New Fee

[NYDutch]

Solar power I can see, with local battery storage. I wouldn't call a diesel or gas-powered generator as "off-the-grid", as you're still reliant on a "utlity" company to furnish your energy.

I don't know if he's still there or even still alive, but I met an older fellow several years ago while hiking in the Adirondacks that was powering his remote cabin with solar/battery backed up by a generator that ran on wood gas. He probably had to buy a quart of oil every now and then, but I don't think that rules out being "off grid". He didn't have satellite TV, just OTA and cell phone Internet, but from the size of his setup I think he could easily have supported sat TV if he wanted to spend the money. "Off grid" by most definitions means being off the utility power grid, not necessarily totally isolated from the rest of the world.

 

[JSheridan]

Solar power I can see, with local battery storage. I wouldn't call a diesel or gas-powered generator as "off-the-grid", as you're still reliant on a "utlity" company to furnish your energy.

The customers I'm referring to have battery storage and only use their generators in case of emergencies.

 

[ChadT41]

I didn’t make a blanket statement saying all. I said cable and DSL have data caps too. There are exceptions to that, of course, as there are too many providers to accurately make a large claim, whereas it is easier to make a statement towards the majority.

 

[mdram]

data cap list as an fyi

Internet Providers With Data Caps

 

[comfortably_numb]

I didn’t make a blanket statement saying all. I said cable and DSL have data caps too. There are exceptions to that, of course, as there are too many providers to accurately make a large claim, whereas it is easier to make a statement towards the majority.

Not going to argue with you; you have a need to always be right. You said "DSL has caps." Period. Moving on.

 

[dare2be]

Which I took as "generally has caps", which is true. Moving on.

 

[MikeD-C05]

No, it’s unlimited internet. But as far as Data caps go, yes, there are data caps for the speed. And those have gotten much better. But my Cox internet has Data caps. DSL has data caps...

I have No data caps on my internet from Spectrum and No limits on my T-mobile cell phone data plan.

 

[comfortably_numb]

No limits on my T-mobile cell phone data plan.

Just to be clear, TMO does have a "soft cap" at 50 GB (IIRC) but I don't know how much they enforce that.

 

[ChadT41]

Mike, don’t you pay for the business line with Spectrum?

 

[NYDutch]

The Spectrum Internet "Senior Access" plan at our Adirondack cottage has no data limits, nor does our AT&T unlimited 4G/LTE hotspot plan. The hotspot plan can be "deprioritized" to a lower speed temporarily if we're on a congested tower after 22GB, but if that has happened, we couldn't tell the difference from the normal slowdowns seen on busy cell towers.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Just to be clear, TMO does have a "soft cap" at 50 GB (IIRC) but I don't know how much they enforce that.

I watch Dishanywhere on my phone for a lot of news programs Mon thru Friday at work and I don’t see them say anything other than a text message when I go over certain data used and they tell me I won’t get the $10.00 kick back on my bill that month. But my speed stays the same and I never see throtteling of my bandwidth .

 

[MikeD-C05]

Mike, don’t you pay for the business line with Spectrum?

No I pay for regular home customer internet. I get speeds of 100 mpbs now ,since Spectrum upgraded all subs who were getting 60 mpbs for free. I pay $68.66 a month with taxes included.

 

[peggy97850]

No I pay for regular home customer internet. I get speeds of 100 mpbs now ,since Spectrum upgraded all subs who were getting 60 mpbs for free. I pay $68.66 a month with taxes included.

Wow, Spectrum is really ripping me off, I only get speed of 30 for same price - so unfair that they force one minimum price no matter what speed is available in your area.

 

[mwdxer1]

buried lines are a thing. less chance of storm damage

Yes, all new development these days with new neighborhoods the lines are all underground.

 

[rvvaquero]

Yes, all new development these days with new neighborhoods the lines are all underground.

This statement is totally geographically dependent.

 

[Cheddar_Head]

I didn’t make a blanket statement saying all. I said cable and DSL have data caps too. There are exceptions to that, of course, as there are too many providers to accurately make a large claim, whereas it is easier to make a statement towards the majority.

I suspect you are incorrect as to the majoriity of DSL providers having data caps. I have dealt with 3 DSL providers in the last two years in separate markets, none of them had a data cap. Granted the fastest supported speed in those markets was 12 megs but still they had nomads in the affected markets.

 

[dolfan3033]

Wow, Spectrum is really ripping me off, I only get speed of 30 for same price - so unfair that they force one minimum price no matter what speed is available in your area.

Not to get you even more upset but i pay 65/month for Spectrum and get 200 down and 10 up.

 

[charlesrshell]

I pay $89.99 per month for Spectrum in the St Louis area 300 Mbps down and 20 up.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I pay $89.99 per month for Spectrum in the St Louis area 300 Mbps down and 20 up.

So for an extra $21.00 a month you get 200 mbps more speed than I do. What a racket the internet business is.

 

[ChadT41]

Even worse that almost 90% of internet fees is pure profit.