3 ms·

Your right, one day you buy a pint of milk for $1, the next day $3, and on a third day the store is out of milk. Would you be happy with not having Internet ac

by ufocia 3y ago

Your right, one day you buy a pint of milk for $1, the next day $3, and on a third day the store is out of milk. Would you be happy with not having Internet access at times because someone else bought out committed bandwidth or having your Internet bill fluctuate based on a market rate?

traceroute66 3y ago
> not having Internet access at times because someone else bought out committed bandwidth This argument does not hold up because large telcos like BT put their committed bandwidth customers on a wholly separate network to the consumers. So whatever Joe Blogs does at home/small-biz has no effect on the committed customer, and vice versa. Over-simplified tech summary: The home/small-biz connection will go back via an intermediary step at the nearest street cabinet or underground aggregation node. The committed customer will go direct back to the exchange via blown fibre/dedicated fibre pair.
- ufocia 3y ago
  That's exactly my point. If you want committed bandwidth then pay for it. Now, if there is no option to pay for committed bandwidth, then you may have a legitimate gripe. I believe that the Internet providers are not fully transparent about network utilization, but the bulk of the consumers are also ignorant about what they're actually paying for. Let me put it another way. What the Internet providers are really selling you is an opportunity to fill a pint bottle from a common spigot. They are not selling you the milk. It's a bit like a ticket to an amusement park. You may get on your favorite ride right away, you may have to stand in line for hours or you may not get an opportunity to ride at all. Rent the ride for a private event and you'll be sure to ride it. Of course the amusement park could have timed entry for rides, but that's their business choice.

3 ms·

Your right, one day you buy a pint of milk for $1, the next day $3, and on a third day the store is out of milk. Would you be happy with not having Internet ac

by ufocia 3y ago

traceroute66 3y ago
> not having Internet access at times because someone else bought out committed bandwidth This argument does not hold up because large telcos like BT put their committed bandwidth customers on a wholly separate network to the consumers. So whatever Joe Blogs does at home/small-biz has no effect on the committed customer, and vice versa. Over-simplified tech summary: The home/small-biz connection will go back via an intermediary step at the nearest street cabinet or underground aggregation node. The committed customer will go direct back to the exchange via blown fibre/dedicated fibre pair.
- ufocia 3y ago
  That's exactly my point. If you want committed bandwidth then pay for it. Now, if there is no option to pay for committed bandwidth, then you may have a legitimate gripe. I believe that the Internet providers are not fully transparent about network utilization, but the bulk of the consumers are also ignorant about what they're actually paying for. Let me put it another way. What the Internet providers are really selling you is an opportunity to fill a pint bottle from a common spigot. They are not selling you the milk. It's a bit like a ticket to an amusement park. You may get on your favorite ride right away, you may have to stand in line for hours or you may not get an opportunity to ride at all. Rent the ride for a private event and you'll be sure to ride it. Of course the amusement park could have timed entry for rides, but that's their business choice.