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.
Do I have to say it? Starlink is much worse in every metric compared to fiber. It’s a decent option for people that don’t have access to fiber or need internet in remote places.
We got one for our camper. Works really well though we only use it in the summer months. What are your complaints?
Starlink roughly compares to mobile internet. And not particularly favorably on average. It’s good if you live in a place where even cell service doesn’t reach or is super old. But it doesn’t compare to even a cheap/bad wired connection for bandwidth, but especially for latency.
I don’t have complaints, it’s just not a comparable technology. It has much lower bandwidth and way higher latency for a higher price. It’s good for its purpose which is to give access to people that could not get it otherwise.
I pulled down 100mbps and was able to FaceTime just fine. Maybe too much lag for serious online competitive play, but I never measured it.
And no bandwidth caps from what I’ve seen.
Coax used to get faster than 100mbps. We are in an age where 1Gbps is standard in many parts of the world thanks to fiber. Again, starlink is cool but not a direct competitor to cabled internet today.
Sure, but many people in the US have only one option for hardwired internet. Starlink and 5G options are the only other option.