Any reason to have a 40mb connection?

EliteLamer

I got a 40mb/5mb up connection because I thought all the roommates would be using the computer; however, it turns out no one really is using that much bandwidth. On top of that we lost a roommate and am now spliting a 172.00 dollar cable bill 3 ways..

If I take the phone off and downgrade to the 13mb/2mb it would bring us down to about 120.00.

Too bad we can't get fios.. It would be 99 bucks for everything :?

ransim

EliteLamer wrote: »

I got a 40mb/5mb up connection because I thought all the roommates would be using the computer; however, it turns out no one really is using that much bandwidth. On top of that we lost a roommate and am now spliting a 172.00 dollar cable bill 3 ways..

If I take the phone off and downgrade to the 13mb/2mb it would bring us down to about 120.00.

Too bad we can't get fios.. It would be 99 bucks for everything :?

I've honestly always found the up to hurt me more then my down, but thats also relative to how I use the internet.

By all means if you guys aren't using 40/5, then downgrade to 13/2, for most people it won't be very noticeable.

DigitalSyn

Is there a reason NOT to have a 40mb connection? I'd go buy some harddrives and start getting all your favorite TV shows downloaded.

TechBoy

I easily lived off a 10/1 line with 3 other guys.

I don't think I had a single instance where the line felt clogged. Pretty much the only time you'd notice is if two or more people try to simultaneously download a large file, and really, how how big of a deal is it if your downloads take a while longer?

As far as Youtubes/Hulus/Gaming there's plenty to go around even if people use it simultaneously, so downgrade. Absolutely.

(And I'm assuming those are bundle prices with cable TV right? Cause that's way too much for just internet)

EliteLamer

TechBoy wrote: »

I easily lived off a 10/1 line with 3 other guys.

I don't think I had a single instance where the line felt clogged. Pretty much the only time you'd notice is if two or more people try to simultaneously download a large file, and really, how how big of a deal is it if your downloads take a while longer?

As far as Youtubes/Hulus/Gaming there's plenty to go around even if people use it simultaneously, so downgrade. Absolutely.

(And I'm assuming those are bundle prices with cable TV right? Cause that's way too much for just internet)

Yeah we have HD cable and HD boxes in 3 rooms

Scrublet

The only way I could see a 40Mbps getting used is if you tend to bittorrent a bunch of stuff. TechBoy called it on the streaming/gaming perspectives, and most sites are going to cap you on file downloads long before you hit 40Mbps.

EliteLamer

Yeah my ping is really bad for what I pay. Kinda pisses me off.

Daedalus

I upgraded from 10/2 to 20/5 recently (FiOS) and I'm pretty happy with it but it only cost me an extra five bucks so there's that. If you don't use it, by all means downgrade, but be careful because they'll probably try to hit you with some kind of gigantic fee for doing so.

(also unless you really like sports or something else that needs to be watched the minute it comes on, consider dropping the TV service; that'll save a ton of money. Just get a big ol' DVI-HDMI cable and run it from your computer to the TV.)

EliteLamer

My roommates are not into computers and even though I offer to set up an HTPC at my cost with Boxee installed and the works. They won't drop cable.

SniperGuy

DigitalSyn wrote: »

Is there a reason NOT to have a 40mb connection? I'd go buy some harddrives and start getting all your favorite TV shows downloaded.

What the hell? Did you get infracted for suggesting someone download digital content? Cause you know. iTunes, Amazon, etc. all have download media services and having a 40mb connection would certaintly help with that season pass to the Daily Show.

DigitalSyn

SniperGuy wrote: »

DigitalSyn wrote: »

Is there a reason NOT to have a 40mb connection? I'd go buy some harddrives and start getting all your favorite TV shows downloaded.

What the hell? Did you get infracted for suggesting someone download digital content? Cause you know. iTunes, Amazon, etc. all have download media services and having a 40mb connection would certaintly help with that season pass to the Daily Show.

Yeah... That is what I was wondering... I wasn't suggesting torrents.. There are other means of obtaining your shows - I was merely suggesting that he put his connection to use.


Sheesh.

xzzy

The upload figure is significant.. you could probably run at least one dedicated game server with that 5mb upload, including voice chat.

Which means you get to play a game at 1ms ping, which is always good fun.

Fizban140

I am not sure how the internet or connections work, to me it is all magic. For some reason my internet will be incredibly slow sometimes, jumps into the 100-200 ms ping range for 20 or so seconds and then drop back down to 20-60 ms. This happened when I split a connection and had my own on 5mbps all the way to 12mpbs. I would go with the 12, but that is just from my experience.

Quantux

Personally, I would ditch the TV and move down to the 15/3 (Comcast's base option). Remember, in order to give you the net, they have to give basic cable (local channels (in HD) plus discovery and history (SD for now, we'll see when they turn off analog in a couple months) and a few others) that come through just fine on any QAM tuner. If the roommates are dead set on super cable + dvr, then your stuck and yes drop the bill $50 and go lower. Also, it helps if you visit the local payment office to do it. They can't stop giving up deals (such as put you on the new sub. $19.99/mo for 6 months option) when I and others I know have gone in.

EliteLamer

Quantux wrote: »

Personally, I would ditch the TV and move down to the 15/3 (Comcast's base option). Remember, in order to give you the net, they have to give basic cable (local channels (in HD) plus discovery and history (SD for now, we'll see when they turn off analog in a couple months) and a few others) that come through just fine on any QAM tuner. If the roommates are dead set on super cable + dvr, then your stuck and yes drop the bill $50 and go lower. Also, it helps if you visit the local payment office to do it. They can't stop giving up deals (such as put you on the new sub. $19.99/mo for 6 months option) when I and others I know have gone in.

Yeah I did this at my last place.. Just order internet and they left the TV on lol..

But yeah they are dead set on have HD boxes and 300 channels in every room

mcdermott

Scrublet wrote: »

The only way I could see a 40Mbps getting used is if you tend to bittorrent a bunch of stuff. TechBoy called it on the streaming/gaming perspectives, and most sites are going to cap you on file downloads long before you hit 40Mbps.

Pretty much anything you'd use a 40Mbps connection for will probably get you throttled (I'm sorry, "traffic shaped") into oblivion if you actually did it. Video streaming? Big downloads (either P2P or from servers)? Pretty much any sustained bandwidth use will wind up seeing you throttled. That 40Mbps is basically only to be used in short bursts, at least that's my experience with my "20Mbps" connection.

So no, you probably have no need for it. 15Mbps is enough bandwidth (theoretically) for four or five people to stream HD (or full-quality) SD video simultaneously. It's enough bandwidth for multiple people to game simultaneously (with the 2Mbps up).

Synthesis

I used to pay $120 a month for basic cable, and a 5mb/1mb (I think, probably slower) connection.

Goddamn it, I hate the cable monopolies we have in the South.

EliteLamer

mcdermott wrote: »

Scrublet wrote: »

The only way I could see a 40Mbps getting used is if you tend to bittorrent a bunch of stuff. TechBoy called it on the streaming/gaming perspectives, and most sites are going to cap you on file downloads long before you hit 40Mbps.

Pretty much anything you'd use a 40Mbps connection for will probably get you throttled (I'm sorry, "traffic shaped") into oblivion if you actually did it. Video streaming? Big downloads (either P2P or from servers)? Pretty much any sustained bandwidth use will wind up seeing you throttled. That 40Mbps is basically only to be used in short bursts, at least that's my experience with my "20Mbps" connection.

So no, you probably have no need for it. 15Mbps is enough bandwidth (theoretically) for four or five people to stream HD (or full-quality) SD video simultaneously. It's enough bandwidth for multiple people to game simultaneously (with the 2Mbps up).

I downloaded 3 games at 2.5mbs each at the same time on Steam.. didn't seem to slow down.

Dark Shroud

I'm on a 25/5Mb connection, unless you're hosting some type of server you don't need much more. I'm also on a Comcast DOCSIS 3.0 connection with proper hardware. So I don't see any slowdown when downloading several large video files at once. I can get 2-3Mbps per file download.

Go ahead and downgrade and then think about hitting the roommates with QoS if it gets to be a problem. Also look at what you can do to slim the charges down with the cable company with packages and what not. I just coughed up the $100 and bought my own new cable modem, again. You should be ahead at the end of the year and after that you're golden.