| reply to rradina
Re: Duh. Yeah, but does it matter at all how much anyone uses when there's no congestion on the network [segment]? I say "no". When ISPs started up many years ago, it was assumed that most, or even all, customers wouldn't be using their connection most of the time, and I'd say that was the case. That just isn't true anymore. Many, perhaps even most, customers use their connection a very significant amount of the time, and I just don't think ISPs have caught up with that for the most part--they still "over-sell" as much as they ever did. Speed tiers have been just as much of a marketing tool by ISPs to say "hey, we're better than they are" than any real association with bandwidth; speed tiers have been more about saving time--for the customer--than about using bandwidth. Every customer should have a reasonable expectation of reaching that best speed any time they use their connection, but that's probably not the case most evenings. However, if you're getting anywhere near 10mbps it's unlikely you'll ever notice you're not getting your paid for 20mbps no matter what you're doing, except for those relatively few that always pay attention to the speeds they're getting.
Fixed monthly fees have been about sharing the cost of having the network at all... and ISPs have made more and more profit with that fee structure--just look at the recent quarterly reports for Comcast et al. They should make a profit, but not a "killing". They already keep raising prices for something that keeps getting cheaper. I'm just not willing to pay them extra for something that I've already paid them for. That monthly fee I pay is my investment. |
