this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
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I'm an unfortunate captive of the oligopoly of the internet industry in the USA. In many places, you have 2-3 choices of internet, and all of them suck ass. I'm in this situation. All internet providers in my area have a 1-1.5 terabyte data cap. So when I download Call of Duty for 250 gb and it fails and has to update or reinstall, I've wasted 500 gb, and have now reached 50% of my data cap in just 1 day. There are crazy fees, for example, Cox Cable says:

If you go over, we’ll automatically add 50 gigabytes of data for $10 to your next bill. That's enough for about 15 hours of streaming HD video. If you use that 50 gigabytes, we automatically add another 50 gigabytes for $10 and so on until you reach our $100 limit of data overage charges or until your next usage cycle begins.

So your $90 a month internet can easily become $190 a month, which is fuckin criminal, like that is so scummy and asinine how that can even be legal. But it is perfectly legal. The FCC is also looking into these data caps but now that we have a new anti-federal government president elect... This is probably toast.... Nothing will change now that most federal agencies are about to be deleted.

From a technology standpoint too, nothing is really getting better

Comcast is still using Coax instead of Fiber Optic and desperately trying to convince people that somehow, someway coax can be just as good. Do with that info what you will, I have no opinions on it. There was a Federal program started recently to expand rural internet access, which will probably be gutted in 2025 leaving many without suitable internet again. Fiber Optic is fast, but still, not new technology, and doesn't solve a critical issue.... It doesn't matter if you have 2 Gigabit internet if no one in the world is uploading even half that fast. A single download on Steam is like 450 Mbps, Epic Games launcher is horrifically slow. I get like 120 Mbps max when downloading Fortnite updates even with 1500 Mbps internet hard wired to my router with top tier hardware

It's just sad to think about the future of internet in the USA, and knowing we'll be imprisoned by these data caps for the foreseeable future.

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[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm in EU and I have 2 different internet connections without a data cap, because I work from home and don't want to commute to the office if one type is down. Both have bandwith caps tho (that way they are cheaper and it's still good enough for me).

However, I want to suggest you use traffic shaping. In Linux, I used "trickle" many years ago, so I could download things without disturbing my family streaming or video calling. Idk how it works in other OSes, but the idea is to send a big download through a special network filter that slows it down to your configured bandwith, delaying it so much that you don't reach your bandwidth cap. (The dowload will take months.) Also, I think I have seen something like this built into Steam and Filezilla. If I remember correctly Steam also had the option to pause downloads manually, but you have to remember to keep an eye on it, if you do that.

[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 3 points 2 weeks ago

Qbittorrent has the option to set limits for both upstream and downstream bandwidth. I believe this works on any platform. Not sure if Mac or Windows have system level bandwidth settings.

I had to sign up for a business account because of Cox's data cap. Sadly they're my only option and they suck ass.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Well, we've just crossed into what will be a third-phase Corporatocracy, and a Monopoly gamed service industry.

You have other options now that are not the usual players, but then you're giving money to Starlink.

You have the option of organizing to create a local fiber concern as a public utility, but in a few months they'll pass laws preventing that from ever happening.

Your best option on the Internet between is an unlimited cell plan and a hotspot, and it's not a great option, but the competition is still so heavy that your bill won't change. Higher latency, but probably decent throughput.

[–] notannpc@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

It’s definitely not going to happen in the next 4.5 years. Paying the extra for unlimited data is basically a must these days.

To make myself feel better about it, I try to use as much data as possible every month. Not because there’s actually a good reason for the data caps, but because I’m spending the money, so I might as well. My personal best so far is 7TB in a month 😂

[–] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

1.9TB is our high and that’s with 2 adults and 3 data hungry kids. 7TB!? Good lord!

[–] Saik0Shinigami@lemmy.saik0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

My personal best so far is 7TB in a month 😂

This is just my past month... I have no idea what my record is... but would likely be significantly higher as I slowed down on some stuff recently. I need more harddrive bays/harddrives... Stupid ebay doesn't have what I want.

Edit: here's past 90 days as well

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[–] ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

It's just bizzare to me that there's data caps on your internet plans. Especially since you're already paying 5x more than I'm for unlimited connection. I assume there must be some other reasons for this too than just greed. Perhaps the size of your country? I mean even Texas alone is almost as big as entire Europe.

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[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 5 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, you guys are screwed.

[–] Shimitar@feddit.it 5 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

Crappy (30-40mbit/sec) but uncapped FTTC here, plus 5G FVA at 300mbit/sec but 1Tb monthly cap here.

Combining both and separating heavy traffic (fucking fortnite and many steam big games) on the crappy uncapoed, and arr'ing too, leaves tons of data for high speed anything.

Total cost? 22€ + 24€ = 46€/month, no surprises. A lot more expensive than having fiber indeed, but I am deep into the woods, so.

Ah, and when i go over my 1Tb data cap on the FVA, I get throttled to 6mbit/sec, nothing extra to pay.

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[–] FreakinSteve@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

You can't feign growth without suppressing growth first

[–] tal@lemmy.today 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I don't know where you are or what other ISPs are involved, but skimming some discussion online, it looks like these Cox guys -- at least in the several locations I see being discussed, if not everywhere -- have data limits on all of their residential plans, though they have business plans that do not.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CoxCommunications/comments/hf6zwf/cox_resumes_unnecessary_data_caps/

I get 200 down and 20 up for $85. I came from $100 for 3Mbps DSL, so this is winning for me. I use 4 or 5 TB a month without a problem on Cox.

That particular snippit was four years back, so I suppose prices and speeds might have changed.

So might be worth looking into that in your area if that's what you're after.

[–] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

"I get like 120 Mbps max" Literally 5-10x faster than most internet in the UK, no datacaps here though.

[–] Custodian1623@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

are you sure youre not confusing Mbps and MB/s

[–] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Nah the UK uses megabits too, because inflating your percieved speeds eightfold is good marketing everywhere.

[–] kux@lemm.ee 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-broadband-coverage-and-speeds/

out of 650 uk constituancies, 167 have lower average speeds than 120 mbps. the lowest is 48.1

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[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Consider WISPs like Verizon/T-Mobile. They absolutely will kick you off for excessive usage, but 1.5 terabytes would not be considered excessive usage.

[–] borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (8 children)

That’s not a WISP, just fyi. That’s just a cellular hot spot. Cellular hot spots operate on frequencies in the RF spectrum, the same frequencies that your cell phone connects to.

A WISP is an ISP that serves internet over microwave radios, which operate not in RF frequencies but in microwave frequencies. They might use point to multi point radios, where a radio on a mountain top feeds signal to many smaller radios at each subscribers house in a valley below. They might also have fiber to an apartment building, with fiber to each unit, then use a point to point radio as a wireless backhaul to connect another apartment building across a river that can’t have fiber run directly to it. They’ll still have fiber running to each unit in that second building though.

TLDR; cellular providers are not WISPs.

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