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Broadband is taking an ugly turn
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: SKYHN
On September 16th, Pacbell(along with their other companies, Ameritech, Southwestern, etc) are going to switch to "Tiering" pricing plans. Time Warner did this a while ago and lost a whole crapload of customers.
Why are these companies doing this? They want broadband to grow, yet they continue to do things that cause people to cancel. I just canceled my Aol DSL last week because I am Switching to pacbell, then I find out about this.
Posted by: -Memnoch-
one word.
Greed
Posted by: Bobaroo
What does the new pricing do?
Posted by: Kdr Kane
Bait and switch.
I predict you'll all go back to dial-up. Just like me.
mwuahhhahhahah
wb, Memnoch. 
Posted by: Bobaroo
 Quote:
Originally posted by Kdr Kane
Bait and switch.
I predict you'll all go back to dial-up. Just like me.
mwuahhhahhahah
wb, Memnoch.
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ahh dial-up...who could do that!
Posted by: ZeRo_MaXwInG
Yes, and restrictions aren't just in the U.S. Here in Canada, cable and dsl are putting download caps on users. You pay more for higher the cap and pay more per every extra gig you download. Whatever happens, I refuse to go back to dial up.
Posted by: redwench
heh, why do you people expect the broadband industry to be different from any other? if you want to use more, youre going to pay more for it. you cant expect no caps, unlimited dling, and 24/7 connections for 20 bucks a month. theyd go bankrupt.
Posted by: BeZeRkEr
my cable company raised the price from $30/month to $35/month
still cheaper than dsl and i dont have any caps yet
Posted by: -EG-raynor
glad my moms a Teacher, we get a special deal, it would be 39$ a month, but its only 29$ now and no tax 
Posted by: SKYHN
Quote:
Originally posted by redwench
heh, why do you people expect the broadband industry to be different from any other? if you want to use more, youre going to pay more for it. you cant expect no caps, unlimited dling, and 24/7 connections for 20 bucks a month. theyd go bankrupt.
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What time warner did was had their connections advertised at 384-1500/128-384. When they switched to Tier pricing, they took every residential customer, and put them down to 384/128. Then they emailed them and said to get their speeds back to where they were before, they would have to go to a more expensive plan.
Pacbell is going to do a similar thing, as is AT&T and several other companies. How fair is it to the consumer to be at a $50 a month plan, getting 1200/240, do be suddenly dropped to 384/128 and told to get their speed back, they are gonna have to pay more money? Im not exactly sure how Pacbell is gonna do it, but I hope they dont do it like time warner did.
Posted by: Shalome
Bait-and-switch. Excellent business model. Kinda like the mythical "drug pushers" of the 1980s.. "Here, kid, the first time's free."
SKYHN, your avatar f'ing rocks.
Posted by: Azgard
Its similar to bait and switch, but its far from it, otherwise it would be illegal. They dont have to guarantee you any service, unless of course you sign a contract of some sort, which most people do, that gives away there right to complain about this sort of practice.
Posted by: Shalome
Okay, so it doesn't fit the legal definition of bait-and-switch. But it's the general idea of the thing.
Posted by: SKYHN
Hmm...
I read on DSLR that this is Pacbells new "Tier" pricing:
384-1500/128 - 49.95
768-1500/256 - 59.95
That first one is the same as they have now. Only the second one is new. I guess this isnt really different, they sure made it out to be though. Im tempted to get the 2nd one but I am drying out my pockets with $50 already.
Posted by: redwench
like any other company, unless there is a written contract stating otherwise, they have a right to change thier pricing/services as they deem fit. the exception to that is a utility, of course, which is regulated by some governmental entity.
Posted by: Shalome
Energy deregulation fixed that, wenchy. Hence, the rolling blackouts in California.
Posted by: Tweaker
This is not a hardware issue, so I think I will move it to rant-rave.
Posted by: TheeMon
ok i got a question... im a dial-up user never even seen broadband(exept at school) and i got no idea what these numbers mean  lol 384-1500/128 768-1500/256
ehh maybey i figured it out? heh the first number has to do w/ dling the 2nd w/ uploading heh either way tell me kuz its better then me guessing
Posted by: TueurDelite
here in quebec sympatico and videotron are doing the same thing !!! if they do that i gonna go to another company well ony if they put there price alot higher
Posted by: Azgard
384-1500/128
768-1500/256
You are correct the first number is download speed, and the second is upload speed, these speeds are measured in KiloBits per second. In case you dont know it takes 8 bits to equal a byte.
Posted by: ZeRo_MaXwInG
And to think I was hoping broadband would decrease in price due to popularity.
Posted by: redwench
heh. only once supply catches up dude.
Posted by: ZeRo_MaXwInG
Good point. Then those who need broadband won't have to stick with dial up.  . But there are still some people who can't access broadband. Those far far away from urban centres will have to rely on satellite broadband and everyone knows it costs a fortune.
Posted by: nocode
Quote:
Originally posted by ZeRo_MaXwInG
Good point. Then those who need broadband won't have to stick with dial up. . But there are still some people who can't access broadband. Those far far away from urban centres will have to rely on satellite broadband and everyone knows it costs a fortune.
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 yes indeed! my satellite broadband service is $73 a month!......and i even have a download cap of 160meg in a 4 hour period! it is what direcway, which is my isp, calls their FAP.....(fair access policy). if i download more than 160meg in a 4 hour period, my bandwith is cut so that it is slower than dial up! i would prefer to have cable internet service but i live in the middle of nowhere, so it's either dial up or satelite for me......those are my 2 choices! it's not too bad though considering how much i use the internet, so i won't complain too much
Posted by: Bobaroo
My cable company is considering putting a cap on the speeds. They already raised their prices $10, a cap would be even worse.
Posted by: TheeMon
ahh first off azgard you spelled your name wrong dude... and i knew that much i wanted to know why it had two numbers in the front... + i would think u could upload something just as fast as you could dl it heh
and zero_max hey dont make fun of us redneck hicks heh
Posted by: ZeRo_MaXwInG
I never made fun of anyone.
Posted by: Qui Gon-Jinn
Cox Cable in Phoenix is running 350up and 3000 down for the most part.. I have had it since april.. and can't stand dialup at my dad's.. I have it set up so I can log into my uncle's business and fix things from home.. so I don't have to drive across town.. it can be done with dialup to.. but it's such a pain..
Cable is the only way to go here in Phoenix.. DSL is as much or more.. and the speed is less.. plus restrictions on where you can get it.. cable is just about everywhere..
Posted by: AngstMerchant
Quote:
Originally posted by TheeMon
ahh first off azgard you spelled your name wrong dude...
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Yeah, and you misspelled your name too, The Man.
How the hell could you possibly try to tell someone else how to spell their name?? I think they will know better than anyone.
Posted by: Azgard
Quote:
Originally posted by TheeMon
ahh first off azgard you spelled your name wrong dude... and i knew that much i wanted to know why it had two numbers in the front... + i would think u could upload something just as fast as you could dl it heh
and zero_max hey dont make fun of us redneck hicks heh
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Firstly, I didnt spell it wrong, ive used this name for over 5 years so I would know.
Second, download / upload ratios are set up like that since isp's seem to assume that people will download far more then they upload.
Posted by: TheeMon
never said you made fun of anyone heh and i was assuming that he was trying to spell asgard and just messed up...
Posted by: SKYHN
Back on topic people!
Im hoping when I get pacbell DSL that I get at least the same speeds I got when I had Aol DSL, which was 1280/110. Im 5386ft from the CO too, so I wont be put on the Ramp-up plan.
They should have offered plans like this:
384-768/128 $35
384-768/256 $40
384-1000/128 $45
384-1000/256 $50 *
384-1500/128 $55
384-1500/256 $60
I would jump on the one with the asterisk in a second.
Posted by: Bunyaka
i pay 20 bucks a month for optimum online in northern New Jersey and i dl at 450kb/s on average, tops around 600kb/s. I don't need to dl any higher than that so i don't care a bout a cap that high, i hav unlimited dling and 24/7 access
i guess you guys are unlucky
Posted by: Bobaroo
Quote:
Originally posted by Bunyaka
i pay 20 bucks a month for optimum online in northern New Jersey and i dl at 450kb/s on average, tops around 600kb/s. I don't need to dl any higher than that so i don't care a bout a cap that high, i hav unlimited dling and 24/7 access
i guess you guys are unlucky
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$20!!!! WHAT!!! how?
The price was once $20, it went up to $35 now.
Where in North Jersey do you live?
Posted by: SKYHN
I read something on DSLR today that said OOL is gonna start capping at 1.5mb. And people were not happy about it.
Posted by: Muggs
Its like 80$ here for normal calble internet and digital cable for the tv
thats like 5$ american isnt it?
Posted by: SKYHN
Quote:
Originally posted by Muggs
Its like 80$ here for normal calble internet and digital cable for the tv
thats like 5$ american isnt it?
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$1 American = $50 Australian = $100 Canadian
Posted by: bLaCkOuT
My cable was downloading ay 8KBps last night... I was pissed so I sent an e-mail to support. Wouldn't you know it that once I hit send, that sucker jumped up to 80KBps. Makin' me look like a liar =)
Posted by: SKYHN
w00t! I think Aol finnaly released my line, its letting me order pacbell now.
Posted by: SKYHN
Ugh, I didnt have time to do it last night, and I come back today just now to do it and it says I still have DSL....
Posted by: NoNameRequired
Sympatico used to be great here in Canada. 125 KB per second download speeds and unlimited bandwidth for 40$ a month and 25$ for the first 3 months. Nothing has changed except for the 5GB Down/Up bandwidth cap and the 5$ monthly fee increase...
Sympatico only implented these caps to scare away the bandwidth hoggers. (AKA warez users) It is working quite well. Sympatico employees have said they plan to increase the caps once the network is free from these pirates.
Posted by: Cheese
Broadband back home in the the Chicago burbs is something like $55 a month and we got decent speeds. Usually over 100K on downloads. Course its nice when you're dad does computer research and gets the government to pay for your service.
But now the residence halls here at school get some pretty fat speeds. 3.08 Mbits/sec last time I did the bandwith test.
Posted by: Null Actor
Quote:
Originally posted by NoNameRequired
Sympatico only implented these caps to scare away the bandwidth hoggers. (AKA warez users)
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That's such bullshit. There are plenty of legal ways to sail past a 5gig cap in a month.
If your connection can download at 150k/s, that means that you can only use your full bandwidth for ten hours. That will have transfered 5 gigs. Realize that the cap is on how much you transfer. Not what you download and save to your harddrive. That is only a bare fraction of the amount of bandwidth you use in a day of surfing, playing games, listening to streaming audio, or watching streaming video.
Posted by: 9:35
Quote:
Originally posted by -EG-raynor
glad my moms a Teacher
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ahahahahahahaha
good one.
Posted by: -EG-raynor
....
Posted by: NoNameRequired
Quote:
Originally posted by Nova Z
That's such bullshit. There are plenty of legal ways to sail past a 5gig cap in a month.
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I did not deny it. I did however stated that warez takes up a lot of bandwidth and therefor caused these caps. I am sure most bandwidth hoggers use their connection for warez, not streaming radio and such.
Posted by: redwench
nonsense. i stream radio for about 20 hours a week. even at the low stream rate talk shows use, id be hitting that 5g cap every month. i know of broadbanders that do 1g a day, easily. that limit is too low for any but the most casual user.
Posted by: SKYHN
Well it looks like pacbell is updating their DSL website and putting all the "yahoo!" stuff on it now. They are gonna have some sweet deals.
My damn line better be released in the next few days, or their will be bloodshed
Posted by: Muggs
w00t i gotta love my unlimited dowloading and i dont think i have a cap cause its been up to like 600kb per second alot
Posted by: TheeMon
dude i dl more then 5 gigs a week on dial up (2-3kb a sec)
Posted by: nocode
lol.....maybe you mean 5 meg a week!......at 2 to 3kb/sec, that would take you like a month or more to download 5 gig.
Posted by: Null Actor
19 and a bit days actually.
But that's a good point too. When they cap it that low, they are essentially giving you less service than a modem user receives. So all that transfer limit stuff is pure BULLSHIT.
Posted by: TheeMon
ahh i ment a month not a week
Posted by: NoNameRequired
Quote:
Originally posted by Nova Z
...When they cap it that low, they are essentially giving you less service than a modem user receives. So all that transfer limit stuff is pure BULLSHIT.
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Absolutely. I never said I was happy with the current situation. However, there is nothing I can do about it. Sympatico is the only reasonable DSL provider in my area. The others either have a very poor reputation or have the same cap in effect.
Cable is also an option, but they have had a 6GB download cap for years and their service is poor.
Dial-Up is out of the question. It may not have any download caps, but it's speed is slow and the phone interferes. That is the main reasons I got DSL in the first place. Phone calls no longer disconnect me nor do I lag out of multiplayer games.
My online habits have only changed on one aspect since the cap. No more warez. Funny, I only started downloading warez the minute I learned the caps were coming. Before, I was probably using under the 5GB anyway.
Posted by: SKYHN
Quote:
Originally posted by NoNameRequired
My online habits have only changed on one aspect since the cap. No more warez. Funny, I only started downloading warez the minute I learned the caps were coming. Before, I was probably using under the 5GB anyway.
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Well, its proven now...you arent -EG-raynor
Posted by: Azgard
I use ~1 gig a week, and im dial up.
Posted by: Outlaw
Quote:
Originally posted by Azgard
I use ~1 gig a week, and im dial up.
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Wouldn't broadband be cheaper then?
Posted by: Azgard
At 75 dollars a month? i think not.
Posted by: -EG-raynor
Quote:
Originally posted by SKYHN
Well, its proven now...you arent -EG-raynor
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wtf, you thought that was me 
Posted by: Grimlock
heh, I can't get any form of broadband in my area, so I just use works 300k/s downloads to my advantage
Posted by: Erekose
well what else is it there for grim?
Posted by: Bobaroo
He means you download a lots of Warez.
Posted by: -EG-raynor
i havnt downloaded Warez sutff for a long time...
Posted by: Outlaw
And you shouldn't, warez is bad...
*cough*
Posted by: Spider
Shame on you, Raynor. Shame.
Posted by: Spork Lover
Yikes.... download caps ! What is up with that? I use Charter here, and it works a little different. They have tiered pricing... 256 - 35.99 / 768 - 42.99 / 1.5mb 50(something). All have upload speeds of 128. Now that may seem bad, but that is not a bandwidth cap. Either service level can experience the same amount of bandwidth, but what you are paying for is that in times of heavy usage when bandwidth is being stolen by your neighbors... they guarantee at least that speed. So a person with the 768 connection is guaranteed at least a 768 connection 24/7, and they could experience a faster connection. No download caps either, unlimited access. Im not too sure how its wroking cause I heard Charter is running out of $$$$!!!
Im not suprised by those Canada stories... nothing but commies up there lol... j/k ... I love you Canadians...I even talk and spell like you... colour...see!!!!! I know what its all aboot!
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