In reply to a post by jchamier:

Thanks to streaming TV, and online gaming, there was a report a while back (in some newspaper) that the average home (2 parents, 2.4 kids, dog, cat etc) now uses around 10 Terabytes of data a month.

Do the dog and cat use it then? I have no idea how much data I use, there is nothing on my ISP portal, in fact it is pretty bland and don't say much apart from what service I am using and my bills/payment info. My router as far as I can see don't show how much data.

My friends in the US on the (hated) Comcast Cable ISP have had usage caps from 800 Gb and now 1.2 Tb a month. No wonder in areas they have options, people switch. (e.g. to Verizon Fios FTTP in the north east).

Puts it into perspective the UK setup where the Openreach and Cityfibre networks are wholesale, and in 2025 it is reported that the Virgin Media network will open to wholesale.

The US is similar to having an Alt Net and no other option in majority of areas. You want to change ISP, you either try DSL (1.5 Mbit is common) or mobile data, or you move house/city/state.


My cousin use AT&T and she says it is awful, and that we are so lucky in this country, my problem in this country is having a large network owned privately and still having government money chucked at it, while smaller networks are struggling. I don't like Openreach, never have liked openreach and I doubt I ever will. There, said it.

In reply to a post by mking90031:

Adrian,

I agree. Another thing that a lot people don't utilise fully is domains. How many businesses purchase a domain and only use it to host their website and then advertise an AOL / Hotmail / etc email address??? I've always associated that with purchasing a UHD TV and only watching B & W films....Why aren't they using all the features that they paid for???? Someone answer me that question and I will gladly bequeath (upon my death in 10,000 years time) them everything I own (which might be nothing at the rate I'm going)!

Yours,

I have a domain, but I only use it for email, I suppose I could use it for a website, but that would cost more and I don't need a website. But domains are cheap, and businesses normally buy them to stop others using them.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

My cousin use AT&T and she says it is awful, and that we are so lucky in this country

My family in US has Spectrum (Charter cable) which works well but speeds vary wildly, from 400 Mbps down to 80 Mbps at peak times. Their neighborhood has AT&T Fibre which is much faster and more consistent (same as UK FTTP in design) but the neighbourhood social media pages are full of outages, so my family ignore it.

my problem in this country is having a large network owned privately and still having government money chucked at it, while smaller networks are struggling. I don't like Openreach, never have liked openreach and I doubt I ever will. There, said it.

The BDUK process seems to be fair and open, the small alt nets don’t really want the complexity of doing the small villages and rural areas with miles between homes. Shame that nobody but OR bid for these; but they have the experience of rural. Even virgin media with their large national network didn’t bid.

You can see why OR are heavily regulated, and the other networks are not.

ISPs advertise faster is better (and sure it is) and people think they need to go faster and faster as a result and pay the extra it costs even if they will never notice those faster speeds

Its all marketing

Sure people can do what they want, but how many people are struggling financially and paying over the odds for a broadband service they don't really need?

ISPs thrown down our throat that everyone needs superfast lighting speeds (and the extra costs that entails), yet i know alot of people who pay it and really dont need to

In reply to a post by billford:

In reply to a post by mking90031:

Why aren't they using all the features that they paid for????

Perhaps they don't need them?

I'm well beyond retirement age with no business interests, I bought a domain to get email that was independent of any ISP I might go with¹, what do I want with my own website?

I certainly don't have the sort of ego that assumes anyone might be remotely interested in my doings, comings and goings (even ignoring whether it's any of their business). There are enough of those around without me adding to the total


¹ And of Google, Microsoft, Apple, Hotmail etc- I don't trust the free offerings

I do precisely the same. Yes there is a cost, but it maintains your privacy and puts you in control.

Personally I think it is none of my business what people spend on Broadband.
However I do agree that it would be wrong for people to go without for faster BB, no speed is worth that.

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

Sure people can do what they want, but how many people are struggling financially and paying over the odds for a broadband service they don't really need?

Thats neither yours or my business, we have too many people poking their noses into other people's business telling them what they should and shouldn't be doing with their lives or their money as if others always know better. Just because people are on low budgets doesn't mean they don't need the services or products they purchase.

Of course, people can do what they want with their money. But ISPs tend to pray on people with constant advertising that you always need the fastest possible connection (which is also the most expensive package)

A lot just blindly pay it as they have been told they need it when they really dont. Its not nice to see people paying for something they dont need because of greedy companies telling them they need it

Edited by bobble_bob (Tue 20-Aug-24 11:20:14)

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

Of course, people can do what they want with their money. But ISPs tend to pray on people with constant advertising that you always need the fastest possible connection (which is also the most expensive package)

A lot just blindly pay it as they have been told they need it when they really dont. Its not nice to see people paying for something they dont need because of greedy companies telling them they need it

Every year a friend has to sort out his mothers Virgin account, they ring up and persuade her that she 'needs' certain services, trying to explain to her that she needs taking off the ring list is a waste of time as "they might need to ring me about something important".