $75/mo are also available. To actually have infrastructure competition is great. Speedtest results show the current ADSL is providing ~35Mbps and decent 8msec pings wired and little degradation from my WiFi network design (a separate AP and subnet with the ISP-connected modem's WiFi off... this is the home net design one wants for various reasons).

Everyone: How Much Is Needed?... We have two UHD (4K) HDR TVs and many PCs and handhelds connected to the Internet @ Blodgett. There are also plenty of IoT and security devices connected too. However, only one TV is ever connected at a time really, and then only modest requirements for WiFi-connected handhelds and IoT will be running simultaneously. I have worked on huge networks for stadiums of fans and to say Blodgett needs are modest is certain. Still, what are the recommendations, and what is the math to deliver a smidge more than a 4K/HDR12 (12 bit color depth for Dolby Vision)? Well, recommendations from streamers for 4K/HDR12 is a minimum of 25Mbps, with more comfort at 50Mbps. YouTube stuff is compressed almost always and YT uses effective and efficient encoding via OLEC ~ but this comes from them and many others. I don't know exactly how they got there but I am good to go with Century Link. Am I?

Geeks: The Real Math... Various things are going on in the casting studios & servers, and on the wires and routers in-between them, and with you and your own gear. But, what's the pure calculation of required network bandwidth to deliver an unadulterated/unbuffered 4K/UHD stream carrying HDR12 content to you?  D = (V + V_blank) × (H + H_blank) × F × Cd x (1 + 2 x c) where:

• D = Data rate in bits per second (bps)
• V = Vertical pixel count; for 4K 2160
• H = Horizontal pixel count; for 4K 3840
• V_blank = Vertical blanking interval (additional vertical pixels); spec 560
• H_blank = Horizontal blanking interval (additional horizontal pixels); spec 90 
• F = Refresh frequency in Hertz (Hz); assume 60 (this will double in the future)
• Cd = Color depth in bits per pixel; assume 12 (for Dolby Vision, HDR12, others are HDR10 at 10)
• c =  1 for 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, .5 for 4:2:2 subsampling, and .25 for 4:2:0 subsampling; assume 1 (from the 50s)

For 4K/HDR12: VxH is 2160 x 3840 and Cd = 12. Most current content refreshes at 60Hz but gamers and sports fans know we'll get to 120Hz or even 144Hz (see my monitor refresh specs); let's assume 60. D = (2160+560) x (3840 + 90) x 60 x 12 x 3 = 23.1Gbps!  But also transmission is more than bit rate because HDMI uses 10bits for 8 bits inbound and therefore on the HDMI cable transmission needed is 1.25 more! So, really, 23.1 x 1.25 ~ 28.9Gbps. Wow, that is just one ultra-high-end unadulterated stream inbound to your decoder. Use the 23Gbps as a benchmark for max needed from your ISP for one "pure" 4K/HDR/Dolby Vision movie steam. Less is likely OK but we're not close.

Me: Path Is Clear... I am on the fringe of tapout with degradation for my expectations & screens. I need to upgrade to Comcast/Xfinity in the short term and consider Ting for the realm.

Update ~ The Nest Needs It Too 31Jul26... I pulled the trigger in Summit first as it was even worse. Before with Century Link...

After with Comcast wired...

Still working WiFi a smidge; I had to reset the Nighthawk router/AP and I'm working my back to my prior config...

So much better, with minimum cost increase (at least for 5 years). You're fired Century Link.

Roaring Fk Fail 14Jul24 & Fix 19Jul24 And Recon Gore Ck 17Jul24

I pulled into the Gateway RV Park in Carbondale on Sun without issue. I filled the BC20X with their water and turned on the pump; I finally noticed that the inside faucet had failed and was leaking all over everything in that cabinet... grrr. After turning off the pump and cleaning everything up I set out to fix the faucet. Unfortunately it's a cheapy and could not be repaired effectively in the field, and really needed to be replaced. I decided to blow the whole thing off and drag the camper back to the Nest to buy, receive, and make repairs. No sticking the Pan pigs on this outing. Camping without water was not gonna be good. The RV park was fine but right on CO 83, so loud. It was almost right on the Roaring Fk too though. Still prefer higher near Aspen at Difficult CG when in this river drainage.

I was bummed and basically am waiting for an upgraded replacement faucet to arrive. That did allow me to binge Stitchers, a decent sci-fi show.

The new faucet did not arrive today via FedEx as expected. I got a folding faucet as needed but went all metal vs the plastic original one. Hopefully tomorrow for receipt and install. Next week is Conejos camping & fishing so I need it fixed.

FedEx delivered faucet the next day and I spent Fri morning installing and testing. Is it bad I had parts leftover? It's all good - in plenty of time for Mogote CG.

Gore Ck is still running pretty high at 127cfs today. I jumped Vail Pass to Eagle Co to recon Gore Ck for possibly fishing it later with Bob. Hmmm... I did catch fish in each of my three standard sections there: the mouth, the west Vail, and the dawg park but the fish weren't big. The main issue is that the creek is still running fast, making wading a bit dicey. I didn't see other fishermen. I caught mostly 12" Scottish browns but did get one 14" rainbow and one German brown. I rigged with a summer Chubby up top, green wired up ice caddis and black DCEZWD40. Subsurface did most of the work with the caddis the main bug though all flies scored. The fish are not spread across the creek yet ~ most of my catches were closer to the edges, with the flows still high & fast. I wielded the Rodfather Brookie 9ft 3wt which was sporting a new trimmed down fighting butt I recently made; it's cool but the length makes it just a bit heavier in the hand than my other 3wts. The RFT3 is awaiting a new warranty section rebuild.

Happy Thanksgiving - Check Melville, Dickinson, Delores & Amy 26Nov20

Carve those turkeys well my friends; it's a special day. So, reprising the posit that originals have it over covers in so many ways, a good friend recalled a quote from Herman Melville - an American stud of the late 19th century we’ve all read. He said: "It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation.” An apropos notion, for me. Some have offered the alt view but I’m sticking to my guns here. After hearing a glorious version of "Dreams" from top Irish songstresses (click through to videos), I had to refer back to the original from Delores & The Cranberries. Delores is the scream goddess of her own words… IMO. Baited and won again. Next effort.

 

Ok, with Melville settling that one another poet’s story comes to mind as recounted on Apple+; it prompted me to dive again on her work. Dickinson is the show and Hailee Steinfeld as Emily is awesome, as are the other players. So funny and so revealing. Then go again to her works: really just one book crafted from her locker of poems from home. It’s a very heavy trove of death & love & wild things. So cool. I highly recommend both.

On with the modern show however... I’ve taken in the very recent works of the fine Scottish contralto Amy Macdonald. “Popular,” especially in Europe, she recently has sung some songs again for us, released an album and even dropped a pandemic offer. She’s awesome.. great songwriting & spectacular voice:

• 19Nov20 The Hudson
• 19Nov20 Mr Rock & Roll
  

• 03Nov20 The Human Demands
• May20 A Piece Of My Heart

Homage To The Legend & Mind F*ck TV 29Mar19

With loss of access to Arapahoe Basin via my Epic Local Pass next season, Dave Sheldon, Sean Pieri and I hit the legend today as homage to our loss. We'd hoped for more snow but then hoped for more sun as we skied a number of mainly groomed runs on ice, all over ABay - what an awesome spot. The day got real sketchy when the light was flat and we were skating on icy bumps. The snow is coming now that we are off the mtn but I doubt I'll brave a spring break weekend right now.

The 2nd part here are tips on good TV series I've been watching. Stuff that is a real mind f*ck but is very good IMO. 1st is another offer on FX from Noah Hawley (Fargo) called Legion. It's the story of some telepaths roaming the astral plane and includes the always awesome Aubrey Plaza. Next I'll highlight another mind f*cker called American Gods on STARZ. Here we watch the old gods and some new gods compete for the beliefs of humanity in America. Both of these are worthy. I also finished the latest season of OA, created & written by Brit Marling, who also stars, with her oft collaborator Zal Batmanglij. Once seeing OA I dove on all her work and most offers are very good (and well rated) SciFi. OA is a mind f*ck on Netflix.