On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 2:17 PM, Sean Harlow <[email protected]> wrote: > On Aug 22, 2012, at 17:06, Bacon Zombie wrote: > >> An ISP with a 5GB cap that is charging the end user more then 5$ total >> {including line rental} a month should not be allow to operate. > > I agree entirely. The US is not exactly known for great broadband access, > particularly where I live in the midwest (unless one is in a lucky pocket > with FiOS, Google Fiber, or the like), yet I could easily host 200 > 512kbit/sec subscribers off my residential cable connection without even > thinking about caps much less throttling on top of caps. It'd be > oversubscribed, sure, but most users don't max out the line regularly so I > don't think I'd have a problem. My mobile phone is through Sprint, known for > being the slowest of the national 3G carriers, yet I can exceed 1mbit/sec in > the middle of a corn field miles from anything resembling civilization and > again do not have any monthly cap. >
On a slow connection, "all you can eat" is effectively all "you can sip" Nonetheless, it appears there are now 2 camps forming where (AT&T + VZW) want to clamp down access (Facetime?) and increase price And, in the other camp, unlimited offerings from T-Mobile, Sprint, and Metro http://www.pcworld.com/article/261247/tmobile_metropcs_roll_out_unlimited_data_plans.html These 2 camps also cleanly break into Ma'Bell vs Other CB > A 5GB cap on 512kbit/sec service could be blown through in under a single > day. That's absurd. If a 256k user maxed out their line all month, they'd > have transferred just short of 80GB. Why in the world would it make sense to > limit someone to 1/16th of that just for the "privilege" of double speed > which is still so slow it's beaten by any 3G service? > > Wired internet providers should not even be thinking about caps below the > 250GB/mo point. Neither of these example speeds can even reach that level, > so if you feel the need to cap you are doing it wrong and should rethink your > business model. Wireless carriers get a bit more leeway due to spectrum > limitations, but even there a 5GB cap is barely reasonable for an entry level > offering. > --- > Sean Harlow > [email protected] > >
