45 ms·

I experienced this firsthand in Westwood (LA) of all places. If you moved from the dorms to off-campus apartments, chances were one or two ISPs would have a mon

I experienced this firsthand in Westwood (LA) of all places. If you moved from the dorms to off-campus apartments, chances were one or two ISPs would have a monopoly on your building. In my case the "lesser" of two evils was Verizon DSL @5m down/768k up at around $52/month. (IN 2015!!!) A short walk from "the birthplace of the internet." A stark contrast with the hand-me-down internet in the dorms (I was getting >500mbps down, >200mbps up out of the wall via standard cat5e to my desktop).

jandrese 8y ago
Apartment building systems are rife with profiteering. One company gives the landlord a kickback to be the only provider in the building and they has free reign to be as shitty and overpriced as they want. Your landlord is making money, the ISP is making money, nobody has an incentive to change the system. Maybe it's different now, but when I lived in apartments nobody advertised "good internet" or "competitive ISP choices" in the listings. It's something you can't discover until you've already signed the lease and moved in. It's kind of a missed opportunity from the resident's point of view. You could wire a building with Cat6 and run a mini-ISP connected to some bulk transport to provide faster service at a lower price, but that's more work and requires some technical expertise. Plus, it's so easy to just get that Comcast kickback every year.
- leesalminen 8y ago
  > It's something you can't discover until you've already signed the lease and moved in. I always call the local ISPs to ask about getting a quote for the new address before I've moved in.
  - jandrese 8y ago
    Yeah, but they'll lie and say they have service (because it is in their "service area") and you won't discover the truth until the installer calls to tell you that the building manager won't give them the key because they're with the wrong company. This happened to a friend of mine. He was pretty pissed that his $60 gigabit cable modem service was impossible and he had to buy some 15/5 link for $80/month from a different company instead.
    - lotsofpulp 8y ago
      Good reason to demand it be written into the lease.
      - jandrese 8y ago
        I love the mental image of you walking into the leasing office and going: "I'm very happy that the apartment is finally available after sitting on the waiting list for 3 months in this competitive market. Lets get to signing the lease so I can move it. But first I'm going to have my lawyer add quick clause where you guarantee competitive broadband internet options for my unit on penalty of substantial fine." I imagine their reaction being similar to if you had walked in with your head on backwards.
        lotsofpulp 8y ago
        Yes, but other than voting with your wallet, there is no other solution short of legislation.
        toomuchtodo 8y ago
        Surely you must see that legislation is the only solution, as voting with your wallet is useless in such captive markets (someone else will snatch that apartment right up, ISP be damned).
        lotsofpulp 8y ago
        Yes, of course, but until then, that is the price to pay in the desirable markets.
        exikyut 8y ago
        Or, alternatively, come up with 1000 boring stipulations that will generally be true anyways. It'll make you look paranoid/vulnerable and harmless, lowering the chances their lawyers (or sales agent's assistant...) will notice Bullet Point #593. It's how they get things through Congress...
- sjg007 8y ago
  This is actually illegal. You can request time warner to come in if you want.

jandrese 8y ago

Apartment building systems are rife with profiteering. One company gives the landlord a kickback to be the only provider in the building and they has free reign to be as shitty and overpriced as they want. Your landlord is making money, the ISP is making money, nobody has an incentive to change the system. Maybe it's different now, but when I lived in apartments nobody advertised "good internet" or "competitive ISP choices" in the listings. It's something you can't discover until you've already signed the lease and moved in. It's kind of a missed opportunity from the resident's point of view. You could wire a building with Cat6 and run a mini-ISP connected to some bulk transport to provide faster service at a lower price, but that's more work and requires some technical expertise. Plus, it's so easy to just get that Comcast kickback every year.

leesalminen 8y ago
> It's something you can't discover until you've already signed the lease and moved in. I always call the local ISPs to ask about getting a quote for the new address before I've moved in.
- jandrese 8y ago
  Yeah, but they'll lie and say they have service (because it is in their "service area") and you won't discover the truth until the installer calls to tell you that the building manager won't give them the key because they're with the wrong company. This happened to a friend of mine. He was pretty pissed that his $60 gigabit cable modem service was impossible and he had to buy some 15/5 link for $80/month from a different company instead.
  - lotsofpulp 8y ago
    Good reason to demand it be written into the lease.
    - jandrese 8y ago
      I love the mental image of you walking into the leasing office and going: "I'm very happy that the apartment is finally available after sitting on the waiting list for 3 months in this competitive market. Lets get to signing the lease so I can move it. But first I'm going to have my lawyer add quick clause where you guarantee competitive broadband internet options for my unit on penalty of substantial fine." I imagine their reaction being similar to if you had walked in with your head on backwards.
      - lotsofpulp 8y ago
        Yes, but other than voting with your wallet, there is no other solution short of legislation.
        toomuchtodo 8y ago
        Surely you must see that legislation is the only solution, as voting with your wallet is useless in such captive markets (someone else will snatch that apartment right up, ISP be damned).
        lotsofpulp 8y ago
        Yes, of course, but until then, that is the price to pay in the desirable markets.
      - exikyut 8y ago
        Or, alternatively, come up with 1000 boring stipulations that will generally be true anyways. It'll make you look paranoid/vulnerable and harmless, lowering the chances their lawyers (or sales agent's assistant...) will notice Bullet Point #593. It's how they get things through Congress...
sjg007 8y ago
This is actually illegal. You can request time warner to come in if you want.