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Do you think your Internet sucks? These folks have it bad.

Jodell88

Jodell88

Diamond Member
People in Winthrop, Iowa and several nearby towns are mad about the price of their Internet service, and we can't blame them.

The East Buchanan Telephone Cooperative (EBTC) offers DSL Internet at sub-broadband download speeds for up to $300 a month, and it imposes data caps with overages of $5 per gigabyte. As detailed on the company's website, service starts at $24.95 for 5GB per month and moves up to $44.95 per month for 10GB, $179.95 for 50GB, and $299.95 for 100GB. Regardless of which plan you choose, going over your cap brings a charge of $5 more per gigabyte.
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http://arstechnica.com/business/201...t-blows-try-300-for-3mbps-dsl-and-a-data-cap/

Extortion is what that is. :colbert:
 
I've got ~2TB to download, don't wanna do the math but at 3mbps how much data per month would that be, going 24/7?

I know I managed to download 9.1GB in the last 2 days alone.
 
My mom lives in an area where the only option is dialup or wireless. $50/month for 1Mbs down and up. I thought that was crazy, but apparently it could be much worse.
 
Childs said:
My mom lives in an area where the only option is dialup or wireless. $50/month for 1Mbs down and up. I thought that was crazy, but apparently it could be much worse.
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Actually I think her situation is worse. For the same $50 you'd get 3 times the speed...just with a 10GB cap. Considering most people can live with a 2GB cap on their phone I think 10GB aint so bad.

Actually even having a $25 option I think is pretty nice. Most of the time where I've been internet starts at $60 a month. I'd never pay that myself. I think I could tolerate a $25 plan with a data cap. At least i would be able to do some basic surfing vs not having anything. Ideally I'd like a 5+mbps (enough for basic video streaming) plan at a regular $20-25/month with no cap. It is nice to be able to watch stuff online.
 
EliteRetard said:
Actually I think her situation is worse. For the same $50 you'd get 3 times the speed...just with a 10GB cap. Considering most people can live with a 2GB cap on their phone I think 10GB aint so bad.

Actually even having a $25 option I think is pretty nice. Most of the time where I've been internet starts at $60 a month. I'd never pay that myself. I think I could tolerate a $25 plan with a data cap. At least i would be able to do some basic surfing vs not having anything. Ideally I'd like a 5+mbps (enough for basic video streaming) plan at a regular $20-25/month with no cap. It is nice to be able to watch stuff online.
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Well, my mom's service has no data cap. I set up a Roku in every room, and she watches Netflix and Amazon Instant Video for a few hours a day, so its not that bad.
 
Childs said:
Well, my mom's service has no data cap. I set up a Roku in every room, and she watches Netflix and Amazon Instant Video for a few hours a day, so its not that bad.
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Can you actually steam video on 1mbps? I thought there was a minimum required.
It seems like none of these places allow you to download the video ahead of time and require it be streamed, hence the limitation. Even youtube wont download, it only loads a tiny bit. if you have slow internet you can catch up really fast and then have to constantly wait while it buffers.
 
EliteRetard said:
Can you actually steam video on 1mbps? I thought there was a minimum required.
It seems like none of these places allow you to download the video ahead of time and require it be streamed, hence the limitation. Even youtube wont download, it only loads a tiny bit. if you have slow internet you can catch up really fast and then have to constantly wait while it buffers.
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It works well for two streams at the same time. When the third one starts up, you get frequent pauses for buffering. Sometimes there is buffering on one stream, but thats the nature of wireless. It works well for what it is, especially since there are no alternatives in the area. They could probably get away with charging double or triple what they charge now.
 
"We have a little over 1,000 customers. We serve an area that is 165 square miles." That leaves EBTC with less than seven customers per square mile, making the cost of providing wireline infrastructure quite large on a per-home basis, he noted.
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So, apparently living in a rural area has a downside. Interesting.

-KeithP
 
The question I have, does it really cost them anything different at all how many little electron bits cross over their wires? Kinda curious about that with wireless too, sure if it's congested other people can get slow downs...but does it actually affect the provider in any way or cost them anything? Are data caps just a pure money grab?
 
Looks like a piss-ass town in the middle of nowhere to me, so I can't say I'm surprised. Most of the streets aren't even paved. The last mile is always the most expensive. Seems to me they might be better off using a wireless solution like WiMAX instead of DSL.

Rural broadband rollout has been slow though. A friend of mine lives about a mile outside of town. They just got cable last year. Up to then they had to use a 3G modem for home internet.
 
The $300/month plan is pretty shitty, but I don't think the $25 and $45/month plans are that terrible. I'll stick with my Comcast though, thanks.
 
LMAO. OMG. How did Winthrop Iowa make AToT....you guys never cease to amaze me. I've had some good times in Winthrop.

And yes..it's a piss-ass little town in the middle of nowhere.

Interestingly enough, the town I live in is similar in size, but has it's own Phone/Cable/Internet company and we have uncapped FIOS to the house. It's not to the level of some of the ones people brag about here, but it is still more than others around us have, including Mediacom.
 
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