If you guys want I'd be happy to write a post sometime in the next week on how to use these types of tools.. u just let it run in the background and it'll give u both real time stats + daily/weekly/ monthly peaks, lows, and average download speeds + actual Megabytes as well. Another method involves an easy script that would run on your router itself so you wouldn't have to keep your computer at the office nor always remember to open it when you first get to work. It's just not as pretty/detailed as the other options (all are free).
That way you know if it's getting close to where you should probably go up a tier. But seriously you should start where i'm at ,the lowest tier. With one phone call you can upgrade instantly and these types of fees really add up big time over the course of a year. If you're a multi-floor coworking space and upstairs the reception is terrible just get a cheap 30-40 dollar "wireless repeater".. and hang it/place it at the bottom of the stairs... That would bounce to them the same reception everyone sitting close to the modem would get. I've done it about a decade ago on the dirt cheap back in college (almost a decade ago) so i'd imagine the technology is even 10x better than it was back then. But it really is as easy as hanging a painting on a wall but is as small as an iphone (just thicker). Regarding a case study - If you want I'll leave an old laptop i have for a week or two at any local (boulder/denver area) coworking spot to give you guys a live/recent example of just how little internet you'd need? First one to request it gets the case study. But every location would be different due to how the actual location is built out. All it does is sniff the amount of traffic, not what the traffic actually is. If you get the demo or want me to write a tutorial you'll see the difference. Anyhow, you'd be able to go over to my computer and see everything going on because unless you call to tell me the power went out I'm literally just dropping it off and picking it back up a week later and posting the reports that people have made for this very purpose using these same open-source applications.The pricing difference and they way they mark-up each service when it comes to cable and especially internet services reminds me of the types of markups u find when buying wine in a restaurant vs. the same wine at a store. Just the difference is you'll actually drink all the wine, in this case you won't come even close to maxing out except with the occasional person who decides to download a full movie while at work and ten others start doing the same thing. Btw, the tutorial can also show you how you can limit each active connection so they can't hog the whole pipeline even if they wanted to. That's what most digital shops do in order to keep everyone running fast. That functionality you guys all already have. It's handled by the router settings. On a different note - I still am in negotiations to try and get a discount so i can cheaply host this old 2u server i have sitting in the corner of my apt. that is of no use for me anymore and the plan was to set it up and offer any coworking or hackerspace member a minimal (yet still big enough to run a small store) hosting setup for free if they want one. I've found that people who aren't as nerdy as me tend to either freak out about the thought of creating a web presence for themselves, can't afford hosting, or worse end up paying someone who feeds off the desperate and 99% of the time what they end up with is a large bill for crap work they could have done better themselves. I have no use for this box so I thought it'd give me some good karma by helping solve a problem i hear all the time with new freelancers/small biz. owners....To upgrade you'd just have to have a good reason, it's not a hosting company, just a hosting service. No payed accounts, just a good reason...i.e. you've out-grown the space provided. That simple. And yes, i'd include tutorials + templates. Those are actually already done from a previous project so it'd be a great way for newcomers to get their name out there the proper way (and for free). Plus when they want to grow the backend is a platform called cpanel so with one click they can download an entire backup of their files/databases/etc.. to take to whoever they upgrade their hosting with. I'll keep you informed. That will probably actually be legit and live in about 2-3 weeks, as i'm tied up until next friday and then will have zero work so it'd be the only thing on my plate. Plus this thing is heavy and huge and seeing how i'm about to move don't want one more thing to lug down three flights of stairs when i can donate it for something I believe in. -Brent On Jun 18, 6:02 am, "Brent (@brentter)" <[email protected]> wrote: > You guys need to keep into mind that what can slow down your > connection can be something as simple as which modem you're using. For > instance the tech gave me the new/latest v.3 model of their business > class modems, which increases the speeds. Also I'm a nerd + have my > routers optimized pretty well. > > Craig - > I thought you were on qwest, that's what your modem and you told me > last time i was there, did u switch? > the 110 is a little overkill. With that you should be getting close to > 130+ mbps, which you'd never full reach unless you had an expensive > router that could handle that many users downloading at full capacity. > It's way overkill. Plus as I said, the modem you're renting was a > qwest one when i was there so i don't know what you're using now. > I'll stop by if you're open today, if not then tomorrow. But I promise > you that I could provide on my current level (the lowest) enough > bandwidth for a full office. See on comcast business instead of just > connecting to one comcast node... you're actually connecting to > multiple ones for failover + more stable connections. If you had a > large # of users and were actually seeing your bw levels hit the > ceiling then it is either your router can't handle that many people > all at once (even though it says it's a gig router doesn't mean for > each port. It means collectively. Wifi + placement as you mentioned > also come into play. > Bandwidth and router/modem choices are the biggest way that cable > hosts essentially get people and small businesses to upgrade their > packages when really all they needed to do was setup their router > correctly or just upgrade to one that can handle the load all at > once. Like i said this goes back to me not knowing your current setup > so I can't help you until I see it. > > What you should do is always go for the lowest. You can monitor very > easily with free utilities (available on every platform) the amount of > bandwidth your router or even modem is using in real time. That's why > i joked about the guy who went for the highest tier. The comcast sales > rep probably was muttering "sucker" underneath his/her breath because > no way would you be able to handle that without some serious hardware > not to mention everyone going hog wild on the connection maxing it out > in both directions all at once. Downgrade before your next bill. > That's my advice. If they didn't give you the proper modem you can > request a swap out onilne (if its comcast) or just buy one yourself > and not have to rent. The router i remember you having (that plugged > into the modem providing the wifi) was a powerful one, if you have > connection issues it's a settings problem, not that you need to > upgrade. > > Now do you guys see why i hate all cable internet providers? They > secretly upsell you just like they do with cable tv. I just lucked out > and had a tech who after a quick conversation actually unplugged the > modem he was sent to install and brought back up a new one explaining > this was their latest, and to power-cycle it every month and i'd see a > difference here in colorado with comcast. Hope that helped a bit. > -brent > > On Jun 17, 5:27 pm, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking > > > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Brent: > > > That's interesting about the low/high end part of coworking in Denver. > > I have the option for the 110 mbps Comcast system outside the door of > > Creative Density but the 70m down is a lot cheaper. I currently have > > 40m and will upgrade when needed (we've talked about all of this in > > person though). > > > What I really wonder is what the high-end of coworking would be. Where > > would I put Creative Density on the scale is another question. I > > certainly wouldn't consider us low end but we aren't out to have rooms > > of plasmas or glass enclosed conference rooms. Amenities certainly do > > attract certain people and there is a certainly minimal standards that > > should be met when creating a space. I simply wanted to make sure I > > have reliable and quality items for everyone but develop a culture of > > camaraderie. This means good chairs, solid tables, reliable strong > > Wifi, and a functional design that matches the way people work and > > their styles (high tops, quiet room, large open spaces, telephone > > room, etc.) when it comes to the physical space. > > > I'm working on a blog post right now on how the pricing structure of > > the space effects the culture of the community and I think that may > > have relevance to this discussion. I'll let everyone when it gets > > posted. > > > On Jun 15, 9:28 am, "Brent (@brentter)" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Ann - > > > I'll help ya do any marketing once ya are close enough to being able > > > to open the doors 'officially'... bout to have some freetimeon my > > > hands and i think what you're doing is awesome. > > > Tony- That's amazing and thanks for sharing the process (and give the > > > downs + upsides of your own personal experience accomplishing it). A > > > tip of the hat to you my friend > > > > Angel - You wouldn't believe what i just found out at yesterdays > > > denver open coffee club, guy comes in handing out little kinkos 3x5 > > > printed cards advertising his new coworking space downtown... then > > > goes on to explain how 'hip' and cool it is and drops that he just > > > paid for the HIGHEST tier of business comcast internet (I know two > > > hosting companies here in denver that run off tier 2... i'm on tier 1 > > > at my apt because its cheaper (even than the residential package), > > > more reliable, and what they claim the bandwidth speeds are is an > > > utter joke. I just ran a speed test and i'm getting 70 MB/s download > > > speeds and ~46MB/s. I could run my own hosting company with that, let > > > alone service the entire floor of my apt. complex with that kind of > > > bandwidth. When the tech came to install the modem (which is the new > > > doc 3.0's, not the residential ones, and ironically also 10 dollars > > > cheaper a month in your 'rental' fee for the thing) he told me all > > > about it and how if I were to power-cycle it once a month i'd probably > > > keep seeing the speeds increase eachtimebecause they're currently > > > working on their main fiber line for the business side of their > > > internet offerings, sure enough he was right...i've already seen a > > > jump by about 4-5 MB/s in both upload and download speeds each month > > > that i've done it...still only paying for the lowest tier they offer > > > too. This guy (from docc not the tech) also apparently charges 400/ > > > month for the equiv. of a school desk sized table if you wanted to > > > work there (but as he pointed out "they've got couches and plasma > > > screens all over the place so its a chill environment"). Should be > > > interesting to see if there's a high end/low-benefit market out there > > > for people looking for coworking spaces in downtown denver. :P > > > > On Jun 14, 3:52 pm, Tony Bacigalupo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Thanks Angel! > > > > > One other thought: depending on the size of your company, how high up > > > > you > > > > are, and the nature of your work, you could consider having the > > > > coworking > > > > community become a part of your company's space and mission. > > > > > There are a bunch of people out there who run or are a part of small > > > > businesses, particularly creative agencies and others, and have > > > > incorporated > > > > coworking into their office and their company culture. > > > > > It can be really handy in some contexts. A consulting firm could, for > > > > example, easily find vendors and even clients working alongside them in > > > > the > > > > office. The community environment helps them build trust before forging > > > > a > > > > professional relationship together, so finding great new hires can > > > > become > > > > easier. > > > > > I'm speaking a little out of turn since I've not been too involved with > > > > any > > > > such spaces, but I've had some great conversations with people who've > > > > done > > > > it. > > > > > On Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 5:27 PM, Ann Kingman <[email protected]> > > > > wrote: > > > > > My husband and I are in the process of doing this, once we get the > > > > > zoning > > > > > issues worked out for our space. I workfulltimeas a remote employee > > > > > for a > > > > > corporation, and do spend a few days a week at client sites. My > > > > > husband's > > > > >fulltimejob is managing the building in which we will be locating our > > > > > space. Since I will be doing most of the marketing and community > > > > > work, and > > > > > he will be doing operations and facilities work, we hope that between > > > > > the > > > > > two of us we can make it work. Neither of us is planning on leaving > > > > > ourfull > > > > >timejobs, no would we want to at anytimein the next few years. I expect > > > > > like many startups, ours will require a lot of work done on nights and > > > > > weekends. > > > > > > Ann > > > > > Attleboro, MA (future space owner) > > > > > > On Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 12:31 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski > > > > > <[email protected] > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > >> An interesting question was posed to me last week and I'll be honest, > > > > >> I'm not really sure how to answer it so I thought I'd put it up here > > > > >> for group input. > > > > > >> Has anyone started a coworking community while you still had afull > > > > >>timejob (either traditional or working remotely)? What types of > > > > >> community building activities could you do in your sparetimeand how > > > > >> many hours/week did you devote to them? Also, at what point did it > > > > >> become clear that you could quit thefulltimejob and just focus on > > > > >> coworking? > > > > > >> Thanks! > > > > >> Angel > > > > > >> -- > > > > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > > > >> Groups > > > > >> "Coworking" group. > > > > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > > > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > > >> [email protected]. > > > > >> For more options, visit this group at > > ... > > read more » -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
