Revolting internet charge increases

[stumblinhorse]

Lol rural internet is expensive. $100/month for 30MB in my area, all line of sight low power microwave…. or starlink

 

[bnold]

As I said, my 1Gbit usually averages about 600mb and I could cut down to 500mb which would probably give me about 300mb but the 500mb is only $10 less and not worth doing it. I had 100mb for a while and it was too slow for my business so I can't use the providers that only give 50-100mb service.

What type of business do you have that needs that type of bandwidth?

Would have to be heavy video usage or fairly large data transfer required on a regular basis.

I only bring this up because people often think they need 100+Mb services for home or small business use and they are often mistaken. Their ‘slow speeds’ are most often due to another portion of their setup.

2 family businesses local with 20 employees each VoIP phones, video streaming, online EMR, online scheduling, VPN tunnels, huge file shares, etc… each on 100Mbit balances dedicated fiber and generally less than 20% usage.

$300M construction project… 50 management staff onsite, huge files, BIM360 shares, streaming, etc… 200Mbit balanced PTP. Never a slow down.

But if you truly are using that bandwidth…

 

[pmsmechanic]

What about Star Choice?

 

[mrmikey]

Wow, I thought our internet rates/gouging in Nova Scotia were bad. This is a screenshot of Aliants and Eastlinks rates which converts to roughly US$ 83 monthly. Can you say monopoly and gouging.
When i moved out here 12 years ago there was only one internet supplier, (still is actually) Eastlink, and their rate now is CAN$105 a month for internet only. I went with a startup, Purple Cow, that uses Eastlinks lines and their rate is only CAN$ 60 a month.
So tell me this, if Eastlink can lease the lines to Purple Cow and they only charge $60 a month, how much is Eastlink making.
Point of my rambling is that it's probably the same in your case, no competition so they can charge whatever they want.

 

[drssg]

Call Cox (or whoever your carrier is)... Ask for a "Customer Retention Specialist" (don't listen to the crap that comes out of the persons mouth on the phone)... This is not an easy process but keep at it until you get someone that will "apply a discount code"... for your services. Plan to spend some time on the phone... be nice... & you will most likely get a decent discount on your services... (but it is still over priced.. but better than where you where)... We do this all the time for our clients...

I don't know if this is the same for all companies, but I finally seem to have this down to a minimal annual hassle.

They have "promotional" pricing and jacked up pricing. If I wait until the bill goes up, it's a hassle to convince them to apply another promotion. So I make a note to call them shortly before it expires.

I just tell them that my current promotion is about to expire, and I'm calling to see what current promotions are available. There is no arguing involved, and I pay about $50/month for 500M download.

I still think it's stupid that I have to do this each year, but I don't get angry anymore. Your mileage may vary. Good luck.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Get rid of that phone line and use wifi calling on your cell phones.

Could you explain how this works? I have no cell service here, so I have not kept up with cell technology. No reason to.
But may need it if I move near Gilmer, Texas.

 

[newbury]

Hang in there, times they are a changin.
I was in an area of NE Mississippi with 1 local Internet Service Provider (ISP) that got me about 5Mbps down/0.6 up for ~$50/mo, with frequent down time, often several times a month.
Then about 2018 BOTH the local telephone company (the previous ISp) AND the local electric Co-Op got grants for fiber to cover the same area. The telephone company decided to bury, the electric run on poles.
They both charge ~$50 for 100Mb up/down service and ~$100 for 1Gb.
The telephone company is still digging, the electric is about finished.
I went with the first to my door, the electric and 100Mb, about a year ago. Since then there have been about 5 major interruptions of a several hours or more.
BUT just announced June 26th:

Today, the Department of Commerce announced funding for each state, territory and the District of Columbia for high-speed internet infrastructure deployment through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program—a $42.45 billion grant program created in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the Department of Commerce.

link

So "high speed" is coming.

 

[drssg]

Could you explain how this works? I have no cell service here, so I have not kept up with cell technology. No reason to.
But may need it if I move near Gilmer, Texas.

On an iPhone, it's under Settings->Phone->Wi-Fi Calling. Turn that on, and the phone can use WiFi instead of cellular service for phone calls.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Comcast is $125 for 500mb business account.

I am currently still using the ATT 'Mobley' unlimited plan which is a cellular modem for $22 getting ~100-120mb speeds.. as its the only thing available besides Starlink or Hughes.

 

[5030]

Bottom line is, we are living in inflationary times and everything is costing more, not only Internet service but cell phone service as well because it's costing more and more for providers and consumers being at the bottom of the 'food chain' get to pay more for sometimes less.