FYI: "Canadians are hooked on speed"
- Thread starter Fushigi
- Start date
e_dawg
Storage Freak
Yep, and we get higher speed cable and DSL connections for less $ per month too! Here are the packages from two leading ISP's in Canada:
Bell Sympatico High Speed DSL
$45 CDN/month ($30 US)
960/120 kbps down/up
5 GB/month bandwidth cap (sum of up & down)
PPPoE
Rogers and Shaw @Home High Speed Cable
$45 CDN/month ($30 US)
1.5M/192 kbps down/up
Bell Sympatico DSL Basic
$30 CDN/month ($20 US)
128/64 kbps down/up
PPPoE
Rogers and Shaw @Home High Speed Lite Cable
$30 CDN/month ($20 US)
128/64 kbps down/up
-----------------------
When I lived in Alberta, I had Videon PowerSurfr Cable, which was even better:
$40 CDN/month ($27 US)
4MB/768 kbps down/up
10/1 GB/month down/up bandwidth cap
static IP address
Bell Sympatico High Speed DSL
$45 CDN/month ($30 US)
960/120 kbps down/up
5 GB/month bandwidth cap (sum of up & down)
PPPoE
Rogers and Shaw @Home High Speed Cable
$45 CDN/month ($30 US)
1.5M/192 kbps down/up
Bell Sympatico DSL Basic
$30 CDN/month ($20 US)
128/64 kbps down/up
PPPoE
Rogers and Shaw @Home High Speed Lite Cable
$30 CDN/month ($20 US)
128/64 kbps down/up
-----------------------
When I lived in Alberta, I had Videon PowerSurfr Cable, which was even better:
$40 CDN/month ($27 US)
4MB/768 kbps down/up
10/1 GB/month down/up bandwidth cap
static IP address
zx
Learning Storage Performance
Videotron High-Speed service
4,8 Mbits D/L
180 KBits U/L
10 GB download limit
5 GB upload limit
35 $
....but you have to buy the cable modem (170$ - otherwise add 10$ per month for cable modem rent) and you have to subscribe to another videotron service (cable TV, digital TV...). Otherwise, Bell is much better. We don't have Rogers or Shaw in Quebec...
All prices are CAN$.
But then again....we do have a VERY long winter
.
BTW, e_dawg, do these prices include the modem?
4,8 Mbits D/L
180 KBits U/L
10 GB download limit
5 GB upload limit
35 $
....but you have to buy the cable modem (170$ - otherwise add 10$ per month for cable modem rent) and you have to subscribe to another videotron service (cable TV, digital TV...). Otherwise, Bell is much better. We don't have Rogers or Shaw in Quebec...
All prices are CAN$.
But then again....we do have a VERY long winter
. BTW, e_dawg, do these prices include the modem?
e_dawg
Storage Freak
Yes, modem rental included Sherif.
The Videotron (Quebec)/Videon (Alberta) group gives just awesome cable internet deals, don't they?
The Videotron (Quebec)/Videon (Alberta) group gives just awesome cable internet deals, don't they?
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
I thought most DSL in the states was 1.5M down/ 256k up. Granted we still pay more.
e_dawg
Storage Freak
My impression of DSL in the US was that it was both slow and expensive (384-768 kbps down for $40 US/month was the typical package, I thought). I can't say I follow US high speed trends, though...
e_dawg
Storage Freak
... oh yeah, and I thought it was not widely available until recently, either.
I don't think there is a city in Canada without high speed availability...
I don't think there is a city in Canada without high speed availability...
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
Domestically, DSL still is not really that widely available. The distance limitation is the killer. I don't know if there's no such thing as a DSL repeater or why the telcos can't put some form of a concentrator in the field to extend the DSL distance.e_dawg said:
Anyway, $40 for DSL for 768/128 is a very typical price from SBC.
I'm paying $43 + $3 modem rental for 1.5M/256k from Comcast but that's a discounted rate as I switched from satellite TV
to digital cable :evil: . Undiscounted it'd be $57+$3/month. Really, the digi cable is just as good from a signal and channel perspective. But the cable box & remote are extremely primitive by comparison to what DirecTV offers.On the Internet side I sustain 250k/sec if the remote server is fast enough. I think it'd do more. No bandwitch cap and Comcast doesn't care if you home network, VPN, or do anything else.
- Fushigi
e_dawg
Storage Freak
Tell me, is it true what they say about satellites having problems with reception during storms?
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
I'm not sure; what do they say? :wink: It was our experience that during very heavy rain storms or snow storms that reception quality would degrade. Usually just some static; occasionally a total signal loss. But only during extreme events and only for fairly short durations like <15 minutes. Maybe 4 or 5 times a year.e_dawg said:
That's not to say that cable can't go out during a storm as well. The cable lines are underground from the house but once they leave the subdivision they are on the same poles that our phone & power are carried on. Knock down a pole or have a tree branch fall on the wires or ice buildup and there you go. An outage of that nature will last for hours and possibly days since it takes a repair crew to fix vs the satellite, which comes right back as the weather improves.
During severe storms, it's better to shut off, even unplug, your electronics anyway and curl up with a good book or your SO.
- Fushigi
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
All of you people suck. I mean that. From the botttom of my heart.
Stereodude
Not really a
Yeah all you Cannucks suck.
I'm paying almost $80 a month for 2Mbit/384 Time Warner RoadRunner. The only good thing is they don't gripe about how much data you transfer, but considering how much I'm paying, they'd better not.
Stereodude
I'm paying almost $80 a month for 2Mbit/384 Time Warner RoadRunner. The only good thing is they don't gripe about how much data you transfer, but considering how much I'm paying, they'd better not.
Stereodude
blakerwry
Storage? I am Storage!
Stereodude said:Yeah all you Cannucks suck.
I'm paying almost $80 a month for 2Mbit/384 Time Warner RoadRunner. The only good thing is they don't gripe about how much data you transfer, but considering how much I'm paying, they'd better not.
Stereodude
I'm in Kansas city.. paying ~$43/month for 2Mbit down, 384kBit up for Timewarner/Roadrunner. That sucks that they charge you so much....
How many IP's do you have? I have two DHCP addresses, is the reason for your high bill a static IP?
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I was referring to people with broadband generally, not just Canadians.
For reference: I pay a little under $50 for two telephone lines. Because of weirdo bundling, I can't get local unlimited free calling - I have to pay for long distance for that. "Basic" phone service is cheap ($10/month) but only allows for 14 calls a month on a line, + $.55 per additional call. Ouch. Since my modems drop carrier a couple times a day each, that's unfeasible.
So I'm on the cheapest long distance plan humanly possible, but then there are the $10 of extra taxes and fees I have to pay for my long distance service.
I pay my new ISP $14 a month + $10 to allow multiple connections and more-or-less "always on" status (some days I'm on my laptop, too). My current ISP is a small provider and they're very cool about things.
Because my land lines are modem only, I have to pay for a cell phone, too, if I want to call anyone. My "personal" service is $40 a month (my business line is another $50, but that's a write-off).
So.... for me to have internet service at anything like a reasonable speed (28.8k on a good day), and still have a usable phone, I'm paying around $112 a month.
Hence, you people who whine about $50 bills from your broadband ISPs all, uniformly, suck.
For reference: I pay a little under $50 for two telephone lines. Because of weirdo bundling, I can't get local unlimited free calling - I have to pay for long distance for that. "Basic" phone service is cheap ($10/month) but only allows for 14 calls a month on a line, + $.55 per additional call. Ouch. Since my modems drop carrier a couple times a day each, that's unfeasible.
So I'm on the cheapest long distance plan humanly possible, but then there are the $10 of extra taxes and fees I have to pay for my long distance service.
I pay my new ISP $14 a month + $10 to allow multiple connections and more-or-less "always on" status (some days I'm on my laptop, too). My current ISP is a small provider and they're very cool about things.
Because my land lines are modem only, I have to pay for a cell phone, too, if I want to call anyone. My "personal" service is $40 a month (my business line is another $50, but that's a write-off).
So.... for me to have internet service at anything like a reasonable speed (28.8k on a good day), and still have a usable phone, I'm paying around $112 a month.
Hence, you people who whine about $50 bills from your broadband ISPs all, uniformly, suck.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
Well, if you want to add phone service to that, take my $43+3 and add another $37 for local (SBC, 1 line, caller ID, linebacker). That's $83. You could add $4-7 a month for domestic long distance when we're too lazy to use the cel phone.Mercutio said:
My cel phone currently is reimbursed by work. <ssshh>Since they don't question it as long as it's under $150 a month, that includes the 2nd line for my wife.</ssshh> But I'm switching to an actual company plan to get a Treo 300 so I'll have to pay for my wife's phone going forward.
Yeah, I know. We're still paying about $40 a month less and get broadband speed, but the real cost difference is, at least, not as bad as our earlier posts were indicating.
So, are there no broadband options available to you, Merc? Have you checked lately? My Comcast line just became available a few weeks ago.
- Fushigi
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
No broadband. I check about every two weeks. No outdoor antennas, either.
Buck
Storage? I am Storage!
Is broadband available within 9 miles of you? You could get a wireless point to point signal from some elses broadband connection.Mercutio said:No broadband. I check about every two weeks. No outdoor antennas, either.
e_dawg
Storage Freak
I feel for you, Merc, I truly do. ... Is it because you live in the boonies?
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I live in the greater Chicago metroplex (where I live isn't a suburb of Chicago by any stretch, but from where I live all the way to Chicago, there's an unbroken chain of truly urban landscape). Not the boonies.
The are weird laws in the county where I live that make providing broadband service to apartment-dwellers very unappealling to landlords. I've even offered to pay for a fractional T1 to my apartment but I couldn't get approval for that either.
The are weird laws in the county where I live that make providing broadband service to apartment-dwellers very unappealling to landlords. I've even offered to pay for a fractional T1 to my apartment but I couldn't get approval for that either.
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
Write the FCC and your congress-people. I mean that. Not just saying you don't have broadband, but what it really means to not have it, and how much it's costing you for the alternative. They need to allow the phone and cable companies to provide broadband. Competition is good.
In 2003, in the U.S., I can't see anybody justifying the lack of broadband because of weird rules.
In 2003, in the U.S., I can't see anybody justifying the lack of broadband because of weird rules.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Perhaps it's time to move Merc?
Okay, this is going to be long....
The thing that stood out the most in the article Fushigi linked was:
Anyways, consider that when the broadband cable services first came out ('96/'97) they offered unlimited use. Further, in the case of Rogers cable, a residential line was 3Mbps. I never obtained such lofty rates, although achieving about 2/3 theoretical speed was rather typical...and at that rate, things move quick (to the point where it would be kind of silly to complain that your connection speed was "slow"). Problem number one, however, was that there were frequent down times and email server problems as they rapidly expanded (growing pains some would say). Eventually (say mid '01) things began to stabilize...but this was not after several hundred thousand dissatisfied users banded together under the Residential Broadband User Association (or something like that). Personally, I suspect that the sheer weight this lobbying group was beginning to collect was enough to get the big companies to get their act together (think fear of government intervention - the bane of all successful business models).
Alright then, (stealing the name branded to the 1941 period of u-boat successes in the N.Atlantic) Summer '01 to end of Feb '02 was truly the "happy times" for Canadian cable broadband users. And the companies knew this, broadcasting a series of television commercials showcasing their unlimited access and fast speeds. One such commercial featured a young girl capable of completing her schooling via distant education courses available only throgh the virtue of quality broadband connections.
Sadly, the happy times met an immediate end. But it wasn't unexpectedly, cause everyone knew it was coming for months. Simply, the plug was pulled on Excite@Home - the backbone network to my cable provider. What was their in term solution? Why lease bandwidth off their chief rival's network (Bell Sympatico....a DSL 1Mbps) of course! Let me say this, that things crawled (comparitively for a while) was a understatement...it resembled the good ol' days of dial up at times. So here you are, paying for a premium service that had just become decapitated.....
Okay, I'll give them credit though, because within about two months time, speeds were increased (no where near what it used to be like, but to a tolerable level - i.e. it was noticably broadband again). I'm not sure what they did in terms of setting up their own network backbone, but for a while it seemed promising that the "Son of Broadband" might just grow to be as mighty as the former King had been.
Unfortunately, the son turned out to be a false prophet and status quo was not to return. In fact, quality was to erode even further. Quietly, the 3MBps line connection was adjusted to 1.5Mbps (of course they reserve such a right in the EUA). At this particular time, my connection speeds were sitting around 1.2-1.3Mbps. Which is pretty close to the newly imposed cap. In this regard, I count myself lucky as far too many people weren't even seeing 1Mbps. Problem two, the band cap was accompanied with a price increase ($5 or 12.5%). Jokes about that previously mentioned school girl began to surface, citing that littly Jannie was unable to complete her course work and was forced to drop out of school because she no longer had a sufficent broadband line, nor could she afford the inferior one. I'm sure the succinct humour was not lost on most.
Was there an alternative? Not really (unless you wanted to drop back down to dial up) as the only DSL at the time pretty much did the same except they imposed a monthly bit cap. Enter the new business model. You may wish to peruse this article which surfaced on CNET many months later: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975320.html
Anyways, flash forward today. I'm noticing my service is getting even slower - see my recent thread (is the inernet under attack?). Is the futre looking better? No...the provider might adopt a bit cap any time.
So what am I whinning about? Well consider that after tax, said cable service costs ~600/yr. 600/yr for something that is getting worse an worse. Where and when does the erosion end? My cable TV bill goes up each year, but at least I still get the same amount of programming (yet sadly, said quality is dropping exponentially - but thats obviously another issue). Anyways, thats my rant.
I have to admit, the Videotron service that e_dawg and Sherif both listed looks mighty appetizing...too bad nothing like that exists in T.O.
As for you who can get broadband but pay ~$80US ! I feel sorry for you ... I just hope that the quality and level of service you recieve is miles ahead of what many broadband subscribers in Canada have received. As for those of you who haven't been able to get broadband in your area yet, my heart goes out to you. I would not be a happy camper - dial up sucks. I can't help but think that you guys missed out on the happy times. Albeit, optical networks in the future may bring about some of the good times again...But I just shudder at the thought of what the level of commerialization and prices might be.
Cheers, CK
The thing that stood out the most in the article Fushigi linked was:
Great, just what I need sucking up my bandwidth and making my web surfing experience all that much slower....more flash, more crap, less content blah blah blah.
I can understand your frustration with your own situation, and can easily see why you would think we're a bunch of whinners. Let me try to put forth a counter argument that might temper that perspective a bit (although if I still couldn't get broadband, I'd be livid....greater Chicago, who would figure).Mercutio said:
Anyways, consider that when the broadband cable services first came out ('96/'97) they offered unlimited use. Further, in the case of Rogers cable, a residential line was 3Mbps. I never obtained such lofty rates, although achieving about 2/3 theoretical speed was rather typical...and at that rate, things move quick (to the point where it would be kind of silly to complain that your connection speed was "slow"). Problem number one, however, was that there were frequent down times and email server problems as they rapidly expanded (growing pains some would say). Eventually (say mid '01) things began to stabilize...but this was not after several hundred thousand dissatisfied users banded together under the Residential Broadband User Association (or something like that). Personally, I suspect that the sheer weight this lobbying group was beginning to collect was enough to get the big companies to get their act together (think fear of government intervention - the bane of all successful business models).
Alright then, (stealing the name branded to the 1941 period of u-boat successes in the N.Atlantic) Summer '01 to end of Feb '02 was truly the "happy times" for Canadian cable broadband users. And the companies knew this, broadcasting a series of television commercials showcasing their unlimited access and fast speeds. One such commercial featured a young girl capable of completing her schooling via distant education courses available only throgh the virtue of quality broadband connections.
Sadly, the happy times met an immediate end. But it wasn't unexpectedly, cause everyone knew it was coming for months. Simply, the plug was pulled on Excite@Home - the backbone network to my cable provider. What was their in term solution? Why lease bandwidth off their chief rival's network (Bell Sympatico....a DSL 1Mbps) of course! Let me say this, that things crawled (comparitively for a while) was a understatement...it resembled the good ol' days of dial up at times. So here you are, paying for a premium service that had just become decapitated.....
Okay, I'll give them credit though, because within about two months time, speeds were increased (no where near what it used to be like, but to a tolerable level - i.e. it was noticably broadband again). I'm not sure what they did in terms of setting up their own network backbone, but for a while it seemed promising that the "Son of Broadband" might just grow to be as mighty as the former King had been.
Unfortunately, the son turned out to be a false prophet and status quo was not to return. In fact, quality was to erode even further. Quietly, the 3MBps line connection was adjusted to 1.5Mbps (of course they reserve such a right in the EUA). At this particular time, my connection speeds were sitting around 1.2-1.3Mbps. Which is pretty close to the newly imposed cap. In this regard, I count myself lucky as far too many people weren't even seeing 1Mbps. Problem two, the band cap was accompanied with a price increase ($5 or 12.5%). Jokes about that previously mentioned school girl began to surface, citing that littly Jannie was unable to complete her course work and was forced to drop out of school because she no longer had a sufficent broadband line, nor could she afford the inferior one. I'm sure the succinct humour was not lost on most.
Was there an alternative? Not really (unless you wanted to drop back down to dial up) as the only DSL at the time pretty much did the same except they imposed a monthly bit cap. Enter the new business model. You may wish to peruse this article which surfaced on CNET many months later: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975320.html
Anyways, flash forward today. I'm noticing my service is getting even slower - see my recent thread (is the inernet under attack?). Is the futre looking better? No...the provider might adopt a bit cap any time.
So what am I whinning about? Well consider that after tax, said cable service costs ~600/yr. 600/yr for something that is getting worse an worse. Where and when does the erosion end? My cable TV bill goes up each year, but at least I still get the same amount of programming (yet sadly, said quality is dropping exponentially - but thats obviously another issue). Anyways, thats my rant.
I have to admit, the Videotron service that e_dawg and Sherif both listed looks mighty appetizing...too bad nothing like that exists in T.O.
As for you who can get broadband but pay ~$80US ! I feel sorry for you ... I just hope that the quality and level of service you recieve is miles ahead of what many broadband subscribers in Canada have received. As for those of you who haven't been able to get broadband in your area yet, my heart goes out to you. I would not be a happy camper - dial up sucks. I can't help but think that you guys missed out on the happy times. Albeit, optical networks in the future may bring about some of the good times again...But I just shudder at the thought of what the level of commerialization and prices might be.
Cheers, CK
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
Merc, Are you and your office on the same exchange?
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20010823.html
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20010823.html
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
No point to point stuff, Buck. My apartment faces, erm, well, a swimming pool, and then a bunch more apartments. I might be able to manage a decent 802.11 setup with some of the houses nearby, but even at that, I live in a bad part the world and I don't think I'd get very far with that. Certainly not access to premises to fix a problem.
FCC regs mandate a 9600bps data connection over POTS lines. That means that your connection has to be SLOWER than 9.6k before they'll take action. The currernt FCC chairman, besides being Colin Powell's son, is incredibly pro-business and DOES NOT EVEN HAVE INTERNET SERVICE AT HOME. This is *not* someone who is likely to do anything about the dearth of broadband options in the US. I believe he's on record as favoring consolidation in broadband service providers, which is the opposite of what the previous chair, Reed Hundt, tried for.
Honestly, moving, unless I bought a house, wouldn't fix anything. I'd have the same problem in the whole region where I live. I don't want to be a homeowner.
Back to the main thrust of all this: Broadband internet access, under the present regulatory environment. Broadband should be considered and treated like any other public utility. It should be available to everyone, much the way electricity and telephone service (for that matter, isn't penetration of cable TV essentially 100%?) are.
FCC regs mandate a 9600bps data connection over POTS lines. That means that your connection has to be SLOWER than 9.6k before they'll take action. The currernt FCC chairman, besides being Colin Powell's son, is incredibly pro-business and DOES NOT EVEN HAVE INTERNET SERVICE AT HOME. This is *not* someone who is likely to do anything about the dearth of broadband options in the US. I believe he's on record as favoring consolidation in broadband service providers, which is the opposite of what the previous chair, Reed Hundt, tried for.
Honestly, moving, unless I bought a house, wouldn't fix anything. I'd have the same problem in the whole region where I live. I don't want to be a homeowner.
Back to the main thrust of all this: Broadband internet access, under the present regulatory environment. Broadband should be considered and treated like any other public utility. It should be available to everyone, much the way electricity and telephone service (for that matter, isn't penetration of cable TV essentially 100%?) are.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Learn French, come here and vote "yes" on the next référendum ;-)Pradeep said:
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
CougTek's attitude is mirrored by those of French and Spanish Basques, Iraqi and Turkish Kurds, Roma throughout Eastern Europe, autochthonic peoples of the Americas (where those of largely European or immigrant ancestry tend to be in charge), Hawaiians, Abos in Oz...
I'd say it's a pretty common sentiment, actually.
I'd say it's a pretty common sentiment, actually.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
....And many people from the country of my ancestors : Scotland.Mercutio said:
Stereodude
Not really a
I have 1 DHCP address that's very "static" shall we say. Since I wasn't a cable subscriber I had to get it before I could get a cable modem. Just cable modem service is about $80. Basic cable and the cable modem is the same price. So I play $80 for a cable modem + basic cable, but it's still $80 and I'm not falling for the $43 game.blakerwry said:
Stereodude
blakerwry
Storage? I am Storage!
Stereodude said:
yes, you have to be a cable TV customer, fortunately we use Timewarner cable anyway.. but we pay $43 for the same very static DHCP addresses (mine hasn't changed in months) and something under $30(i think it's like $25) for basic cable.
Our basic cable service used to cost more, however Everest moved in and timewarner lowered prices(just on cable TV service) to be competitive.
Stereodude
Not really a
My IP hasn't changed in over a year. My new router never releases it even when the service goes down and it expires. It will renew it as soon as the service is back up. But, even with the old router almost never changed.blakerwry said:
Stereodude
blakerwry
Storage? I am Storage!
almost everytime they do maintanence with the RR servers my IP changes... we had a period there where my IP was changing on a daily or weekly level, but for the most part it is very constant.
It's not your router getting back the IP, it's the DHCP server giving it back to you after the lease expires(for me it's every 24 hours).
It's not your router getting back the IP, it's the DHCP server giving it back to you after the lease expires(for me it's every 24 hours).
freeborn
Learning Storage Performance
Interesting topic. I live along the Colorado Front Range about 3 mile north of Longmont. We've got lot's of open space north of the house and a few football fields distance between houses east, west, and south. Beautiful place to live ... unless your a hopeless geek. Until 6 months ago I was paying $135 a month for a 128Kb ISDN line because it was the only option open to me. Luckily there's a company called MesaNetworks which runs a wireless broadband business with a tower near me. Unfortunately, that tower was saturated until that 6 months ago and I couldn't be included on their service. Now I've kissed Qwest goodbye and have a 1Mb up 512Kb down connection with latency to Denver around 25ms and very little packet loss. For $60 a month I get 6GB of bandwidth (up and down). I can't download everything in sight but at least I can be a LPB on the game servers
Free
Free
freeborn
Learning Storage Performance
Interesting topic. I live along the Colorado Front Range about 3 mile north of Longmont. We've got lot's of open space north of the house and a few football fields distance between houses east, west, and south. Beautiful place to live ... unless your a hopeless geek. Until 6 months ago I was paying $135 a month for a 128Kb ISDN line because it was the only option open to me. Luckily there's a company called MesaNetworks which runs a wireless broadband business with a tower near me. Unfortunately, that tower was saturated until that 6 months ago and I couldn't be included on their service. Now I've kissed Qwest goodbye and have a 1Mb down 512Kb up connection with latency to Denver around 25ms and almost no packet loss. For $60 a month I get 6GB of bandwidth total per month. I can't download everything in sight or share all my files but at least I can be a LPB on the game servers
Free
Free
freeborn
Learning Storage Performance
sorry about that, must have smacked submit followed by preview before I was quite done with that post Free
blakerwry
Storage? I am Storage!
I hate monthly traffic caps. I really do.... I wouldn't mind having them if I got some kind of a discount, but it just doesn't make sense to me to be limited to some rediculously low number(compared to your bandwidth).
With most of these Canadian ISPs that 1) have caps on badwidth that seem reletively low compared to the US, and 2) have stiff traffic limitations It's like having a ferrari with a governer that limits you to 85MPH, and ontop of it you are rationed gas at the rate of 1 gallon per day.
To me it makes sense to ahve a bandwidth cap, that way you can guarantee a quality/standard of service to all your customers.
But I am not as sure about traffic limitations. I assume that the backbone providers that ISPs use don't charge for traffic (just a monthly fee for the leasing of the pipes) I can understand a traffic limit to ensure there is no abuse of the service (e.g. running a super kazaa server that is serving out 100's of GBytes of data a month) But I don't understand a combined download/upload limit of say 2GB or even 4GB per month. (4gb's of data a month is the equivalent of a constant 1.5KB/sec use of your internet service.. or equivalent to a 14.4 modem being used constantly)
Most of the bandwidth caps I see are between 4-6GB/month. This is just rediculous in my opinion. 10-20 would be more appropriate for standard cable/dsl and 20-50 should be more appropriate for broadband.
With most of these Canadian ISPs that 1) have caps on badwidth that seem reletively low compared to the US, and 2) have stiff traffic limitations It's like having a ferrari with a governer that limits you to 85MPH, and ontop of it you are rationed gas at the rate of 1 gallon per day.
To me it makes sense to ahve a bandwidth cap, that way you can guarantee a quality/standard of service to all your customers.
But I am not as sure about traffic limitations. I assume that the backbone providers that ISPs use don't charge for traffic (just a monthly fee for the leasing of the pipes) I can understand a traffic limit to ensure there is no abuse of the service (e.g. running a super kazaa server that is serving out 100's of GBytes of data a month) But I don't understand a combined download/upload limit of say 2GB or even 4GB per month. (4gb's of data a month is the equivalent of a constant 1.5KB/sec use of your internet service.. or equivalent to a 14.4 modem being used constantly)
Most of the bandwidth caps I see are between 4-6GB/month. This is just rediculous in my opinion. 10-20 would be more appropriate for standard cable/dsl and 20-50 should be more appropriate for broadband.