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Wireless Bandwidth Hogs - Is 10GB too Much? |
Listed in: Tags: Bluetooth, broadband, EV-DO, Sprint, Verizon
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With laptops and wireless Internet access becoming more and more necessary for everyone, service providers have begun offering so-called "unlimited" wireless data plans. As some customers are finding out, "unlimited" truly means "at the discretion of the service provider." While almost every contract for a service has limits based on usage, the move by wireless Internet service providers to disconnect the service of customers enrolled in plans advertised as unlimited, simply because they used too much bandwidth, was bound to raise eyebrows. Fortunately, most of the "bandwidth hogs" were using high bandwidth applications like BitTorrent or other downloading methods. Average users content with simply browsing the web and the occasional download or video generally haven't had any problems. As a general rule, Verizon tends to be more strict with its customers than other providers, cutting off service when a customer reaches the 10GB mark in too short a period.
The company maintains that this is done to keep traffic on the network running smooth and also to maintain the level of service for the rest of the customers. According to Verizon spokesman Jeffery Nelson, anything that harms the customer experience "we're not going to allow." While that sounds like a noble mission, Verizon could do more to enhance the customer experience by adding more towers and removing the artificial limit it has imposed on the traffic traversing its EV-DO network.
Sprint, on the other hand, has a more liberal philosophy toward bandwidth use, with Sprint spokeswoman Amy Schiska-Lombard going so far as to say that her company is committed to providing flexibility to its customers. They even allow customers to tether EV-DO capable phones to their laptops (via USB or Bluetooth) to allow them to connect to the Internet. While the two main providers of wireless broadband in the US may have different policies when it comes to usage, all of the carriers make customers sign contracts that bind them to rules governing how they use the network and give the carrier the right to terminate the contract for no reason at any time.
As a current Verizon user, I have been watching the two companies (Verizon and Sprint) angle for customers with intense interest. Sprint's plan to manage both an upgrade to EV-DO revision A and a newly implemented Wimax network will be an enormous undertaking. Sprint's willingness to allow its customers more freedom within their unlimited wireless plans seems to be more fair than Verizon's policy of cancelling the service of users they deem to have used "too much bandwidth." If Sprint successfully implements their planned upgrades, they will have created a robust new hybrid network that customers, like me, will find highly attractive. I doubt that Verizon will continue with its hard stance against downloading in the face of Sprint's upgraded system.
My own use of the Verizon EV-DO network is limited to connecting to the Internet for work and school. Only rarely do I stream videos and I have, so far, only tested IRC, BitTorrent and FTP downloading to make sure that they work using the network. With speeds commonly approaching 1000KB per second when downloading on the Verizon EV-DO network, the coming change to revision A (for both Sprint and Verizon) and Sprint's plan to also implement WiMax and revision A, convergence of wired and wireless infrastructure (or elimination of wires all together) will be more feasible than ever before.
By the time the current round of upgrades are done on the Verizon and Sprint networks they will be robust enough to handle all of the traffic being thrown at them (including all the "bandwidth hogs" out there)! Soon every person on the network will be able to do a simultaneous 10GB BitTorrent download at 1000KB per second without a hiccup! Until then, Sprint is probably going to be the best service provider for you if you plan to use any applications that consume high amounts of bandwidth.
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