Every month, throngs of people are connecting to the Internet via broadband for the first time ever. And according to Dave Caputo, CEO of Sandvine, about half of them call their provider that first month to report that their connection “seems slow.” Providers don’t know what to tell them, Caputo said at a panel discussion this week. It’s a subjective assessment, perhaps fueled by advertising that promises lightning-fast speeds sure to blow consumers away. But problems like these linger in part because consumers lack an adequate vocabulary to describe the increasing diversity of broadband offerings. (How fast is fast?)

And the problem is going to get worse.
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