Bad service provider math

[JamminR]

Data usage.
Data caps.
I hate them. They don't make sense.
I realized while downloading Blackmesa.7z that I'm getting an average of 1.9MB a second.
Roughly, thats 1 gigabyte of data every 10 minutes.
So, having an additional 15 minutes to wait, I decide to do some math.
Days in a month (picking 30) = 30
Hours in a day = 24
Hours in a month = 720
Minutes in a month = 43200

Chewing on that, I realize I'm limited to 300GB of data usage a month before warnings/overages/threatening letters, etc.
So, roughly. Say I use my data connection to download 24x7, and, hypothetically, say I still use the 1GB every 10 minutes number.
How fast would I use it?
Minutes in a month / 10 (1 GB per 10 minutes) = 4320
Wow. So, if I were truly unlimited download, I could get 4320gb of data (yes, leaving out upstream, which they count too)
So, how many minutes could I actually stream and reach 300?

4320/43200 = 300/? = 3000 minutes = 50 hours = A little over 2 days.

Now, of course, my average net usage in a month, according to a meter my provider offers, is ~160-200gigs a month. (I working towards cancelling TV cable sub, so, Roku video streaming (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime + many others), plus the gaming I do, plus the games I buy/download (each game averages a gigabyte of data now, heck a MOD of HL is 3.1 Gb compressed.)

My provider likes to say the average person never reaches thier limit.
Seems to me, providers with 'generous' caps like mine aren't the norm.
They are unfortunately becoming the exception, and the cake they are feeding thier customers is a lie.

[MrPresident]

That's because, to them, the average internet user uses the internet for E-Mail, facebook and the occasional YouTube.

By that standard 300GB is very generous indeed. But seeing as you are not the average user your data usage is going to be a lot more than theirs.

This is why data caps don't make sense. What ISPs need to get through their money hungry heads is that the internet is becoming more than just a platform for e-mail and stocks. With the implementation and use of the 'Cloud' there are a lot more everyday things that live on the internet and in effect will up a normal users monthly usage. , just using a cloud program like DropBox to sync 4-5 devices could cost you a good chunk of that depending on the kind of work you do and what kinds of files you want to sync.

The biggest downfall to internet business for the consumer at this point is lack of competitors. There are few major ISPs and they are all regional. You are hard pressed to find any location in the US that has more than one broadband ISP service at any one location. These companies can charge the consumer whatever they want and put into effect any ridiculous policies that they want.

Google is field testing their new fiber ISP in Kansas. The bandwidth is crazy high. I remember reading something upwards of 100Gb/s with the ability to go higher in the near future. A quick google will find the articles on this. The only problem is that they don't have any plans to globalize this yet because they are doing all of their own infrastructure and rewiring a country will be an expensive endevour.

Long story short though... You are right. These monthly caps are outrageous. I can understand them not wanting clients to use the internet to host a file sharing website or something stupid like that.. but to also punish the average user because their internet usage is a little high is stupid.. Also, what about families with multiple users? The likelihood of, let's say... 4, regular tech-savvy users all using one connection to reach the limit is much higher than that of just one or two.

[JamminR]

I remember when the web site developers (including myself) used to design around 56k.
Then DSL and Cable came out. Then developers started making two pages (one 'media rich', one 'for dialup')
Then, fortunately for most, dialup faded away. (not all, however)
Now, companies who set data caps are the old 56k modems.
They are indeed limiting web development, much like the 56k modems did.

Netflix is PERFECT example of a company that had to make 'for dialup (cap user)' settings on the back end, with streams that are reduced quality for those with caps.

Oh, and MrPres, for $300 once + $70 US a month, if you're in a fortunate fiber neighborhood in Kansas, you can get "up to" 1Gbps.
$120 a month if you want TV.
They'll give you up to 5mbps a month with no monthly charge if you just pay the $300.
(Per fiber.google.com/about)
There's some possible issues after the 2 year 'test' is up....but, I'd love it for 2 years.