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I think the suggestion is more along the lines of you buy a set bandwidth with a certain contention ratio (or ratios) and then the ISP lets you contend for the

I think the suggestion is more along the lines of you buy a set bandwidth with a certain contention ratio (or ratios) and then the ISP lets you contend for the bandwidth as you like. Having a bandwidth cap is basically the ISP punishing you for contending too often. That said, assuming the ISP wants to keep an average speed higher than the minimum their contention ratio would offer, people who download a lot would have a greater impact on that, and could therefore cause the ISP to have to invest in more hardware and back-haul. The counter is that the ISP isn't upgrading their network anyway, they're just juicing the market by charging some people more.

sseveran 7y ago
I agree with what I think you are stating implicitly that bandwidth caps a blunt instrument. ISPs don't really have a lot of nobs to turn without setting off the network neutrality crowd. I wish there were more QoS nobs that could be turned to allow for lower latency and traffic prioritization as that would probably have some interesting applications. Most ISPs are constantly upgrading parts of their network. Earlier this spring AT&T came through my complex and installed fiber in every apartment. Average broadband speeds have increased significantly over the last decade, and for that to have happened significant network upgrades would have to have taken place.
deleted 7y ago
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