this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
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I'm an unfortunate captive of the oligopoly of the internet industry in the USA. In many places, you have 2-3 choices of internet, and all of them suck ass. I'm in this situation. All internet providers in my area have a 1-1.5 terabyte data cap. So when I download Call of Duty for 250 gb and it fails and has to update or reinstall, I've wasted 500 gb, and have now reached 50% of my data cap in just 1 day. There are crazy fees, for example, Cox Cable says:

If you go over, we’ll automatically add 50 gigabytes of data for $10 to your next bill. That's enough for about 15 hours of streaming HD video. If you use that 50 gigabytes, we automatically add another 50 gigabytes for $10 and so on until you reach our $100 limit of data overage charges or until your next usage cycle begins.

So your $90 a month internet can easily become $190 a month, which is fuckin criminal, like that is so scummy and asinine how that can even be legal. But it is perfectly legal. The FCC is also looking into these data caps but now that we have a new anti-federal government president elect... This is probably toast.... Nothing will change now that most federal agencies are about to be deleted.

From a technology standpoint too, nothing is really getting better

Comcast is still using Coax instead of Fiber Optic and desperately trying to convince people that somehow, someway coax can be just as good. Do with that info what you will, I have no opinions on it. There was a Federal program started recently to expand rural internet access, which will probably be gutted in 2025 leaving many without suitable internet again. Fiber Optic is fast, but still, not new technology, and doesn't solve a critical issue.... It doesn't matter if you have 2 Gigabit internet if no one in the world is uploading even half that fast. A single download on Steam is like 450 Mbps, Epic Games launcher is horrifically slow. I get like 120 Mbps max when downloading Fortnite updates even with 1500 Mbps internet hard wired to my router with top tier hardware

It's just sad to think about the future of internet in the USA, and knowing we'll be imprisoned by these data caps for the foreseeable future.

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[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago

No, it's going to get worse with the Trump administration.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I don't know where you are or what other ISPs are involved, but skimming some discussion online, it looks like these Cox guys -- at least in the several locations I see being discussed, if not everywhere -- have data limits on all of their residential plans, though they have business plans that do not.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CoxCommunications/comments/hf6zwf/cox_resumes_unnecessary_data_caps/

I get 200 down and 20 up for $85. I came from $100 for 3Mbps DSL, so this is winning for me. I use 4 or 5 TB a month without a problem on Cox.

That particular snippit was four years back, so I suppose prices and speeds might have changed.

So might be worth looking into that in your area if that's what you're after.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That's more c/usa tho (politics) and less c/technology.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee -4 points 4 days ago

Yes. This is neither news nor an article. Report it.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 days ago (10 children)

Consider WISPs like Verizon/T-Mobile. They absolutely will kick you off for excessive usage, but 1.5 terabytes would not be considered excessive usage.

[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I switched to the Tmo 5G internet a few months ago and it has been great. It’s not symmetric, DL is faster than UL, but it almost always matches or beats the 500D/50U cable service I had previously.

Looks like I did hit 1.2 TB one month but am usually half that.

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[–] mortimer@lemmy.world 158 points 5 days ago (21 children)

Unlimited full fibre here in the rural nothern Highlands of Scotland for £35 per month.

Your internet seems similar to your politicians: useless and expensive.

[–] francisfordpoopola@lemmy.world 21 points 5 days ago (4 children)

I normally don't like to admit this but you're right. OP needs to move.

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[–] Zier@fedia.io 67 points 5 days ago (5 children)

This is the USA, it's all a pay-as-you-go country. You will be required to work yourself to death to be able to have anything nice at all. That's the model. Corporations make the rules, the government will not help us. Economy, corporate profits and giving money to the wealthy are the priorities. Nothing else matters.

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[–] ohlaph@lemmy.world 43 points 4 days ago (3 children)

No, once the FTC is gutted, the isps will resume their stronghold. Data caps, overages, slower speeds, etc.

[–] AngryRobot@lemmy.world 23 points 4 days ago

All of our FTC investigations and antitrust suits will disappear.

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[–] RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 27 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Yeah, pretty much. The way the rest of the world deals with it is by splitting the infrastructure maintenance and retail sides to eliminate the profit incentive to not do maintenance.

You have a company who owns a/the fibre network in an area and is obligated by anti-monopoly rules to sell access to the network at the same rate and terms to anyone who wants it. They have a profit incentive to maintain the network to a reasonable standard because having a functioning network is how they make money. In a lot of places this wholesale provider will be at least part government owned given that the government usually pays a good chunk of the cost to build out large national infrastructure projects like fibre networks.

Separately, you have retail ISPs who buy access to the fibre network (or 4g, satellite, ...) and sell it to the public along with value adds like tech support, IP addresses, peering agreement etc.

It's never work in the US because holding private companies accountable for how they spend public money and maintaining well regulated competitive markets is communism or something.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 19 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's never work in the US because holding private companies accountable for how they spend public money and maintaining well regulated competitive markets is communism or something

It did work in the US for many years. During the 90's the Internet was regulated like that. Phone lines, t1's etc were infrastructure that the ilec was required to provide at the same cost to isps they used internally to sell service to consumers.

Then Bush came in and ruled that fiber and cable were immune from those common carrier laws.

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[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Well, maybe now with a republican FCC

lol, no

[–] Buttflapper@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Well, maybe now with a republican FCC

I'd be surprised if it even exists a year from now

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago

Oh I expect it to. The FCC censors airwave transmissions

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[–] Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 3 days ago

1.5Tb data cap, jeez. I regularly push 6tb of monthly traffic by myself. This feels like mobile internet all over again, but now with wired...

[–] shoulderoforion@fedia.io 18 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Not only aren't we going to get better internet, the internet in the united states you're using right now, is going to be unrecognizable in the next 12 months, all free services will charge, cost for access will increase, vpn usage will be curtailed, and pirate sites will be blocked. Better? We just re-elected a fascist tyrant who wants to close as many avenues of free speech against him as he possibly can, as well as funnel as much cash to media and tech oligarchs as he can to keep them onside, and now he's got both the house and senate with which to do just that.

Better? dude.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

VPNs and piracy aren't going anywhere. Unfortunately, data caps won't be going away either.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 10 points 5 days ago

VPNs and piracy aren’t going anywhere.

That's not true at all.
They'll both be going on my next PC!

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They probably kill off any agency who would protect your consumer rights, anyway. And redefine "broadband" as "you've got modem access, so stop whining". And let the companies keep the subsidies they got for making the former broadband definition happen.

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[–] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Rural island off the coast of a european country:

10g fiber for $65/mo (I don't even think they cared, I asked for more and I think they made up a number).

House literally down the street from google in silicon valley:

Comcrap $100 for shit cable, I'm paying $250 for actual upload speed.

This country is ruled by the corrupt.

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[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

The solution is pretty obvious.

  1. Be rich
  2. Step 2 is for poor people
  3. Why do all these poor people want to kill me?
[–] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 11 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Things are getting better. A new fiber-only network provider is expanding across my region so I got it installed a few months ago. No data caps, 500 Mbps up+down for $50/month.

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[–] TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee 11 points 5 days ago (8 children)

The 18-26 year olds just signed over our country to billionaire fascists. I had hopes for them, but they are collectively idiots. Born into late stage capitalism, spent their formative years growing up in the Age of Hate, and actively chugged down propaganda via YouTube and all social media.

No, we are not.

[–] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 11 points 5 days ago (2 children)

And isn't signing over the country to corporations something that's been going on since the 1970s or something? I mean that comment is wrong on any level.

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[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago
[–] Nyciferi@kbin.melroy.org 10 points 4 days ago

No. And we're going to have even more tech-illiterate old buffoons in offices where they'll understand even less technology but they're great at destroying things. So, they'll happily line the pockets of ComCast, AT&T, Verizon and they'll do fuck all to improve customer experience. In fact, if things go their way, they'll bring back the idea of forcing you to choose whether you want to pay premium for high speed internet including the ridiculous limits already in place. That or they'll give you the slow-lane subscription while talking down to you about having to pay so little to get so little and their data caps is even more restrictive, never mind how little you'll be able to actually do on the slow lane.

Isn't it wonderful?! /s

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