DEVELOP3D - Technology for the product lifecycle

Moving processor intensive CAE operations to The Cloud is no use whatsoever if our broadband connection is inconsistent. Image Copyright P R Yakin – Fotolia.com

The findings in this latest report from UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, really annoyed me.

Many of us pay for high-bandwidth broadband connections but simply don’t get what we pay for. It’s a bit like buying a pint of beer and only being served a half. OK, so it’s not, but you get my point.

Business connections are of course much better, and you get what you pay for, but even at our London office we sometimes get much less than our 16mbps business connection is supposed to offer and upload speed is consistently underwhelming. You only have to tot up the number of WiFi signals in the area to understand why – 20 at the last count from the comfort of my desk

I guess most engineering/design firms don’t have central city addresses, but in the UK it’s often the remote companies that suffer more simply because high-bandwidth connections aren’t available. Regardless of location it’s essential for all, even the smaller firms who can’t afford dedicated lines, to have reliable and consistent connections. This is even more important when you consider the ever expanding size of the CAD/CAE datasets that we work with and the need for reliable connections will get even more critical if we move our processing to the Cloud or adopt a SaaS delivery system for our 3D software. These are technologies that many CAD/CAE developers are currently giving serious consideration to.

What’s broadband like where you work/live? Are you paying for bandwidth you simply don’t get? Does it hinder your adoption of Web-based technologies or, like me, do you simply like having a bit of a rant? I’d love to hear your thoughts/experiences.