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Implementation of Data Caps for Home Internet

zrickety

The Fixer
Location
Unknown
Car(s)
VW GTI
Just FYI, a provider can only provide the advertised speed for data on their own local area network and almost all the things you do come from beyond their network. Here is sample text from Mediacom which is much the same as other local providers. This is the text and there is even more detailed text about what you are getting in terms of throughput. They say UP TO a certain speed which would be under ideal conditions. Mediacom can have a fast network but it can only feed you the info as fast as they receive it from sites out on the Internet. That is why they say up to. For instance if the data was coming to the mediacom network at 100mbps and you have a 100mbps plan that would be ideal but not likely to ever happen nor is it necessary for most purposes. Usually there are many users for any given service and you get the data at whatever speed the sending server has available. I have over simplified what really happens but buying a 100mb plan doesn't mean you are going to see all data come to your computer at that speed. Only under ideal conditions which of course would hardly ever occur.

I hear what you're saying, but I never see the 'up to' speeds. Not even close. It doesn't matter if it's golfmk6, Netflix, or google...it's always slower than advertised and it's honestly ridiculous.
 

zrickety

The Fixer
Location
Unknown
Car(s)
VW GTI
They might as well say up to 1 Terabyte per second, because anything slower is technically true.
 

mkv_martinez

Go Kart Champion
Location
USA
Car(s)
DBP 4 door GTI
I've been called crazy for years. As soon as companies like AT&T started buying content-companies (HBO and such) - I knew this was coming.

We are within 5-10 years of paying high fees for capped internet access that includes "limitless" access to services you subscribe to also from that provider.

That free Disney+ subscription with your Verizon account and HBOMax with your AT&T plan is a lot more ominous than it seems.

Part of a long term plan to get us used to not buying & downloading Movies/Songs directly but only access to stream them (while available) and then also charge for the data necessary to access that content you paid for.

These companies all work with the same advisors and hire the same people; the plan has been adopted pretty much across the industry.
 

Thumper

Autocross Champion
Location
Sedalia, MO
Car(s)
2012 Golf R Stg3 APR
Mediacom can have a fast network but it can only feed you the info as fast as they receive it from sites out on the Internet.

This is super obvious to gamers if they pay attention. I can (and often do) sit there and watch a game update download on Xbox at 87 mbps, then jump to 178mbps, then drop to 112mbps. Then I download an update on Steam that rips down at 300mbps.

It's the same principle that people have failed to grasp since the days of DVD players. They go buy a DVD player and then complain the quality is no better than the VCR...........never realizing they are watching it on a wood cabinet tube TV (usually with coax inputs lol) that can not display the higher quality. Happened when 4k came out but in reverse. Why doesn't my TV look better, I just dropped $4000? Um, because no one is broadcasting or streaming 4k at the time? lol

A connection is only as good as BOTH sides, and the connection.

The benefit to a Gig line is not single transfer speeds, it's the bandwith that comes with it. Sure, you can't grab a file from Xbox at 1gbps speeds because their servers and bandwith are not going to be Gig dedicated to each customer, but you can grab multiple files and stream on multiple devices at once up to that speed.
 

GIACUser

Master Wallet Mechanic
Location
USA
Car(s)
MK 6 GolfR
They might as well say up to 1 Terabyte per second, because anything slower is technically true.

I hear what you're saying, but I never see the 'up to' speeds. Not even close. It doesn't matter if it's golfmk6, Netflix, or google...it's always slower than advertised and it's honestly ridiculous.

Well they are not advertising that you will see the "up to" speeds on a single computer, that really is not how things work on the internet. Currently the biggest bandwidth hogs would be streaming 4K gaming or video. They can require a connection up around 35+mbps in the extreme. So why do I need more than that? Well many of us have multiple people in the household doing things on line and when you add up the bandwidth needs of each user you start to see why you need additional bandwidth from your local provider.

Just a note about "speedtests" on the internet. They are like dynos for our cars, you can use it to see differences but they are not an absolute measurement of speed. The only way a speedtest starts to achieve actual accuracy of throughput, is if the speedtest server is on the local area network of your own provider which is never the case generally.
 

GIACUser

Master Wallet Mechanic
Location
USA
Car(s)
MK 6 GolfR
This is super obvious to gamers if they pay attention. I can (and often do) sit there and watch a game update download on Xbox at 87 mbps, then jump to 178mbps, then drop to 112mbps. Then I download an update on Steam that rips down at 300mbps.

It's the same principle that people have failed to grasp since the days of DVD players. They go buy a DVD player and then complain the quality is no better than the VCR...........never realizing they are watching it on a wood cabinet tube TV (usually with coax inputs lol) that can not display the higher quality. Happened when 4k came out but in reverse. Why doesn't my TV look better, I just dropped $4000? Um, because no one is broadcasting or streaming 4k at the time? lol

A connection is only as good as BOTH sides, and the connection.

The benefit to a Gig line is not single transfer speeds, it's the bandwith that comes with it. Sure, you can't grab a file from Xbox at 1gbps speeds because their servers and bandwith are not going to be Gig dedicated to each customer, but you can grab multiple files and stream on multiple devices at once up to that speed.
Well put. Your download speeds are indeed affecting by the traffic between you and the server you are accessing. As well any given service would have a max amount of connectivity it has to share between the number of folks connecting to it. It is one of the reasons why you see speeds fluctuate, as more people connect each slice of bandwidth the server has to share will be smaller. The other thing that is happening that is shady, is throttling. It is not supposed to be happening under net neutrality but it is happening.

The other thing that is going on right now is a fight for net neutrality. The current administration has tried to kill net neutrality. The change away from net neutrality is currently being held at bay in the courts as they fight what this administration has done. If the lawsuits fail the internet will be very different and much more expensive for all of us and a big profit maker for local area providers, major networks that own these local providers and folks that own the pathways between local providers and the services their users seek. (Quest, ATT etc).
 

Corprin

Autocross Champion
Location
Magrathea
Car(s)
A car
My ISP actually delivers 85 even though I pay for 60. And that's on WiFi. Too expensive though.

You feel you pay more than you should for service greater than your contracted rate?

You should call and complain to someone’s manager for this atrocity.
 

GolNat

Autocross Champion
Location
Delaware
Car(s)
13 GTI & 98 Prelude
In the middle of the day on 5G wifi signal I can get close to what I’m told I receive. Idk how accurate that website is.

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Subliminal

Autocross Champion
Location
Vegas
Car(s)
Slow FWD VW Hatch
Cox has been doing this for a while already. And my options are something stupid like $150/month for 1000mbps ("introductory price") or $130 for 300mbps
 

Thumper

Autocross Champion
Location
Sedalia, MO
Car(s)
2012 Golf R Stg3 APR

sterkrazzy

Autocross Champion
Location
United States
Car(s)
Turbo. Blue.
Problem is I can't find any blockbusters for a free aol trial.
 
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