Data Limits: How can we break the ISP stranglehold on bandwidth

[clarinetJWD]

Because bandwidth caps are not yet the norm here in America, I prefer the 'DOn't give them your business' approach. I just dropped Comcast on its sorry ass when I found out I could get FiOS. Now I have no throttling, no caps, and a dedicated line so my speed is consistant

 

[Liatach]

Yes, the two major providers are greedy bastards, yes limiting data may have been an excuse to help stop piracy, BUT I'm switching to a provider that is at least slightly more generous and the more people that do this the greater the pressure on the two major providers will be to alter their behavior.
As for the piracy issue well, tho it remains a problem, to my mind the best way to combat this is by giving people better options, much like http://www.abc.net.au/ have done in providing all their shows free to stream via iview. however as they note on the loading screen watching more than a couple of their shows is likely to blow your cap. there is a massive amount of good free and paid for content out there, and many of the big film and TV companies are activley encouraging use of it.
I'm also a big fan of the http://www.ted.com/index.php talks but i'm limiting myself to a few hours worth a month from them, and downloading all that i watch so that i can distribute them around my uni (thanks to their cc licence) to people with lower caps than mine.

So apart from simply switching provider, an option not available to many Aussies, does anyone know who it would most benefit us to lobby or petition?

 

[Axe_2_Gr1nd]

The 2 Providers is just an issue that comes out of have Telstra as the only telephone company for a vary long time, been gov run.

in Reality there is now lots of ISP and back bone providers but the Average Joe will no go past Telstra as that is all they have know for the greater part of there life.

As for internode, they are child company of Agile, which is a back bone provider. And if you go an ADSL2+ connection from the the only thing that they rent from Telstra/Optus is the Local loop(from memory taht is the team, it is the copper pair from eh exchange to the house.
They run their own DSLAM's and exchange equipment. to the Point that they have an online tool that lets you reconfigure the ADSL line profile, I can not link to the faq's about it but to give you an idea see here: http://www.internode.on.net/support/faq/broadband_adsl/adsl2_annex_m/#How_do_I_turn_on_Annex_M_mode_fo

Another big this is that Telstra has always Charged for upload, and so a lot of ISP also do this. Node dose not, I think optus still dose, but it's an discussing policy that is designed to strip thru ur DL limit as fast as posible.
While up load generally is tiny compared to DL, I had a mate that got hacked and only new about due to blowing his DL limit on the first day of the month due to the Hackers uploading lots of his files to there site.

I also used Nodes Priority plan when it was about, basically there was a pool of users that had there own pile to the net (as not to affect normal custoemrs) and you got an index based on how much you had DL'd in the last 7 days. The person with the high's index had the lowest Priority over the pipe to the net, the person with the lowest index had the highest Priority. This would mean if the pipe was not at heavy use and you had a high index you still got full speed, but during peek times you could be pushed back (how much I can not remember but I think too as low as 1/4 of full speed) but if you end up with a high index backing off for 36~48hr's normally dropped you back to a point where you where not notici8ng the lack of Priority.

Looking back at my Dl's for the months on that it when 30gb then 60gb then 30gb then 60gb, etc.
And that was on a 512kb connection

Want to know more about ISP in AU or looking at changing then look here:
http://www.whirlpool.net.au/

enjoy
edit: also node runs a large list of Free content via they re-stream it as that way they pay for the data once and so do not change there users if they hit there mirrors:
http://www.internode.on.net/residential/entertainment/broadband_radio/
More details here:
http://www.internode.on.net/support/faq/broadband_adsl/comparing_us/

 

[keyton777]

I've been a long time user of Internode, while they are not as cheap as they use to be there products are good and there service is great.

there are bigger things to worry about atm:
great firewall of China is coming to au
www.nocleanfeed.com

it's very scary & it's already been funded for the next 5 years! 128 mill over 5 years.
image every thing that is on tv atm after 8:30pm, well that is the sort of content they are looking to sensor!

enjoy
ps: sry on the high jack :S

they should burn in the deepest pits of hell for all eternity......i think they get a kick out of pissing us little ppl off, and they get mad when we shoot one of them...

 

[Liatach]

http://www.whirlpool.net.au/
is an extremely useful site
thank you
As for the no clean feed problem,
I've contacted getup asking them to take the issue on board, getup has a remarkable list of achievements. If anyone can get this issue some real attention they can. if you could ask them to do the same we can get this problem some real attention.
Thankyou

 

[Axe_2_Gr1nd]

I've started another thread as not to high jack ur thread

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.70623#697497
thanks

Edi: wow looked up getup, looks like the bomb, cool stuff
& thanks for getting the word out.

 

[Liatach]

your welcome thanks for participating

 

[Liatach]

It's an interesting and valid idea, and i would certainly consider it perhaps not as the first approach. Still a valid option, it takes a lot of users to achieve tho yes? still practical, i like it thanks for the contribution.

 

[Jaythulhu]

The biggest problem down here is that telscum owns most of the infrastructure, even though taxpayers paid for it, and they like to maintain profits that give the american running the damned company a 30+ million a year paycheque. Unless we can force the government to provide unlimited access to all internet service providers, nothing is going to change. Much like our lack of an r18+ category for games (cos we can't let the little children near anything that might harm their fragile little minds).

 

[jezz8me]

I agree this is a huge problem for me. I am with AAPT on an 18gb cap. Thr price is not ridiculous but i always get capped especialy having six internet users in the house and five computers.

 

[KSarty]

Man, I had no idea that you had such a low cap in Australia. I just recently switched to fiber-optics from Verizon here in the US and its mega fast, but I'm not sure what the cap is if there is one. I previously had Comcast but their new cap of 250gb is still pretty generous.

On the piracy issue, I'm not really sure why everyone thinks piracy is the reason they are capping you. The OP said his limit is 15gb, and that is a perfectly reachable limit from legitimate downloads. I must hit 20-30gb a month in legitimate downloads alone.

 

[GloatingSwine]

The only way to counter bandwidth limitations is amssive infrastructure upgrades. ADSL and Cable is at the physical limit of it's capacity in many places, and FTTH is expensive to invest in so no-one wants to install it widespread.

 

[Virgil]

My recommendation would if you really are all out with this would be to initiate a DDOS attack...

Do NOT do this, and if anyone else suggests anything similar they won't be posting here any more.

 

[Wewt]

With a marsupial.

 

[Madman_Andre]

Phoning in Bomb Threats is also very effective.

 

[Jaythulhu]

We could use some aircraft and parachute a bunch of drop bears into the corp hq of telstra... once a few levels of upper management get their faces eaten off by rabid furballs, things might change. Would make an interesting night's news if nothing else.

 

[Ixus Illwrath]

Eh...

I live in a major US city and Time Warner Cable has a monopoly on all things internet here. My service is 15 down 6 up unlimited. We don't get cease and desist notices for using p2p services, and the service has been pretty reliable throughout.

I just get amazed at some of these stories about net companies and their policies.

For instance, I was in an airport waiting room in Baghdad waiting for my flight home for leave, and there's a wireless service provided. It's 15 bucks a day with a 1g limit. I thought that was just pure highway robbery based on the money they expected for the meager rations they were selling.

 

[Ixus Illwrath]

Man, I had no idea that you had such a low cap in Australia. I just recently switched to fiber-optics from Verizon here in the US and its mega fast, but I'm not sure what the cap is if there is one. I previously had Comcast but their new cap of 250gb is still pretty generous.

On the piracy issue, I'm not really sure why everyone thinks piracy is the reason they are capping you. The OP said his limit is 15gb, and that is a perfectly reachable limit from legitimate downloads. I must hit 20-30gb a month in legitimate downloads alone.

I don't know what the transfer rate is when you're playing WoW, but let me tell you, you hit 1g quickly.

 

[Ixus Illwrath]

My recommendation would if you really are all out with this would be to initiate a DDOS attack...

Do NOT do this, and if anyone else suggests anything similar they won't be posting here any more.

Since that reply came from a mod, I have to ask, what is a DDOS attack? Is that that thing that constantly hits an ISP and bogs it down for the sake of chaos?

 

[stompy]

My recommendation would if you really are all out with this would be to initiate a DDOS attack...

Do NOT do this, and if anyone else suggests anything similar they won't be posting here any more.

Since that reply came from a mod, I have to ask, what is a DDOS attack? Is that that thing that constantly hits an ISP and bogs it down for the sake of chaos?

I'd tell you, but I don't think the mods would appreciate it. It's a frowned upon action to say the least, so I'd say leave it. If you really want to know, search elsewhere.

Anyways, there's nothing that can really be done in Australia. We need that fibre-optic infrastructure Rudd promised us, but he has axed the plan. Unfortunately, we're still in the dark because of this.