>> Gord>>
>>>B J Foster wrote:
>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Peter Webb" wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Specifically?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> What does the STB do that a computer can't, other than verifying the
>>>>>>>> card
>>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>>> inserted?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> The only possible application is for
>>>>>>>>>> people who don't own a computer and want to watch TV. And that has
>>>>>>>>>> nothing
>>>>>>>>>> to do with whether it is multicasted.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> To quote a wise poster to this newsgroup "At the consumer end, there
>>>>>>> is no practical difference". Who cares if a consumer wants to watch
>>>>>>> live sport on their TV? They should learn to be patient and how to
>>>>>>> navigate the Internet on a computer so they can eventually download
>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>> from YouTube. If they don't have a computer they should buy one.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Or, they should pay for the internet connection themselves. I can't
>>>>>> see why
>>>>>> the taxpayer should spend $50b to subsidise the broadcasting of live
>>>>>> sports.
>>>>>
>>>>> You have it backwards. The use of NBN Co's network to broadcast TV is
>>>>> likely to subsidise other users.
>>>>
>>>>Rubbish. You don't have to be an Engineer to work out that the use of
>>>>point-to-point networks for 1:many content is stupid. 'Stupid'
>>>>translates to 'expensive' in the real world.
>>
>> Eh? How can you convey data from one point to another without a
>> "point-to-point network".
>
>You use a broadcast network. One signal is received by multiple recipients.
>
>formatting link
>
>"A broadcast network avoids the complex routing procedures of a switched
>network by ensuring that each node's transmissions are received by all other
>nodes in the network. Therefore, a broadcast network has only a single
>communications channel. A wired local area network (LAN), for example, may
>be set up as a broadcast network, with one user connected to each node and
>the nodes typically..."
>
Are you saying that, when the NBN is being used as a broadcast network by a multicast TV source, NBN Co will have to switch the signal to each subscriber and block it to those that don't subscribe? That is certainly not how the HFC network works. It would explain why you believe that "cable" TV over the NBN will not require a set top box.
> How does the NBN network differ in this
>> regard from free-to-air or cable TV? They all require a single media
>> source and multiple destinations.
>
>A broadcast network only requires a single circuit to reach multiple
>recipients.
_Every_ network requires a circuit from the source to each desired destination. I suppose that a ring topology might be regarded as a "single circuit" but that is not the network model being implemented by NBN Co.
>Or did you think they broadcast Free to Air TV just for you?
On the contrary. There is a circuit from the transmitter to my TV aerial and a circuit to every other aerial in range. If you happen to be confined to a Faraday cage there will be no circuit and you will not receive FTA TV.