Consumer Reports: 71% Would Leave ISP That Violated Neutrality

[Bob Haller]

AOL still provides dial up service......

I still use the AOL e mail since its free and isnt dependent on the ISP .......

 

[TheForce]

Bob- a good business should be using it's own domain name. One of my old producers used to be a fan of aol until one day when one of our clients poked fun at him for using aol and not having his own domain name.

I stopped using aol's dialup service in 1999 when T-Mobile offered a Motorolla Flip phone with a modem cable I could tether to my laptop. When are you going to get with the 21st century, Bob?

 

[TheForce]

Yeah, I was exaggerating to make a point. That point is that these fast speeds they want us to upgrade to mean nothing if they won't let us use the services that can take advantage of that speed. As far as I know, my Charter connection hasn't messed with any of my streaming so I am happy. I don't care if I get the full download speeds for Netflix as long as they give me enough to steadily stream at the highest quality with no buffering. If they wanna give me 12Mbps while I stream Netflix instead of 30Mbps I probably wouldn't notice.

If they do it to the point where I can't maintain a steady top quality stream than I would rather go with a provider that is slower overall as long as they are open and still fast enough to give me a top quality stream.

Right now the most robust download requirement I do is streaming Netflix 3D. That requires a minimum of 12Mbs or it will buffer. If you are below 9 it will pop up an error message you are too slow to watch. Vudu+ 3D only requires about 8Mbs for full quality. Unless users actually are downloading multiple streams by different household members simultaneously or have a business with serveral employees, few if any will be needing more than 15Mbs. So when users pay that extra for a 50Mbs connection, they are just wasting money.

But, I have said this before, most consumer accounts sell on the basis of peak download, not sustained. These streaming requirements demand sustained speed. According to one network engineer I spoke with at Comcast, only their business accounts deliver sustained and regulated speed. The consumer accounts will vary depending on community loads and time of day.

 

[jevans64]

It is not the cost of internet service that concerns me, it is the cost of streaming that concerns me. I think most ISPs have realized that they have milked about as much as they can from their users. They will start hitting up the content streamers which will cause those services to go up. NetFlix and Amazon are already implementing higher rates for streaming in 2014 because they are paying Comcast to turn the spigot on the pipe. Just wait until the ISPs start holding them over a barrel every time they need more revenue. My prediction is that streaming will cost just as much as cable/satellite programming does now and will be chock-full of advertisements within 3 years. Mark your calendars boys, we WILL be paying $120 a month to stream, not including the cost of broadband, by 2017. LOL

 

[king3pj]

It is not the cost of internet service that concerns me, it is the cost of streaming that concerns me. I think most ISPs have realized that they have milked about as much as they can from their users. They will start hitting up the content streamers which will cause those services to go up. NetFlix and Amazon are already implementing higher rates for streaming in 2014 because they are paying Comcast to turn the spigot on the pipe. Just wait until the ISPs start holding them over a barrel every time they need more revenue. My prediction is that streaming will cost just as much as cable/satellite programming does now and will be chock-full of advertisements within 3 years. Mark your calendars boys, we WILL be paying $120 a month to stream, not including the cost of broadband, by 2017. LOL

I'm sure streaming prices will go up over time just like every other service but not to that extent. You really think we will see a 1,400% increase in cost for streaming Netflix in 3 years? I'm pretty sure you were being facetious but if not there is no way this will happen. People aren't going to pay $120 per month for a service that was $8 just three years prior. They wouldn't have any customers left.

 

[navychop]

AOL still provides dial up service...... I still use the AOL e mail since its free and isnt dependent on the ISP .......

You can get a .name or .email address and use it to redirect mail to your AOL account. I think bob@haller.name or bob@haller.email looks better than anything@ aol

I use my ISP email address, and my .name address (which simply forwards to the ISP address). Don't recall the cost, but it wasn't much and I've got it locked and prepaid for many years to come.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[jevans64]

I'm sure streaming prices will go up over time just like every other service but not to that extent. You really think we will see a 1,400% increase in cost for streaming Netflix in 3 years? I'm pretty sure you were being facetious but if not there is no way this will happen. People aren't going to pay $120 per month for a service that was $8 just three years prior. They wouldn't have any customers left.

Maybe not for one service but for maybe two plus a few season passes per year. $120 a month might be unlikely but it wouldn't surprise me. Streaming has basically been a free lunch for the last couple of years and the 1%ers are starting to notice. As more and more folks ditch cable/satellite for streaming, the price will rise and rise with double-digit percentage increases. I'm already paying around $30 a month for Amazon/NetFlix and three seasonal shows on BD. Amazon will probably be at $10 a month shortly and I suspect NetFlix will be $12 a month shortly as well. Once NetFlix caved in to one ISP that opened the flood gates for TWC, Verizon, ATT, Charter, etc., etc. They are literally going to be coming out of the woodwork for a payout.

 

[king3pj]

Maybe not for one service but for maybe two plus a few season passes per year. $120 a month might be unlikely but it wouldn't surprise me. Streaming has basically been a free lunch for the last couple of years and the 1%ers are starting to notice. As more and more folks ditch cable/satellite for streaming, the price will rise and rise with double-digit percentage increases. I'm already paying around $30 a month for Amazon/NetFlix and three seasonal shows on BD. Amazon will probably be at $10 a month shortly and I suspect NetFlix will be $12 a month shortly as well. Once NetFlix caved in to one ISP that opened the flood gates for TWC, Verizon, ATT, Charter, etc., etc. They are literally going to be coming out of the woodwork for a payout.

I am a cord cutter. I have both Netflix and Amazon Prime but the only reason I even have Prime is because I already subscribed for the free shipping before streaming was even added. I could easily stick to Netflix, OTA, and a couple season passes. The season passes cost about as much as buying a bluray box set and they don't include commercials because they treat it like buying those box sets. The bonus features and all that stuff are usually included.

If you do want both Netflix and Amazon that's still only $16 per month currently. The prices you are talking about are all still hypothetical and we are a long ways off from $120 per month. Don't forget that cable/satellite are increasing every single year while Netflix and Amazon have basically been untouched. They aren't going to suddenly start cranking it up by $5 a month every year like the satellite companies are when they are starting at $8. I'm sure prices will go up over time but cable/satellite prices are going to keep increasing at a higher dollar per year. It's easier to hide a $5 increase on a $100+ bill than it is on an $8 bill.