So, time for another pointless update on myself (well, I may as well post, otherwise this place would be entirely dead).
I’ve posted a number of times before about my internet connection and that, and how you’ve probably figured that I’ll never shut up about it until something like the NBN comes (if it ever will). But anyway, this might be a bit of a turn.
Right now, I’m on a 1.5Mbps connection with 25GB peak downloads and 120GB off-peak (2am – 12pm) quota per month. (if you’re wondering, the annoying slowdowns have since mysteriously vanished) Exetel (my ISP) have decided to be a fag and increase prices by $10/month, so their lowest (non-shit) plan is now $50/month. They have somewhat “compensated” by increasing quotas to 30GB+180GB off-peak (which will become 2am – 2pm), however, I’m already finding it really difficult to use up my current quota.
I’ve looked around, but for 1.5Mbps connections, it seems there really isn’t much cheaper available (thanks to Telstra’s dominance in the area) – probably the most I could save would be $5/month which would also require bundling with a phone. Oh well.
So, back to the issue of using up the quota. I guess I don’t really have to, but I guess I’ve developed this idea that I should, and despite myself saying it’s unnecessary, I’m always trying to find something to exhaust the bandwidth. So yeah… downloading useless stuffs. Especially difficult with me as I try to be conservative with bandwidth usage. Am really starting to run out of ideas over what I should do with the quota – perhaps I should convince myself not to bother with it (and save some electricity by not having the computer on at 2am downloading stuff).
Well i never knew you were an Aussie ZingaBurga.
Learn something new every day.
As for NBN well it is coming if we like it or not. This will ultimately jack up prices even more than now not to mention Telstra taking back control of the communications network across Australia.
Its a sad waste of money if you ask me. We could have spent far less to get a few satellites up and feed a good speed to the country folk. The city has good enough net now.
As for bandwidth and the basic point of the thread well……
I am like you. I try my best to download as much as i can. I have Unlimited and no peak or offpeak (dodo) but comes at a reduced speed so my theory is well ya gunna slow me down i will download more.
When ISP’s offer decent packages then i would consider not wasting bandwidth.
Like $50 unlimited a month on a 1.5Mbps connection.
NBN is making sure this will NEVER happen!
Over priced piece of infrastructure right there. Damn Gillard and the Labor as a whole!!
Thanks for the comment.
Telstra taking back the infrastructure? I thought the NBN was sold by NBNCo, and is separate from Telstra.
I’d leave the value proposition of the NBN to others to decide. However, from a technical standpoint, I think it’s better to spend $26bn now rather than $1bn per year for 40 years (if you get my drift).
Satellite internet is absolutely horrid, but then again, not much choice for rural areas.
You say that urban folk have good enough connections, but I believe a prime assumption of the NBN is that simply isn’t the case. It’s debatable, but then most can only realistically get 8-12Mbps download and 384-640Kbps upload, compared with other countries having symmetric 100Mbps speeds (and some upgrading to 1Gbps). Data speed requirements have been growing exponentially over the past years, and there isn’t any indication that this will stop, so logically, we will be needing faster internet. Of course, this is merely a prediction, but that’s somewhat the nature of tech anyway.
In terms of pricing, current NBN plans don’t look too great. Exetel’s NBN-A-100 is 12Mbps/1Mbps, 100GB/mo quota for $60/mo, compared to their Optus ADSL2+ 20Mbps/1Mbps 500+500GB/mo quota for the same price (latter includes PSTN phone). Speeds of these two are comparable considering that you’ll probably only get around 12Mbps off ADSL2+ (in fact, the fibre’s upload will be quicker), but you get less quota.
As for unlimited 1.5Mbps for $50/mo, really, if you’re trying to max out your connection 24/7 for every day of the month, you’d probably struggle to exceed 400GB in one month. Now assuming you don’t, then 100GB/mo should really be more than enough for you anyway (which is maxing your connection for 6 hours a day, every day).
If you’re not on 1.5Mbps, then my guess is that you’re on 512Kbps, in which, I doubt you’re exceeding 100GB/mo.
You could always watch cartoons on YouTube. Helps me pass the time, and/or you could run Folding at Home on your PC (the latter wouldn’t use up much bandwidth, but it would be good for science 😉 ).