4 ms·

> Most consumers have now long since spent the savings they built up during the pandemic. Is this supposed to be comedy? Most people did not become more well o

> Most consumers have now long since spent the savings they built up during the pandemic. Is this supposed to be comedy? Most people did not become more well off during the early years of the pandemic. I wish we could exercise the same choice (branded vs generic) in the ISP utility we chose to pay for. For me it's either 56k or Comcast cable. I'm on the same comcast plan as I signed up for in 2012 (80/5 for $78/mo total with modem rental then) and it's not only gone up in price by over 1/3 but the service has decreased in quality too. When I signed up I had unlimited data transfer. Now I'm repeatedly paying $10/50GB "overage fees" on my 1.2 TB/mo allowed data transfer. And my speed has not increased at all, still 80/5. Only now I pay $106/mo (w/modem rental). You could argue internet is not essential to live like food. It really isn't. But it sure is hard to live without.

tzs 3y ago
> Now I'm repeatedly paying $10/50GB "overage fees" on my 1.2 TB/mo allowed data transfer. And my speed has not increased at all, still 80/5. Only now I pay $106/mo (w/modem rental). If you aren't using your own modem it is usually worth adding unlimited data if you are repeatedly going over your cap. It's normally $30/month, but if you rent their modem it is only $10/month more to add unlimited [1]. [1] https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/xfi-complete https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/xfi-complete
- nebula8804 3y ago
  I can't seem to figure out the angle? Whats the scam they are running? There is always a scam. Is the modem collecting data? Are they hoping you'll use their streaming service and then gouge you later once you are addicted? It can't just be that they give you unlimited bandwidth just to get you to pay a bit more for their modem. They could make so much more money by just charging for the 50GB like what OP pays.
  - FireBeyond 3y ago
    Their modem is also a (semi-) public hotspot for other Xfinity customers (the "xfinitywifi" SSID, that they've made something of a "mesh-ish" network). It's separated out, I believe by VLAN at least. But yeah, the incentive is "use our modem so we can increase that network footprint" (and it's not the case any more or actually probably more on the Business side, but it used to be that even with their modem, you could opt out of providing the hotspot network, but if you did so, you were unable to use the hotspot network).
giantg2 3y ago
What are you doing that you're using more than 1.2TB/mo, and at only 80MB/sec no less? I set Netflix to a lower resolution to save on bandwidth. As a secondary effect I don't think I ever go over 250GB per month, even downloading games, datasets, etc.
- xnx 3y ago
  I use a lot of bandwidth backing up photos and videos to the cloud.
- dbspin 3y ago
  As ordinary subscribers, not crippling Netflix or Youtube resolution, torrenting a moderate amount of movies, downloading games etc, my partner and I regularly go over 1TB a month. I don't think that's particularly unusual. But our internet isn't metered (nor of course should it be, considering large ISPs all have peering arrangements and fixed cost leased lines).
  - giantg2 3y ago
    I wouldn't exactly call 720p crippling compared to 1080p (I don't have any hardware above that anyways).
    - rescbr 3y ago
      I downgraded my Netflix subscription to the 720p basic one once they started cracking up on password sharing. Considering the shitty bitrate they use, there’s no reason to pay for 1080p and 2+ screens if my parents & in-laws can’t also use it. Those streaming services should take a lesson or two on video encoding from the scene people.
    - superkuh 3y ago
      Just a note, I'm op, and I mostly only download stuff at 720p. But I never stream entertainment unless it's live. Video/audio media is only a healthy fraction of my data transfer though. Most is participating in p2p networks like tor and i2p, hosting my website from home, torrenting, downloading large language models, and other random stuff.
Full_Clark 3y ago
Where does the leverage lie with breaking down ISP monopolies? Is it a product of regulation at the municipal level, or state laws, or federal regulations? It doesn't seem like a situation that's going to be improved by consumers complaining about the ISPs. For example, Comcast is consistently derided for poor service and has ranked as one of the most unpopular brands in the US as early as 2010. Is there even a prospect of competition if the regulatory picture changed, or is it just too capital-intensive to roll out new infrastructure and bring a competing service to market?
- nebula8804 3y ago
  Voting in better representatives. Almost all of our problems stem from money in politics.
metaphor 3y ago
> same comcast plan as I signed up for in 2012 (80/5 for $78/mo total with modem rental then) > Only now I pay $106/mo (w/modem rental). The price you're paying today has merely tracked nominal inflation relative to the price you were paying 12 years ago[1]. [1] https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=78&year1=201201&year2=202401 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=78&year1=20120...
- xnx 3y ago
  Tech should get cheaper and faster every year.
  - formerly_proven 3y ago
    Except GPUs, you’re paying Jensen’s constant – 25 bucks per TFLOP – until further notice.
- chgs 3y ago
  In competitive markets prices have collapsed. US domestic internet appears to be very uncompetitive.
noduerme 3y ago
I feel lucky to live in a CenturyLink market. I got in at $70/mo. for gigabit fiber, unlimited, lifetime rate that never goes up. I think it's still only $75/mo. for the same plan now. There's some initial setup and modem fee. It's a great deal all told.
- BenjiWiebe 3y ago
  And in this CenturyLink market (now split off as Brightspeed) the available speeds went from 10Mbps DSL to 3Mbps in the last couple years.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Because it has nothing to do with CenturyLink and everything to do with fiber to the home infrastructure.

tzs 3y ago

> Now I'm repeatedly paying $10/50GB "overage fees" on my 1.2 TB/mo allowed data transfer. And my speed has not increased at all, still 80/5. Only now I pay $106/mo (w/modem rental). If you aren't using your own modem it is usually worth adding unlimited data if you are repeatedly going over your cap. It's normally $30/month, but if you rent their modem it is only $10/month more to add unlimited [1]. [1] https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/xfi-complete https://www.xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/xfi-complete

nebula8804 3y ago
I can't seem to figure out the angle? Whats the scam they are running? There is always a scam. Is the modem collecting data? Are they hoping you'll use their streaming service and then gouge you later once you are addicted? It can't just be that they give you unlimited bandwidth just to get you to pay a bit more for their modem. They could make so much more money by just charging for the 50GB like what OP pays.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  Their modem is also a (semi-) public hotspot for other Xfinity customers (the "xfinitywifi" SSID, that they've made something of a "mesh-ish" network). It's separated out, I believe by VLAN at least. But yeah, the incentive is "use our modem so we can increase that network footprint" (and it's not the case any more or actually probably more on the Business side, but it used to be that even with their modem, you could opt out of providing the hotspot network, but if you did so, you were unable to use the hotspot network).

giantg2 3y ago

What are you doing that you're using more than 1.2TB/mo, and at only 80MB/sec no less? I set Netflix to a lower resolution to save on bandwidth. As a secondary effect I don't think I ever go over 250GB per month, even downloading games, datasets, etc.

xnx 3y ago
I use a lot of bandwidth backing up photos and videos to the cloud.
dbspin 3y ago
As ordinary subscribers, not crippling Netflix or Youtube resolution, torrenting a moderate amount of movies, downloading games etc, my partner and I regularly go over 1TB a month. I don't think that's particularly unusual. But our internet isn't metered (nor of course should it be, considering large ISPs all have peering arrangements and fixed cost leased lines).
- giantg2 3y ago
  I wouldn't exactly call 720p crippling compared to 1080p (I don't have any hardware above that anyways).
  - rescbr 3y ago
    I downgraded my Netflix subscription to the 720p basic one once they started cracking up on password sharing. Considering the shitty bitrate they use, there’s no reason to pay for 1080p and 2+ screens if my parents & in-laws can’t also use it. Those streaming services should take a lesson or two on video encoding from the scene people.
  - superkuh 3y ago
    Just a note, I'm op, and I mostly only download stuff at 720p. But I never stream entertainment unless it's live. Video/audio media is only a healthy fraction of my data transfer though. Most is participating in p2p networks like tor and i2p, hosting my website from home, torrenting, downloading large language models, and other random stuff.

Full_Clark 3y ago

Where does the leverage lie with breaking down ISP monopolies? Is it a product of regulation at the municipal level, or state laws, or federal regulations? It doesn't seem like a situation that's going to be improved by consumers complaining about the ISPs. For example, Comcast is consistently derided for poor service and has ranked as one of the most unpopular brands in the US as early as 2010. Is there even a prospect of competition if the regulatory picture changed, or is it just too capital-intensive to roll out new infrastructure and bring a competing service to market?

nebula8804 3y ago
Voting in better representatives. Almost all of our problems stem from money in politics.

metaphor 3y ago

> same comcast plan as I signed up for in 2012 (80/5 for $78/mo total with modem rental then) > Only now I pay $106/mo (w/modem rental). The price you're paying today has merely tracked nominal inflation relative to the price you were paying 12 years ago[1]. [1] https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=78&year1=201201&year2=202401 https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=78&year1=20120...

xnx 3y ago
Tech should get cheaper and faster every year.
- formerly_proven 3y ago
  Except GPUs, you’re paying Jensen’s constant – 25 bucks per TFLOP – until further notice.
chgs 3y ago
In competitive markets prices have collapsed. US domestic internet appears to be very uncompetitive.

noduerme 3y ago

I feel lucky to live in a CenturyLink market. I got in at $70/mo. for gigabit fiber, unlimited, lifetime rate that never goes up. I think it's still only $75/mo. for the same plan now. There's some initial setup and modem fee. It's a great deal all told.

BenjiWiebe 3y ago
And in this CenturyLink market (now split off as Brightspeed) the available speeds went from 10Mbps DSL to 3Mbps in the last couple years.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Because it has nothing to do with CenturyLink and everything to do with fiber to the home infrastructure.