> There's also the issue that this is symmetrical, and the way that ISP networks are engineered the upstream is usually actually more expensive to provide (most

> There's also the issue that this is symmetrical, and the way that ISP networks are engineered the upstream is usually actually more expensive to provide (mostly because they use a lot of underlying technologies and equipment that are designed for asymmetric service), and the issue that this service will probably come with fixed IPs that will be SWIPd over to the customer, which is extra administrative overhead, not to mention the IPs themselves getting more expensive to hold these days. Oh, and contract terms regarding service interruptions are usually much more generous towards commercial customers. This isn't really accurate. ISP networks aren't engineered to be asymmetrical and the upstream isn't any more expensive than the downstream. The only asymmetry you will see is in the access network. Anything past that will be symmetrical. If you use fiber (which almost any 100M or faster service will be) you can have any speed you like up to multiples of 100G symmetrically delivered. IPs aren't really that expensive either. They are like $1 a pop per month. You can buy you own for $10-20. Service interruptions will also just get you some service credits proportional to the outage. Mostly commercial service costs more because you can charge more. > Once you really get into the big leagues, you usually don't pay on a cap basis but instead of a 95%ile basis, where you pay a rate based on the 95th percentile of your bandwidth usage over the previous month. You don't really have to be big in any sense to buy bandwidth using 95th percentile billing. I've had circuits on 95th percentile starting at a 100 Mbps commit. Probably could have gotten it at a lower speed too. However, nowadays bandwidth is so cheap it might not even be sold to you at 95th percentile. It might just be rounded up to the nearest gig. > These rates end up being very high because you are paying for bandwidth that you actually, seriously used - unlike on a residential connection, where you might pay your ISP for 150Mbps but they expect your 95%ile usage to be more like a couple of Mbps tops (you probably aren't even using the connection at all most of the time). This is not true (anymore). Bandwidth is dirt cheap. If you have any change in your pocket you can afford a few megs. Prices are like 20 cents a Mbps per month.