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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[–] NastyNative@mander.xyz 33 points 1 day ago

Data caps are insane in 2024

[–] Sparky@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 day 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...

[–] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 11 points 1 day ago (1 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.

[–] Jolteon@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Speaking of fiber and things that are not fiber, asymmetric connections are one of the most predatory internet practices in existence, only a small distance behind data caps. Oh, you want our super expensive 1gbps plan? How about 3mbps upload?

[–] Hackworth@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There used to be very real hardware reasons that upload had much lower bandwidth. I have no idea if there still are.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago

Probably because they don't need to as we are used to it and also more bandwidth to multiplex for other residens/clients to offer.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day 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.

[–] TwitchingCheese@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Based on Ajit Pai last time, there will be a significant rollback on consumer rights and protections. You can bet Starlink will get greenlit for anything they want though.

[–] ohlaph@lemmy.world 43 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Also get ready of net neutrality disappearing, and you'll have sites blocked just because of ISPs not liking them.

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[–] AngryRobot@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago

All of our FTC investigations and antitrust suits will disappear.

[–] zephorah@lemm.ee 22 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

No. And I'm sorry to say, this administration is coming for social media as well. I hate watching the orange potato talk, and I dislike the individual who posted this, but unless you want to sit through a double long "reaction" vid by a youtuber who makes their living "reacting", this is the shortest one.

He wants to gut moderation and make it so it requires a court order to remove any account from social media. There's a lot to unpack here. It's a scripted speech, illustrating the thinkers behind his administration this go. It talks about 1A, says everything in the speech is for 1A, including dumping the Hatch Act (keeps us safe at polling sites and makes buying votes illegal), but you should really listen to what he says about moderation of social media.

To me, it reads as a way of removing any anti-establishment, anti-MAGA spaces to talk without actually removing the spaces.

Echo chambering helps no one folks, I hate hearing him speak too, but you need to hear this one. https://youtu.be/xJfUXVOoFBo

[–] mortimer@lemmy.world 157 points 3 days ago (24 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.

[–] richardisaguy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

that's one hell of a free burn

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[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Well, maybe now with a republican FCC

lol, no

[–] Buttflapper@lemmy.world 18 points 2 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 2 days ago

Oh I expect it to. The FCC censors airwave transmissions

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[–] dan@upvote.au 10 points 2 days ago (10 children)

Comcast is still using Coax instead of Fiber Optic and desperately trying to convince people that somehow, someway coax can be just as good.

Comcast are starting to offer 2Gbps symmetric (same speed up and down) via DOCSIS 4.0 in some areas.

[–] blakemiller@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yep. It’s pretty nuts how much they can push over copper. And remember that just having a coax cable at your house doesn’t mean it’s copper the whole way back to the ISP.

[–] dan@upvote.au 5 points 1 day ago

You're right - upstream connections are usually fiber. In fact there's a name for this type of network: HFC (hybrid fiber + coax)

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[–] TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org 98 points 3 days ago (2 children)

It doesn't matter if you have 2 Gigabit internet if no one in the world is uploading even half that fast.

Just to point out something, yes, there may not be many services online (except torrents perhaps) that will max out your gigabit connection, but you are looking at it from the perspective of a single user. I'm in a family of four, also with a roommate in the house, and with everyone gaming and streaming and doing their thing, it can easily saturate it. We had to pay extra for no caps though or we'd be toast. They at least did offer that. Dicks.

Anyway the point of a high speed connection is to be able to do many things simultaneously, not really one giant thing by itself.

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[–] AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago

It's totally possible! I live in CO and Comcast had a legal monopoly per state law. Nobody else is allowed to compete with their cable service. But you know what isn't cable? Fiber! A local broadband company just installed fiber in my neighborhood this spring. I signed up for $89/mo gigabit service, no data cap, no installation fees at all. Between when I signed up and when they turned on service, they upgraded my service to 1.2 gigabit, same monthly price, no cap, no commitment, no upsell (their only other service is rural satellite Internet).

I talked to the technician installing it and he said they aren't getting any subsidies from anyone. Not the city, state, or fed. It's simply economically viable to run new gigabit fiber for $89/mo. All it takes is a company that can make the initial infrastructure investment.

[–] Zier@fedia.io 67 points 3 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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