said by Smithson:@JohnA
Thank you for the informative and well considered reply. My resentment is related to the fact that Verizon can only provide a 1.5 mbps package for my area, but is charging me the same rate as my brother who Verizon can provide with a 3 mbps package.
Different companies have different policies. I believe Qwest charges two tiers: "Up to 3 Mb/s", and "Up to 7 Mb/s". What you get is determined by your distance from the DSLAM.
AT&T charges four tiers: 768 kb/s - $19.95, 1.5 Mb/s - $25, 3.0 Mb/s - $30, and 6.0 Mb/s - $35. If you are too far out to get 3.0 Mb/s, you can opt for 1.5 Mb/s for $5 a month less.
Looking at the Verizon site, they seem to have a "one price fits all users" plan: $39.99 per month. No matter which of three tiers you sign up for. So you pay the same as somebody getting as much as 7 Mb/s.
My brother and I live 5 miles apart. Am I wrong to suggest Verizon should perhaps standardise it's pricing structure?
From what I can see, Verizon has a standard price structure; more so than Qwest (two price tiers), or AT&T (four price tiers).
As for the distance issue?: I can download at my max rate of 180 kbps whether the uploading server is located in the UK, Australia or across the street, so I am still not sure how the information you have provided relates to why my neighbourhood's data transfer rate is capped at a precise 180 kbps. Another poster is suggesting this cap is not a result of Verizon's artificially shaping the traffic in my area or managing our data transfer rates. Really?
It is not about your distance from the server, but your distance from the DSLAM. At 9,156 feet (MLT estimate), I am good for 3.0 Mb/s, but not for 6.0 Mb/s (the highest tier offered by AT&T). I've run my numbers through a DMT calculator. My modem does not estimate my Max Rate (maximum synch rate), but the bin tone numbers it reports can be used to calculate an estimated Max Rate. Mine bounces between 4400 kb/s and 5200 kb/s. I could get a better Max Rate just by moving to a premises closer to the DSLAM.
No matter where, in the world, the servers are located, I can only pull at ~319 KB/s (after allowing for a 15% overhead; ATTIS doesn't compensate for overhead by raising the modem synch speed); unless the remote server is unable to keep up with me (your 96 KB/s upload would be heavily taxed by my ~319 KB/s download! But I'd have download capacity to spare.)