Time Warner Cable Moving to All-IP Network

[Scallica]

"Time Warner Cable executives told investors on a morning conference call the cable company has embarked on a gradual transition to an all-IP-based distribution platform which could eventually mean the end of today’s set top boxes and radically increase the amount of bandwidth available for its broadband and video networks."

http://stopthecap.com/tag/docsis-3/

[makryger]

So I guess the question is- how will this affect the ability to get HD channels recorded on our media center PCs? I'm not sure if I have an answer to this question, but if it's anything like UVerse, then it's not going to help. (For the record, I find the uverse interface far inferior to media center, even if it is a microsoft product.)

[GingerMan]

It will be FAR better than Uverse. ATT runs twisted pair to the house. TWC uses coax. RG6 has a maximum bandwidth of 6 GIGABIT!

Once "cable" gets ride of video and goes all IP magic things will happen.

[makryger]

Let's hope so... it was the UI that I felt was lacking with u-verse, not necessarily the speed or quality of live tv.

[richard1980]

RG6 has a maximum bandwidth of 6 GIGABIT!

I'm not sure where you got that idea, but that is incorrect. QAM bandwidth is 38 Mbps per 6 MHz channel. A 6 Gbps limit would mean RG6 cannot go beyond about 950 MHz, which is not correct. 3 Ghz RG6 is very common, and I've even seen 4.5 GHz RG6. I'm sure even higher GHz RG6 cable exists. Even with 4.5 GHz @ 38 Mbps per 6 MHz channel, that's 28.5 Gbps. Additionally, there's always room for improvement to the modulation method.

[erkotz]

RG6 has a maximum bandwidth of 6 GIGABIT!

I'm not sure where you got that idea, but that is incorrect. QAM bandwidth is 38 Mbps per 6 MHz channel. A 6 Gbps limit would mean RG6 cannot go beyond about 950 MHz, which is not correct. 3 Ghz RG6 is very common, and I've even seen 4.5 GHz RG6. I'm sure even higher GHz RG6 cable exists. Even with 4.5 GHz @ 38 Mbps per 6 MHz channel, that's 28.5 Gbps. Additionally, there's always room for improvement to the modulation method.

I'd argue you're both correct. For the most part, what's deployed in the field can't go over 1GHz (and some can't do more than 860MHz), but someday it can go higher. There's also work being done toward using QAM1024 modulation.

I would say it's likely that IP streams will be "switched" (probably IP multicast groups similar to Uverse) when it happens. I don't expect existing linear contact to go straight up IP for a decade, but wouldn't be surprised to see OnDemand move in the next 1-2 years.