Bandwidth help/question

[Martinus]

I'm considering getting a fast mobile internet (a mobile network modem that can be utilized by a stationary desktop computer) which offers much higher transfer speed than my current landline, but the rub is that it has a monthly allowance of 16 GB, after which it drops to a snail crawl.

I'm wondering how viable this is for a normal use (including playing WoW, browsing internet, watching youtube) and an occassional "direct" download (between patches, music, films and podcast, I think I download directly about 8-10 GB per month).

Alternatively, I can just keep my current service as a back up (it's only about $15 per month, so not a big deal).

[Slargos]

Having tried just this (or rather a variation of it, with download caps of 4 and 10 from two separate providers) I can tell you that 16 will probably work, but you're going to start paying close attention to what you're doing since you want to avoid hitting the cap.

For "normal" use I think you're covered. The moment you want to start downloading movies and such, you're going to be in a worse condition. 

I'd keep the backup in place were I you, at least for a few months.

[MadImmortalMan]

I don't know about metered internet. I mean, think about what would have happened when it came time to download Cataclysm, for example. Or buy something off Steam.

[Grey Fox]

I don't know about metered internet. I mean, think about what would have happened when it came time to download Cataclysm, for example. Or buy something off Steam.

Better start getting used to it. North American ISP are going towards that. Canada is already pretty much Capland & AT&T is going to start doing it in the US.

It's a battle we've already lost.

[Norgy]

I don't know about metered internet. I mean, think about what would have happened when it came time to download Cataclysm, for example. Or buy something off Steam.

I'd definitely not go for it.

Marty, I'd use the mobile internet as the backup.
Cabled internet is better for a number of reasons, but mostly because copper wire and even more so, fibre optics, still beat beams when it comes to cost per MB not just to the user, but to the ISP.
VDSL and fibre optical cable are both becoming the norm, and mobile broadband is more directed towards iPhone/iPad users than gamers and computer usage in general.
Mobile internet is "nice to have", cabled is "must have". At least for our technologically dependent generation.

[derspiess]

I don't know about metered internet. I mean, think about what would have happened when it came time to download Cataclysm, for example. Or buy something off Steam.

I would probably do okay with a reasonable cap & would probably save money, assuming it were cheaper than unlimited.  But the benefits of not having to worry about running over my limit are worth paying a little more.

I couldn't imagine replacing a physical connection with wireless for my home, but wireless is awesome to have as a backup.  I use my phone as a wifi router when travelling, but also at home if I'm having cable issues.  A few weeks ago I had my Xbox 360 & 3 PCs connected that way.

What really grinds my gears about cable internet over here is that they typically limit your upload speed well below what you get for download.  With Time Warner I'm getting about 15mbps or so down, but can barely get over 500kbps up.  Whereas with my phone I easily get over 1mpbs upload speed on 4G even with a weak signal.  I signed up for that Amazon deal that lets you upload 20gb of music to stream from their cloud service & it's taking so long to upload everything I might just tether my phone to my PC tonight just to speed things up.

[Martinus]

I don't know about the US or the rest of Europe, but the trade-off in Poland seems to be that the unlimited bandwidth providers tend to "make up" for that by throttling some bandwidth-heavy sites like youtube, so you get choppy stuff.

[Norgy]

Providers practice net neutrality here, so throttling is basically illegal. We are: Pirate Paradise.

[Martinus]

Providers practice net neutrality here, so throttling is basically illegal. We are: Pirate Paradise.

[MadBurgerMaker]

AT&T is going to start doing it in the US.

They're starting this in May.  It'll be capped at 150GB for regular DSL and 250GB for U-Verse.  If you go over three times in three months or some such, they charge you $10 for 50 more gigs, and there's no change in the speed. 

It doesn't really seem like it will be that a big of a deal for most people who use AT&Ts shit, at least as it will be on release.

[Ed Anger]

That was one reason I switched off their DSL. I was a loyal customer of it 12 mostly problem free years, but when they started farting around like that, I jumped ship.

[MadBurgerMaker]

That was one reason I switched off their DSL. I was a loyal customer of it 12 mostly problem free years, but when they started farting around like that, I jumped ship.

I switched from their DSL after 4 or 5 also generally problem free years when I moved to this new place.  They wanted to charge me the same amount of money for a slower connection speed (IIRC, it was 1/2 the theoretical max speed...I had the "elite" or "premium" or whatever their fastest DSL service was at the other place).  It's only like a $5 difference between the plans, but they can go fuck themselves anyway.  It's the principle.  The mooks also took three months to stop trying to charge me for service I didn't have.

Anyway, aside from all that, 150 or 250GB should be plenty for almost everyone.

[katmai]

Heh i'm contemplating moving back to DSL as the cable provider just instituted a cap on service.
If i go over my 50gb a month they are charging 0.04 per mb over the cap.

Since i do most Netflix watching and game buying through net wary of it, but the alternatives up here screw me in regards to price to Speed.

[Tonitrus]

Heh i'm contemplating moving back to DSL as the cable provider just instituted a cap on service.
If i go over my 50gb a month they are charging 0.04 per mb over the cap.

Since i do most Netflix watching and game buying through net wary of it, but the alternatives up here screw me in regards to price to Speed.

Yeah, you should find a way to measure how much BW you use in an average month.

I turn my GCI off back around November was I was out of town for nearly a month...and picked up ACS when I got back.

Their DSL is slow as shit.  But it's also $80-ish a month vs. $160-ish including cable TV I rarely watched.

[katmai]

Oh i was with ACS for years, because GCI originally had a cap on their Internet, I jumped over to them when they got rid of it, but since brought it back....i'm wishing more options up here.