6 ms·

>Comcast refused to work with him, even though he was willing and motivated to address the problem. Even after being careful with bandwidth and disabling his pu

by danudey 15y ago

>Comcast refused to work with him, even though he was willing and motivated to address the problem. Even after being careful with bandwidth and disabling his public access point, they still cut him off for a year with no appeal. He obviously wasn't that careful. There are dozens of apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux that can tell you how much bandwidth you're using; it's trivial to set one up, watch your throughput, and start killing off apps until you see what's doing all the work. He seems to be technically-minded enough to understand core concepts, so why wouldn't he understand that uploading all of his content (his images, his music, etc.) to the cloud is going to use up his bandwidth? It seems obvious to me.

pavel_lishin 15y ago
> There are dozens of apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux that can tell you how much bandwidth you're using Sure, for that machine. So I suppose he could go out and bet a new box, set it up as the router, and then monitor traffic. Just like I have to install my own electric meter... wait. Or like how I have to install my own flow measuring va... wait again.
- mikeryan 15y ago
  Most wireless routers offer some version of this feature, its not too difficult to use. My newish (~$100) Netgear wireless router actually has a Traffic Meter feature which monitors my traffic on a monthly basis and can warn me when I get close to nearing that cap. Its a worthwhile investment if you're being warned about your traffic.
  - nitrogen 15y ago
    Most wireless routers offer some version of this feature, its not too difficult to use. Really? I've never seen one that has it, and I highly doubt the feature was introduced before these data caps became a problem. Even if most wireless routers have the feature, I doubt most people find it "not too difficult to use." My parents, for example, can't even be bothered to learn to use the scheduling feature of their own recently-purchased router (which does not have a traffic meter).
    - billforsternz 15y ago
      Amazing how generational differences manifest themselves. I certainly wouldn't dream of using a scheduling feature of a router (routers have scheduling? didn't know that, thought routers routed traffic). My parents, now deceased, barely knew what computers were.
      - nitrogen 15y ago
        Indeed. Once upon a time I helped my grandmother migrate from DOS 3.3 on an XT clone (8MHz!) to Windows 95 on a 100MHz 486. Things that seemed obvious to me were a significant struggle for her, but being the intelligent woman she was, she managed to pick it up and excel. As for the router's scheduling feature, it's for scheduling routing rules, so certain computers can't access certain destinations during certain hours. I've no use for it in my own house, but I think it would solve a particular use case for my parents, if only they'd be willing to use it.

by danudey 15y ago

pavel_lishin 15y ago

> There are dozens of apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux that can tell you how much bandwidth you're using Sure, for that machine. So I suppose he could go out and bet a new box, set it up as the router, and then monitor traffic. Just like I have to install my own electric meter... wait. Or like how I have to install my own flow measuring va... wait again.

mikeryan 15y ago
Most wireless routers offer some version of this feature, its not too difficult to use. My newish (~$100) Netgear wireless router actually has a Traffic Meter feature which monitors my traffic on a monthly basis and can warn me when I get close to nearing that cap. Its a worthwhile investment if you're being warned about your traffic.
- nitrogen 15y ago
  Most wireless routers offer some version of this feature, its not too difficult to use. Really? I've never seen one that has it, and I highly doubt the feature was introduced before these data caps became a problem. Even if most wireless routers have the feature, I doubt most people find it "not too difficult to use." My parents, for example, can't even be bothered to learn to use the scheduling feature of their own recently-purchased router (which does not have a traffic meter).
  - billforsternz 15y ago
    Amazing how generational differences manifest themselves. I certainly wouldn't dream of using a scheduling feature of a router (routers have scheduling? didn't know that, thought routers routed traffic). My parents, now deceased, barely knew what computers were.
    - nitrogen 15y ago
      Indeed. Once upon a time I helped my grandmother migrate from DOS 3.3 on an XT clone (8MHz!) to Windows 95 on a 100MHz 486. Things that seemed obvious to me were a significant struggle for her, but being the intelligent woman she was, she managed to pick it up and excel. As for the router's scheduling feature, it's for scheduling routing rules, so certain computers can't access certain destinations during certain hours. I've no use for it in my own house, but I think it would solve a particular use case for my parents, if only they'd be willing to use it.