I hope they aren't yet making those steps DOCSIS 3.1 just isn't enough on the upstream side of the equation. Since DOCSIS 3.1 Full Duplex has been recently completed there is hardly any equipment on the market to speak of. There are better served playing the wait and see 2020 game.
What are this shielding, other interference, and QoS you speak of? Specifically interference?
From my experience, QoS is the most important. Have you ever tried to use their fixed line internet in the Kingston and St. Andrew area anytime after 7 pm up to midnight? I can tell you it is beyond horrible simply because of the limited bandwidth available on those DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS. Where I live is not so populated and I get great speeds 24/7. Moving to DOCSIS 3.1 Full Duplex will improve QoS leaps and bounds with the additional benefit of offering symetrical up/down speeds.
I alwyas encounter that dreaded 7pm-11pm dead period.. I notice dead periods during world cup matches as well..
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DOCSIS 3.0 was released 2006 equipment implementing the technology would not have been widely and readily available until 2008 which coincide with the initial build out of Flow's HFC network, the majority of their investment would have been in D3.0.
D3.1 was ready in 2013 widely available equipment would follow 2015 ~ 2016. This coincides with Comcast Xfinity role out of D3.1 in Q4 2017. I really doubt any of Flow's equipment is D3.1 yet but I could be wrong.
Aside from all of that Comcast Xfinity has good download packages but the uploads still leave a lot to be desired. Which is one of our major pain point with Flow compared to Digicel FTTH. If they are going to make the investment to upgrade their network they wont do it twice in a short span of time. So its best they wait for DOCSIS 3.1 FDX equipment to become widely available and make the jump to that. Just saying
Yeah I agree with you as they are focusing on mobile first. However the reason I say they most likely have Docsis 3.1 equipment is that Flow Launched on Docsis 2.0 what caps out at 40Mbps and when they launched packages at 30 Mbps - 40Mbps they had Docsis 3.0 equipment to do that and that was some time ago. Seeing that they have gone into other places and most likely have done some other upgrades, I think they have some Docsis 3.1 capable equipment but I am guessing not everywhere. However they should be able to scale quickly in the future as to Xfinity like connections.
For 500Mbps and over I would think fiber to the home will be necessary however.
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I don't see Flow going FTTH not if a cost-effective path can yield a decade or more of competitive service. They will probably push fiber closer to the customers, maybe HFC Node+0 / "Fiber Deep".