So, I found myself digging into AT&T’s capacity today, and let me tell you, it was a bit of a journey. I needed to figure out how much bandwidth they could really handle and what that meant for me.
First, I started poking around to see what kind of internet service they were actually offering. Turns out, they call it IPBB, which stands for Internet Protocol Broadband. It’s a mix of different technologies like ADSL2+, VDSL2, *, and Ethernet. They get this service to your place using a combination of fiber optic and copper lines. Sounds fancy, right?
Then, I looked into their Wi-Fi gateway thing. This is basically the box that connects your home to their network and gives you Wi-Fi. They give you one when you set up your internet. Makes sense, that’s pretty standard stuff.
I also stumbled upon something called AT&T Fixed Wireless Internet. It’s meant for small businesses in rural areas. They use an outdoor antenna to catch AT&T’s wireless signal, just like a smartphone. Interesting, but not really what I was looking for.
Here’s where it got a little annoying. I found out that AT&T actually limits video streaming speeds to 1.5Mbps. That means the quality is capped at 480p, which is, you know, not great. Apparently, you can only get 4K streaming with their Elite or Prepaid Unlimited Plus plans. Bummer. I guess I can look into other ways to get around those speed limits, but that’s a hassle.
I was curious about how much data you could actually use with their internet service. Turns out, they say it’s “not limited to a particular size.” Okay, that’s good to know, I guess. It’s not super clear, but at least there isn’t a hard cap.
Then there’s something called ATT IP Flexible Reach. It’s a solution for managing voice over IP calls. It seems like it helps with both incoming and outgoing calls without messing up your internet too much. Might be useful for businesses, but I didn’t really dive deep into it.
I learned a bit about Ethernet, which is pretty common for local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs). It seems like they offer it for businesses, but again, not my main focus.
There were a couple of other things I looked at, like options for increasing hotspot data and something about T1 services, but honestly, it was getting a bit overwhelming. I mean, I just wanted to understand their basic capacity, not become an expert on all their services.
But, I did see some things that made me think about how capacity works. One thing led to another, and it was all about making assumptions. Then, I found this one post about how capacity really works, and it is totally different than what I expected.
So, that’s my little adventure into AT&T’s capacity. It wasn’t exactly straightforward, but I learned a few things along the way. It’s all a bit of a mess, to be honest, but I guess that’s just how it is with these big companies.
- Started by looking at AT&T’s internet service offerings.
- Found out about IPBB and the different technologies they use.
- Checked out their Wi-Fi gateway and how it works.
- Discovered AT&T Fixed Wireless Internet for rural businesses.
- Learned about their video streaming speed limits.
- Found out that their internet usage is not limited to a specific size.
- Briefly looked at ATT IP Flexible Reach for voice over IP.
- Learned a bit about Ethernet for businesses.
- Got a little lost in the details of hotspot data and T1 services.
- Ended up thinking about how capacity really works.
Whew, that was a lot. I just wanted to share my experience, hope it helps someone else out there.