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How many ISPs can you choose from for your home network?
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Can anyone remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 03 2017, @02:19PM (3 children)
I don't think 3G counts, with their data caps and bandwidth problems.
(Score: 2) by dry on Saturday November 04 2017, @03:18AM
I guess I should have voted zero then. My ISP announced last November that they were cancelling my dial-up as they couldn't get equipment anymore though it is still working and my bill says $0.00 (used to be $39.95) and the other week they finally got a cell tower operating. I'm hoping to get the $85 for 10 GB deal (only 20 cents a MB if you go over) that my neighbour got. This is about 40 miles east of Vancouver BC.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday November 05 2017, @03:41PM
Satellite shouldn't count either -- data transfer rates are pathetic. It's for cruise ships, aircraft, and when you absolutely must be connected from the remote jungles of Jiggaboonia.
(Score: 4, Informative) by requerdanos on Monday November 06 2017, @06:40PM
Satellite doesn't count either; similar reasons, that effectively boil down to much (much, much) higher costs for the same use.
We stream video and I download Linux ISOs. For example, I downloaded the complete Debian 9 "Stretch" Amd-64 blu-ray set to have something with which to test my shiny new blu-ray burner. That alone was a 60 gigabyte download, torrent-sharing all the way. Even given unlimited time and money, I doubt that could be accomplished on 3g. With satellite, it could, of course, given the unlimited money to pay per (giga-|mega-|tera-) byte. Might as well just make a bonfire with the money and ask me to mail you the blu-ray set.
In the abstract, it might be possible to make a case for satellite or 3g internet, but I don't live in the abstract: I live in a location where a "rural membership cooperative" has a monopoly, and they are the only provider available. Sure, I get 200Gbit cable internet from them for less than $100 a month, and I like it, but I'd still like to have choices, and 3g and satellite providers just don't offer anything close to what cable Internet does, for anywhere near the price. They'd be fine for "email and web browsing" assuming you don't email big documents, and don't browse sites with big files, but the survey isn't about "email and web browsing," but about ISPs, and those by definition should give you meaningful Internet connectivity.
As an aside: I hereby condemn all ISPs -- mine included -- that give out fake private IP addresses to their cable modem customers instead of real IP addresses. That makes any kind of direct connection (IRC-DCC, jabber, inbound VNC, etc.) not just difficult, but actually physically impossible. My ISP (atmc.net) charges an extra $10 a month for a static IP, which they offer as the only solution--otherwise you're in a DHCP pool with useless 10.* addresses (pretty much only good for, again, "email and web browsing"). I told them I didn't need a static address--they could change it ten times a day if they want--it just needs to be an Internet address and not a "private" address. Pay the $10 or get lost, they said (paraphrasing). Did I mention that I selected "one" in this survey because they are the only ISP serving my area?