Networking

Keen coffee drinkers with terrible cybersecurity habits could be about to get an answer to privacy problems they didn’t know they had. 
Targeting anyone who is inclined to connect to unsecured Wi-Fi networks in cafes and other public venues, naively entering credit-card details and other personal data, Google is now releasing a new Virtual Private Network (VPN) directly embedded in Google One services.

Available only to customers subscribed to the 2TB Google One plan, which comes at $9.99 a month, the VPN will provide an extra layer of security for Android phones by encrypting online traffic on all apps and browsers. 
When switched on, the new feature will prevent hackers from eavesdropping on sensitive data when users are connected to public networks.
Google already offers a similar feature through Google Fi, the company’s mobile virtual network operator. However, the always-on VPN protection enabled by Fi is only available to Android smartphones that are subscribed to Fi services.
Unsecured hotspots are notoriously ripe in opportunities for hackers to steal any unencrypted data that transits through the network, ranging from passwords to financial information through IP addresses and visited websites. An outdated app or a weak website, or a service that has failed to protect user data entirely, can all be intercepted and even modified by malicious actors. 
VPNs have proliferated over the past few years to remediate the issue by creating a private, secure network from a public connection. When users connect to a VPN, their online data travels through a strongly encrypted tunnel managed by the VPN provider, which means that the information is unreadable and anonymous.

Google noted that in some cases, the VPN provider can still see all the user’s unencrypted traffic, such as the domain of every website visited. Reports have effectively shown that this lack of security can be problematic, with some commercial VPN services having previously leaked user traffic, whether inadvertently or not.
“Because the VPN provider occupies this privileged position, the user must be able to trust that the VPN provider has strong privacy and security guarantees,” said Google in a white paper about the company’s new service. 
“With growing demand for better privacy in a mixed landscape of solutions, we have used our expertise in privacy, cryptography, and infrastructure to build a Google-grade VPN that provides additional security and privacy to online connectivity without undue performance sacrifices.”
Google’s VPN will not log any online activity, assured the company in the white paper, and users’ data will not be identifiable. Some minimum logging will be required from the user, but network traffic or the IP associated with the VPN will never be logged. IP addresses, bandwidth utilized or connection timestamps, for example, will all remain untracked by Google’s tool.
In an effort to demonstrate transparency, Google has open-sourced the code that runs on users’ devices when using the VPN, and has also committed to providing public access to the authentication mechanism running on the server side in 2021. Results of a third-party audit that is currently underway can also be expected soon. 
The VPN will roll out in the US in the coming weeks through the Google One app, on Android only as a starter, and can be switched on and off in the Google One app. While the VPN won’t limit users’ throughput speed, allowing speeds above 300Mbps, the feature might affect battery life. 
Google confirmed that the extra encryption will consume between 5% and 10% more data, which will lead to some battery drain and higher data use. 
The Search giant expects that the feature will be available to iOS, Windows and Mac in the coming months, while the service will also expand to more countries.  More

In 2006, I started writing about mobile tech on the Mobile Gadgeteer section of ZDNet. I was also employed as a professional engineer with a daily commute to and from Seattle that was more than two hours a day.

Home Office Tours

This extended commuting time on trains provides me with the opportunity to thoroughly test new mobile technology. In March, the commute stopped as our engineering firm went fully remote in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
I continue to test out new mobile technology and as you can see in the images boxes continue to stack up. My home office provides a separation between my engineering work and my freelance writing with many Star Wars items occupying the walls and shelves of my office.
Also: Galaxy Z Fold 2 in depth: Flex Mode, App Continuity, and multitasking
Here’s a rundown of key products used daily in my home office. Don’t worry, I won’t list the nearly 100 phones, PDAs, tablets, and watches in my collection.

Microsoft Surface Pro 6
Images: Microsoft
Since I’ve been working at a consulting engineering firm for nearly 20 years, I no longer spend time modeling or using advanced engineering tools on a daily basis. My computing needs have lessened a bit as a manager so I use a Microsoft Surface Pro 6 for Teams, Outlook, Excel, Word, and other PC-based tools.
The Surface Pro 6 works well for daily commuting and also for regular business travel around the US and the world. It serves as the foundation for my engineering consulting work.
The Surface Pro 7 is available now, but I haven’t migrated to the latest version as the improvements are minimal for my needs. If higher end graphical needs are required then the Surface Pro 7 is what you should definitely consider. One thing I do miss by sticking with the Surface Pro 6 is the USB-C port, which is very handy for all of my mobile gear.
$1,200 at Best Buy $699 at Adorama $1,500 at HSN

Keychron K2 wireless mechanical keyboard

It’s tough to beat the response, sound, and overall typing experience of a mechanical keyboard and the Keychron K2 recently joined my arsenal, knocking out the Surface keyboard.
With the Bluetooth capability, I connect the K2 to my Surface Pro 6, Google Pixel Slate, various Android smartphones, and an iPad.
$100 at Amazon

Herman Miller Aeron
Herman Miller
While my engineering office has a Varidesk platform so that I can switch between standing and sitting, my home office and older Costco desk is currently not setup this way. Thus, I made sure to purchase a nice chair and had the opportunity to buy it from my oldest daughters company as they moved to the East Coast.
The Herman Miller Aeron office chair is awesome and I can sit for 10-12 hour days without any discomfort. It’s a rather expensive chair, but I feel that a comfortable and supportive chair is vital to being productive. It is also better for your overall long-term health to have a chair that is not going to cause any back issues.
The chair has height adjustable arms, tilt lock toggle, and adjustable lumbar support.
View Now at Herman-Miller

Google Pixelbook Go

Ever since the original Pixelbook, my primary platform for writing has been a Google Chromebook. For almost the last year, my primary writing computer has been the Google Pixelbook Go. Prior to that it was the Google Pixel Slate, but I like the keyboard and ability to have two pages open side-by-side on the Pixelbook Go.
While I have access to a Surface Pro 6, I find the Chromebook experience provides me with a platform that helps me focus on writing content without ever thinking of the hardware.
$846 at Amazon $849 at Best Buy $849 at B&H Photo-Video

Plantronics Voyager Focus UC
Image: Plantronics
While I use various wireless earbuds during my commute and while running, for getting work done in my home office I rely on the Plantronics Voyager Focus UC headset. It’s comfortable, the battery lasts for hours, the swing down boom is easy to manipulate, the simple mute button works reliably, and it has never let me down.
I use it all day with Microsoft Teams and with its Bluetooth support it is even easy to connect to my primary mobile phone for calls.
$186 at Amazon $185 at Adorama $203 at Walmart

Hub
AUKEY Multiport USB-C adapter

The AUKEY Multiport USB-C adapter provides two USB-A 3.0 ports, a USB-C male cable, an HDMI port, a VGA port, an ethernet port, a Secure Digital (SD) card slot, and a microSD card slot in a single compact package.
While I keep the computing platforms for my engineering and freelance writing separate, I share the monitors with each platform. I use the AUKEY adapter to connect the Pixelbook Go to an external monitor for more efficient writing.

A closer look at Matthew’s office
My main office wall is covered with Star Wars artwork with shelves lined with more Star Wars artifacts. I have original Star Wars trading cards dating back to when I was an eight-year old kid and have been collecting Star Wars items for more than 40 years. 
As a mobile tech reviewer, I get sent a lot of products to review and this is an extremely busy time for new watches, phones, cases, and more. My office is littered with boxes and I have yet to come up with a cleaner solution.

There are also lots of older phones in drawers, organizers, and shelves, dating back to my first PDAs I started using in 1997.

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Shares of content distribution networker Fastly are up slightly in late trading after the company this afternoon indicated its business from Bytedance, the owner of TikTok, continues to be under pressure.
However, management now expects that some traffic that was lost from other customers will largely return to normal levels this quarter.
After warning a-week-and-a-half ago that business would be lower than expected because of one large customer and a few smaller ones not using the service as much, Fastly tonight offered Q3 results that were even lower than analysts’ revised expectations. 
Revenue rose 42%, year over year, to $70.6 million, yielding a net loss of 4 cents. That compares to a revised forecast issued on October 14th of $70 to $71 million, and the original outlook for the quarter of $73.5 million to $75.5 million offered back on August 5th. 
Analysts had been modeling $71.35 million and a 1-cent loss per share. 
On the conference call with analysts, CEO Joshua Bixby said the issues with its large customer remain this quarter, without calling out Bytedance or TikTok by name.

Our previously disclosed largest customer, which accounts for 10.8% of our revenue for the nine months ending September 30th, removed a majority of their us and non us traffic from our platform by the end of the quarter. Based on publicly available information. We believe this global reduction was in response to the potential of a prohibition of us companies been able to work with this customer in any fashion. This clearly impacted Q3 and based on the continued turbulence of the situation. We anticipate the traffic reproductive reduction to continue into Q4 as reflected in our guidance. One of our core values is to focus on our customer and we intend to fully support this customer unless and until we are prohibited from doing so we. We are prepared to accept additional traffic from this customer if conditions enable it to return. However, if it becomes clear that we should no longer support this customer we believe the reserve capacity for this customer can be reallocated over the medium to long term, where the traffic mix. It is consistent with our gross margin objectives.

Fastly’s outlook for this quarter calls for $80 million to $84 million in revenue, below consensus for $88.6 million. Net loss per share is seen in a range of 8 cents to 12 cents, below the consensus for a 2-cent loss per share. 
Aside from Bytedance/TikTok, Bixby said customer traffic that had been lost last quarter is expected to come back,

Now moving to the customer timing impacts in the latter part of Q3, our forecast for new traffic coming onto our network from a few existing customers did not meet our expectations. Happy to report that a majority of these timing issues were resolved and we have now seen this traffic come on to the network. There have been instances, however were isolated timing issues have persisted due to the fact due to certain factors, including our evolving understanding of both COVID-19 related travel and data restrictions. In South Asia that delayed build outs beyond our expectations and the timing of customer code freezes. We anticipate this traffic to come onto the network and not have a negative impact be on Q4.  

Some have speculated that Fastly might have lost business last quarter from Amazon, among others, as Amazon appears to be developing its own homegrown contend distribution network. 
Fastly stock is up 0.6% at $72.05 in late trading.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched the 5G Fund for Rural America, putting up $9 billion over 10 years to expand high-speed wireless broadband coverage in the US. 
The FCC plans to hold multi-round reverse auctions in two phases to bring 5G coverage in areas that lack it, and to close the digital divide in the US. 

The FCC fund’s approval follows its April proposal to make $9bn available to bring 5G to rural areas that would probably not be delivered 5G broadband. 
SEE: 5G smartphones: A cheat sheet (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
The 5G Fund comes as the FCC begins the process of assessing bids for the up-to $16 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which Elon Musk’s SpaceX has qualified to bid in for its beta-phase Starlink satellite broadband service. Starlink has told beta users that they can expect data speeds of between 50Mbs to 150Mbs and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the next several months, which is significantly less than the 100ms latency the FCC required to be qualified for RDOF funding.
Hughes Network Systems, a traditional satellite provider — which put $50m in the consortium led by the UK government and Bharti to bring satellite broadband contender OneWeb out of bankruptcy — has also qualified to bid for RDOF support. The FCC on Tuesday also granted OneWeb licenses to access the US market for low-Earth orbit broadband satellite services.
The first phase of the RDOF auction begins on October 29 and aims to target “over six million homes and businesses in census blocks that are entirely unserved by voice and broadband with download speeds of at least 25 Mbps.”
5G Fund phases
Meanwhile, the first phase of the FCC’s 5G Fund has an $8 billion nationwide budget for bringing 5G to areas without unsubsidized 4G LTE or 5G mobile broadband. Of that, $680 million has been set aside for bidders offering to serve Tribal lands.
Winning bidders need to deploy 5G networks with speeds of a least 35Mbps download speeds and 3Mbps upload speeds, and meet deployment targets by midway through the envisaged six-year deployment plan. 
To avoid duplication, the FCC notes that its auction also accounts for T-Mobile’s enforceable commitment to the FCC to cover 90% of rural Americans with its 5G network within six years. FCC chairman Ajit Pai approved the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint last year, creating the third heavyweight US mobile carrier, along with Verizon and AT&T.
SEE: Hiring Kit: 5G Wireless System Engineer (TechRepublic Premium)
T-Mobile has said its 600MHz 5G service covers “more than 60% of the population across more than one million square miles”, including underserved rural areas. However, its low-band spectrum 5G is slower than the short-range millimeter-wave tech launched in Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York.
The second phase of the 5G Fund will offer at least an extra $1bn to support 5G networks that facilitate precision agriculture.
The FCC will also require bidders to deliver an end-to-end round trip data latency of 100 milliseconds or below and offer “at least one service plan that includes a minimum monthly data allowance that is equivalent to the average United States subscriber data usage”, according to the FCC’s October 6 fact sheet on the 5G fund.

Networking More

An NBN FttN node getting a Nokia line card installed
Image: Corinne Reichert/ZDNet
Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Rod Sims told Senate Estimates on Tuesday night that the consumer watchdog was determined to ensure NBN’s 12/1Mbps plans remained low, and prices at the low end would not rise “if we have anything to do with it”.
“We’re intending to peg the price of the entry-level product and that would be pegged irrespective of what happens with [NBN fibre upgrades]. And indeed, that’s what we’re working on right now to peg that entry-level price,” he said.
Sims said the regulator was looking into a special access undertaking (SAU) since the price it had in mind and the one proposed by NBN were “very different”.
“Now we’re so close and we’ve also been talking to about service standards, our judgment is we’re so close,” Sims said.
“They’ve agreed they’re going to put our new agreement — which is NBN moving a long way from when we started — into their WBA4 new agreement with the retailers. And if they do that, then we’ll probably hold off issuing an access undertaking.”
The ACCC held fire on the undertaking as the regulator got what it wanted as it was able to keep its powder dry and have flexibility in how it could respond to the market, the chair added.
Earlier this month, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher issued the ACCC with a statement of expectations regarding NBN’s SAU. The ACCC has three months to respond with a statement of intent.
Even though the issuing of such a statement is a first, and ACCC representatives shouldn’t point out any legal basis for it, they said it was “consistent with practices across departments and agencies”.
Sims said the essence of the statement was to begin on a new SAU to govern the regulatory arrangements of the NBN. The original SAU was issued in 2013, but the ACCC chief said it had been “somewhat in obeisance” since then.
Under a potential new undertaking, the ACCC said it was a chance to fix issues in the original undertaking and that it would look to ensure entry-level pricing matched pricing on ASDL prior to the NBN being built.
“We don’t think people should be paying more for getting the same thing or getting what they would have got had the NBN not been built,” he said.
“Sure, pay a lot more for the massive extra speed that people are able to get, but don’t pay more for what you could have got before. ”
On the issue of NBN getting a return, Sims said it was not an important one.
“It’s a sort of a modelling exercise as to whether with current price constructs they could ever get a return on that capital,” he said.
“My own view is that whether they do or not is really not an important issue. The important issue is that we price the NBN effectively so that we get the benefit of the NBN for Australians and we get maximum use out of the NBN.”
Speaking more widely, Sims said prices typically increased whenever governments privatise assets.
“Users lose just so we can sell them for very big price, which I don’t think is a very good idea,” he added.
“We’ve got to keep in mind that what’s important here is getting the most efficient use of this AU$50 billion spend as distinct from necessarily getting a return on that spend. And I think that’s a principle that applies for a lot of infrastructure where government has fundamentally been the one that’s built it.”
Speaking on Wednesday, Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland described the statement of expectations as a demand for the ACCC to “bend over backwards for NBN Co”.
In a speech that heavily criticised the calculations used for upgrades of the NBN, after years of Coalition figures saying fibre was unneccesary, Rowland said the plan was not an “epiphany about market demand”, but more a “pre-determined surrender to seven years of Liberal incompetence”.
“This revised AU$57 billion cost currently assumes only 400,000 households — that is 1 out of every 10 premises in the copper footprint — are budgeted to actually get a fibre connection to their homes between now and 2024. This is based on the size of the Fibre to the Node footprint being around 4.2 million premises,” she said.
“If these 1 in 10 figures do in fact play out, and even I’m sceptical this government could be that hopeless, that will be nothing short of a farce. This means the copper network will be operated and maintained in full, while the fibre network being constructed in parallel goes under-utilised.”
Rowland said over the coming months, Fletcher would use “all sorts of spin and revisionism” to explain the “anti-logic” of the decision.
“Just remember this is the same Minister who used to rail in opposition about NBN connecting enterprises, and now he has backflipped,” she said.
“This is the same Minister who would deliver Labor lectures about the market power of NBN Co, and now he writes letters to the ACCC saying he effectively expects them to grant NBN more market power.”
Yesterday, Fletcher claimed the Coalition had taken the politics out of the NBN, and compared Labor’s belief in its full-fibre rollout to Soviet tractor production. 
Elsewhere on Tuesday night, Liberal Senator Alex Antic asked Sims about the supposed deplatforming and shadow banning of conservatives by social media platforms.
“Our concern with the digital platforms in that area is very much the use of data to influence consumer choices, the use of data for people to get scammed, we haven’t really taken an interest in, and nor do we institutionally have an interest in what political voices come out of the platforms, if I understood your question,” Sims said in response.
Sims added that a code to deal with misinformation had recently been submitted to ACMA, and the ACCC recommended having a takedown procedure for misinformation or disinformation. The ACCC chief said where to draw the line on content on social networks was an issue government would need to grapple with, but it was not one for the ACCC.
The ACCC is currently locking horns with Google and Facebook over proposed media bargaining laws.
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Numerous early Starlink testers have been notified that they’ll soon be linking up to the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) internet in the “Better Than Nothing Beta” test.

Better than nothing actually sounds pretty darn good. In this early stage, Starlink tells its early users to “Expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.”
Is that as good as you can get from your cable provider? No, but your cable ISP will never spend the cash needed to bring broadband to rural users. If you live in the country, you need to look elsewhere for broadband internet.  
SpaceX has applied for the Federal Communication Commission’s up-to $16 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). This is a plan to bring broadband — with download speeds of at least 25Mbps — to six million homes and businesses, which currently have no broadband. As part of its presentation, Starlink showed internet performance tests with download speeds of between 102Mbps to 103Mbps, upload speeds of 40.5Mbps to not quite 42Mbps, and a latency of 18 milliseconds to 19 milliseconds. That’s much better than conventional satellite internet, comparable to low-end cable internet, and far beyond what most rural internet users can get.
This is the first step to Starlink’s public beta. Private beta sites had already been up and running in Canada and the US. 
Third-party tests are showing decent performance numbers. Users posting to TestMy.Net are showing an average download speed of 47.87 Mbps, with a top speed of 149.22 Mbps. Other tests show a top download number of 203.74 Mbps, a maximum upload speed of 42.58Mbps, and a latency of 18 milliseconds. These numbers are all much better since I first looked at these test results in mid-September 2020.
Starlink, in its letter, says users can expect better numbers soon. “As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations, and improve our networking software, data speed, latency, and uptime will improve dramatically. By the summer of 2021, Starlink claims it will achieve 16-19ms latency. 
Of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. To access Starlink, you’ll need its “UFO on a stick” phased-array user terminal and its mounting tripod and Wi-Fi router.  This equipment package will cost $499. A monthly Starlink subscription will cost $99. 
Is it worth it? Well, let me just say, “SpaceX? Starlink? I’ve got my best test request already in and I’m ready to give you my credit card number.”
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A reference design for Qualcomm’s next-gen Immersive Home Platform. 
Qualcomm

Qualcomm Technologies launched its next-generation mesh networking platform that will integrate WiFi 6 and 6E and offer an architecture that’ll better handle packets of data.
The Qualcomm Immersive Home Platform is designed to deploy gigabit-speed wireless throughout the home.
The COVID-19 pandemic and move to remote work and education proved how home networks weren’t up to multiple people streaming and holding video meetings.
Best mesh Wi-Fi systems for the office and home: Netgear, Google, and more | Speed up your home office: How to optimize your network for remote work and learning
According to Qualcomm, there will be four product tiers for its Immersive Home Platform, which has reference designs currently being sampled.
Here’s a look at the various flavors of Qualcomm’s Immersive Home Platform and networking capabilities.
Qualcomm Immersive Home 318 Platform will include 8-stream Tri-Band in a configuration for 2.4GHZ, 5GHz and 6GHz with a total of 7.8 Gbps available. The platform also includes 160 MHz channels in 5 and 6GHz bands as well as a Wi-Fi 6E configuration.
The Immersive Home 316 Platform has a 6-stream Tri-Band setup and lacks the WiFi 6E configuration in the 318.
Qualcomm Immersive Home 216 Platform has a 6-stream WiFi 6 configuration with 5.4 Gbps available. There’s also support for 160 MHz channels in 5GHz bands.
The Immersive Home 214 Platform has a 4-stream WiFi 6 configuration across 2.4GHz and 5GHz with a total of 3 Gbps available.
Qualcomm said the new mesh platforms also deliver 2.5x throughput per watt compared to the previous generation, broad WiFi mesh support, smart home integration and low-latency support.
Here’s a look at the specs of the 318. More

This week, many fans of classic holiday cartoons got some awful news — the entire archive of Peanuts specials, including my wife’s own favorite, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown — has been purchased by Apple, over 45 shows and 20 documentary specials in all.
For the past 51 years, the adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Linus, Sally, and their friends have been broadcast on network television — on CBS until 2000, and then on ABC until last year. Now, all of this intellectual property is exclusively available on the Apple TV Plus streaming service. 
The Great Pumpkin never shows up at the end, bringing voluminous bags of candy. He. Never. Does. Not in the nearly five decades I’ve been watching that show, time and time again.

But Poor Blockhead Charlie Brown does always get one thing, every single year. Instead of a bag of Halloween treats, he gets stiffed with a rock. Repeatedly.
I think we all were promised a lot of things with streaming TV and cord-cutting and got the proverbial rock instead. Let’s talk about what happened.
Life’s a streaming content circus, Charlie Brown! 
In 2014, I decided that I had enough cable TV bundling, so I cut the cord. I was spending about $132 per month at AT&T for a package that, at the time, included all the premium channels. This didn’t include my broadband internet service, for which I was paying an additional $74 a month for a 24Mbps DSL connection. 
When I cut the cord, I also switched over to another broadband provider to get a higher quality of service, 100mbps, to accommodate higher-quality video streams. Naturally, I had to pay more for it. 
With cable, though, that bandwidth for the video was guaranteed separate from my internet bandwidth. And with the DVR I was using, I could record those premium shows at off-hours to not interfere with my work, as I’ve been home-based for many years. So with cord-cutting, I was just shifting my problem entirely to my internet bandwidth.
To watch the content I wanted to watch, I had recurring costs for services I needed to take on. Netflix, Hulu+, Amazon Prime, and an estimated four “premium” rentals a month would cost me roughly $45 a month, or $650 a year.  
But flash-forward to 2020. Yes, my internet bandwidth has improved a lot. I’m now back at AT&T, paying $90 a month for 1Gigabit fiber. But guess what? Now that everyone is at home, we all need that guaranteed bandwidth because the shows are now streaming at 1080p or higher. To pull this off, we need more sophisticated edge networks built out for content caching by the telecom providers — and that cost is being passed down to the consumer.
There’s no DVR in this equation; everything needs to be pulled down from the streaming box. And no, I can’t use a TiVo or equivalent device with a broadcast TV antenna to record to a DVR because I am in a lousy coverage area.
And now, I am also paying for more services. Want Star Trek? You’re paying for CBS All Access — that’s $5.99 a month, but it’s $9.99 with no commercials. Want Disney with all the Star Wars and Marvel stuff? You’re adding another $70 a year. Want all the DC Comics shows like Doom Patrol and HBO stuff like WestWorld? HBO Max costs $14.99 a month, assuming that you aren’t getting it as a bonus for being an AT&T Broadband or higher-end wireless plan customer. 
All in all, I am now paying over $200 more a year in services and extra broadband costs than I was in 2014. Sure, if you are willing to get smart with bundles like Disney, which includes ESPN and Hulu for $12.99 a month, or Apple, which combines CBS and Showtime for $9.99, you can save a little bit, but it’s still frustrating.
Come home, Comcast, come home!
Technically, I am still spending less than I was four years ago. Instead of spending over $1500 a year on cable, I am spending about $800 or $900 a year on equivalent streaming services — mainly because I don’t buy sports streaming content that used to be built into my cable TV service plan or purchase any pay-per-views. There are plenty of people that still pay more if they want those things.
But here’s the rub:
Four years ago, virtually all of the content we wanted to watch was still available on cable or broadcast television. But because media giants like Apple, Disney, AT&T/WarnerMedia, NBC/Comcast, Netflix, and Amazon are buying up catalog content or are producing all the new and better quality unique content, we can’t go back to bundle cable plans. 
We’re stuck with the streaming services now for better or for worse.
And because we are now stuck with the streaming services and moving data over the public internet and edge networks, we’re at the mercy of the internet streaming infrastructure back-end and content delivery networks (CDNs) to serve everything up. 

ZDNet Top Picks: Streaming services

A fair amount of this stuff is now sitting in a handful of hyper-scale clouds as well. And suppose one of these cloud providers has any kind of an issue. In that case, a number of these streaming services can be affected all at once, depending on geography, the service’s SLA and resiliency, and geo-redundancy plans, et cetera. And individual telecom provider glitchiness and snafus also come into play, as well. Downtime happens.
This is especially problematic given that we are in a pandemic and many people are still at home. For the most part, the clouds have been pretty resilient during all of this, but I’ve had my share of technical hiccups.
Happiness is a warm Roku
Let’s start with the number of times per month you have to re-authorize your accounts on certain services because they’ve experienced some glitch or purposely do this in order get a better census of active users, or to drive down fraudulent use. It drives me bananas. You’d think these guys would figure out how to implement some kind of single sign-on (SSO) technology by now, but they haven’t. 
They’ve all got their unique sign-on or authorization form, or they have agreements with the device manufacturers to do pass-through billing, like Amazon, Roku, and Apple do. So if you’ve got multiple TVs, or you want to watch some of these services on different device platforms — you can’t. You have to watch it on the platform you activated it on.
Oh, and finding shows? It’s now a game of jump the app. Half the time, I don’t remember what service a particular show is on. Sure, the discovery of programming has improved with new products like Chromecast with Google TV and Apple TV, which have created aggregated search and content surfacing user experiences. But you still have to switch from one app to another. Even on the fastest streaming device products, it can take 10-15 seconds to load up, especially if you’ve exited out of one to the main menu. On slower devices, that can take a lot longer, depending on the app that needs to be loaded.
Also: Best free video streaming services in 2020: Crackle, IMDb TV, Pluto TV, and more 
Then there is the inconsistency of video and audio playback. Last week, I attempted to diagnose a problem with my Dolby Digital setup on my Sonos Beam and wireless living room surround speakers. I noticed that Star Trek: Discovery was only playing in 2.0 stereo and thought something was wrong with my equipment. 
It turns out that the CBS All Access app has known issues with different streaming device platforms and many subscribers are unable to switch audio tracks from stereo to 5.1 surround sound, and CBS doesn’t provide 5.1 tracks on all of its content. On a Roku, it’s apparently doable with the asterisk (*) on the remote, provided the show supports it, but on the latest Chromecast with Google TV and some other devices, you’re out of luck. 
In short, you’re at the mercy of the performance of a particular device and app combo, the quality of your internet connection at any moment, as well as what the content provider decides to do with a specific show. There’s absolutely zero consistency of experience with streaming. Lucy will pull the football away from you, and you’ll never see it coming.
Yes, cable TV may have been more expensive, but having to debug this kind of stuff was never an issue with the supplied cable TV equipment and my home audio setup. The video stream’s quality was also never a problem, either; you didn’t have to contend with the complexities of Wi-Fi interference or access point throughput or the disposition of your internet connection. The boxes were all hooked up through rock-solid coax or Cat5 connectivity, and all the content was being broadcast over the cable provider network. The stuff just worked.
But hey, It’s still cheaper, right? Well, now that the movie theaters are all going bust, the premium content that used to be in the theater is going to cost you extra on top of what you’re paying for the base streaming products if you expect to see them anywhere near their release dates. But you planned for that $30 movie rental once a month, right?
AAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Tell me how you feel and I’ll share the poll results next week.

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