So what do I really get and how much does it cost?
Typical download speeds at SoNo West have been measured at between 7 and 80 Mb/s in an end residential unit. In most units, it
tends to typically be about 12 to 15 Mb/s most of the time. Upload speeds are about half this amount.
The lowest possible download speed at SoNo (when everything is working correctly, which is almost always) for a unit is about 1.5 Mb/s. That can only happen when all 200 units are attempting to access high broadband usage internet (like movie streaming) at the same time. In other words: It doesn’t happen. The highest possible download speed for an end-user is 100 Mb/s (that doesn’t happen either).
SoNo prices are about $33 per unit per month. Adler pays in the low $20s. Exact prices for a new building will depend on a building’s location and infrastructure. Expect users to pay between ~$18 and just above about ~$30 per month for similar services.
It is worth noting that the larger the building, the better the economy of scale. A very large building (exceeding, say, 350 units) will very probably have an end user cost significantly below $18 per month for individual units.
What kinds of speeds are “good”?
Download speeds of 2 to 4 Mb/s will allow you to stream movies seamlessly. Download speeds of 11 Mb/s will permit streaming of high definition 3-D movies. Online shopping doesn’t need anything even remotely approaching these values. Nobody but a network center or a major web hosting site needs upload speeds over 1 Mb/s.