Starting Monday...Bandwidth Caps begin with AT&T (and won't stop there)

[Timber Loftis]

The wild west of the internet has seen its heyday.

Next incoming encroachment: Sales Taxes.

[Firestormalpha]

Followed by postage on e-mails?

[Ladyzekke]

Originally Posted by ElfBane What REALLY sux is that in many parts of Florida (and the US in general) there is no competition among cable companies. You do have a choice: Cable, DSL or Satellite. I would like to see county governments allow at least two cable companies. And I wish that Verizon would keep expanding FIOS, but I guess they have stopped.

Same here where I live. If you don't like your cable company that you get assigned to where you live, too bad, no other options other than DSL (which isn't available in some locations) or Satellite (expensive). I don't understand why. With dial up you used to have many options to choose from if you didn't like your current provider. How is it that when technology advances you get less options?

[Eagle eye]

Feel for us in New Zealand, we are one of the few OECD countries where capped plans are the norm. Telecom, NZ's largest provider, doesn't provide a plan over 40GB, and even that will set you back at least US$80. Netflix? Forget it. For us, even extended Youtube sessions are almost out of the question. I'll put it in perspective for you. As of last year 40% of NZ broadband subscribers had a cap of LESS THAN 5GB, and 40% between 5 and 20GB. It's a struggle. The only way to avoid exorbitant usage bills is through constant monitoring.

[Firestormalpha]

But I'll wager your young people tend to get out more than our US kids. I was talking to one kid I know. He basically told me his entire social life consists of facebook, twitter, and WOW. I told him he needs to go pick up a frisbee, football, anything that you need to be outside to use. Go to his friends house and drag them out and have some real fun.

Granted, internet data caps is a crappy reason to have pleanty of time to get outside and do something active.

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally Posted by Firestormalpha But I'll wager your young people tend to get out more than our US kids. I was talking to one kid I know. He basically told me his entire social life consists of facebook, twitter, and WOW. I told him he needs to go pick up a frisbee, football, anything that you need to be outside to use. Go to his friends house and drag them out and have some real fun. Granted, internet data caps is a crappy reason to have pleanty of time to get outside and do something active.

In context, it beats TV. Before the web - American kids especially, spent hours in front of mind-numbing cartoons or Power Rangers reruns. At least the internet is interactive. Facebook, Twitter and WoW all encompass communication and require typing and spelling skills to use them. Before the coming of the internet, some kids were isolated in front of a TV set and left there all day. Whether they are playing MMO's or trolling on Facebook, they are still honing a large set of skills integral to the computer-age that most of us did not have access or need for whilst growing up. Because of the internet, kids these days are far more technologically advanced. Plus, they are reading, typing and composing the english language just to use this medium. When not on a computer they are using their smartphones to text their friends. Hey, if it gets them writing as opposed to talking this is good.

Back in the day, the thought of reading or writing (typing) anything outside of school...you were considered a nerd. Now they're all doing it. Granted some of them can't spell for shit, and butcher the english language on their Facebook pages or text messages, but still...better than not trying at all. I had friends growing up who could barely spell because they had no practice outside of school and didn't pay attention when they were there. Now, it is almost unavoidable. Unless that person has no computer or cellphone, they will most definately be forced learn typing and composition in order to communicate.

[Larry_OHF]

Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior I have around 1.5 upstream with AT&T DSL and it costs me a fraction of what TW would cost me.

I am paying $23 less per month with AT&T's package deal than I was with TWC.
The package with TWC was unlimited long-distance, 8MB downstream, and I had the antenna channels on cable before antenna went digital.

Now, I can only get AT&T DSL in my zipcode and I am paying for the fastest internet possible for residential use. The plan is a special 1-year promotion that gives me 6MB downstream if I have a LAN line with them. Then the price will increase. I pay for long-distance and I am only getting 0.43MB upstream!

On a side note, how difficult is it to get a business-class internet connection if you are not a business?

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally Posted by Larry_OHF I am paying $23 less per month with AT&T's package deal than I was with TWC. The package with TWC was unlimited long-distance, 8MB downstream, and I had the antenna channels on cable before antenna went digital. Now, I can only get AT&T DSL in my zipcode and I am paying for the fastest internet possible for residential use. The plan is a special 1-year promotion that gives me 6MB downstream if I have a LAN line with them. Then the price will increase. I pay for long-distance and I am only getting 0.43MB upstream! On a side note, how difficult is it to get a business-class internet connection if you are not a business?

What package are you on with your DSL? It sounds like "Elite". I am on the same, the highest tier of DSL they offer. The speed differences with cable vs. DSL are not worth the price for me and I am doing nothing at home that really requires a massive upstream flow. 6mbps DL speed is more than sufficient for light or heavy usage - anything else is overkill and anyone I know with TWC never fully utilize those speeds.

My numbers do seem higher than yours though as far as upstream goes. How much are you paying for the internet? And what do you mean by getting a LAN line with them, unless you meant Landline, as in a home phone. I am on a promo also - I pay a pittance for the Elite atm - which is why even though the caps annoy me, I can't complain too much.

As far as a business packages go, from what I understand it is not difficult. Just say you work from home or something. They don't decline people business packages because they don't use it for work. It is just their way of offering more speed than most residents would need. In light of the new caps though, you may wanna have a story made up. Just say you use it for those IP cams you mentioned and do demonstrations of their capabilities from your home for clients. Shouldn't be much of a vetting process. I assume you are considering the business package because of its apparent lack of caps. I'd be interested to see how you get on.

[Larry_OHF]

I think its called DSL XTreme 6.0 and had an introductory cost of $49/mo. Then it goes up to regular rate after that but we're not expecting to live here too much longer so it was no concern.

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally Posted by Larry_OHF I think its called DSL XTreme 6.0 and had an introductory cost of $49/mo. Then it goes up to regular rate after that but we're not expecting to live here too much longer so it was no concern.

Odd, they may have different names for the packages in different areas. For residential my choices are any of 3 tiers, Basic, Pro and Elite. With the elite my DL speed is the same as yours but my upload is greater. Are you sure yours is that low - it seems like a trickle of data (not that upload speeds are generally fast but yours is particularly low in contrast to your downstream). Also I pay $22 for it per month as a promo. It then goes up to $40, which is what you are paying for yours @promo. How weird. For me TWC starts at like $70 which again, just isn't justified. If it was, i'd have it - they knock on my door every so often and I tell them when they reduce it to $22 i'll jump on board. They scurry away.