Net Neutrality and FCC thing: How will it effect us individuals?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Without getting political, can anyone here who understands the implications of the "net neutrality" FCC decision please explain to myself and others here how this decision will effect the internet and phone users/consumers? Thank you in advance. Is it going to mean less personal freedom for internet users and high costs for internet and phone customers or not?

[crazywednesday]

There are a lot of moving parts. It will allow for higher rates at top tier speeds. I also believe it is going to allow content control, much like the cable companies. In short it gives the major players control to do whatever they want with the internet. Like everything in life as time goes on, it's going to cost you more money to use the internet.

[Evil D]

I really don't get it either way. Net neutrality is only 3 years old anyway, we didn't have it in 2015 and prior to that, and I haven't seen one bit of difference since it came and went. I see a lot of doomsday scare tactics but no actual proof that it ever made anything better or that now things are going to be worse, or I guess back to how they were prior to 2015.

[crazywednesday]

I agree, I'm not sure I felt the effects between one or the other too. Sometimes we are just not aware that they are effecting us. There was plenty strong arming by isp's pre 2015. Verizon, at&t, they all did it. Net neutrality was meant to get rid of that. I'm personally not a fan of government getting involved with private business. I don't know if nn is needed, but my guess is it's going to cost the consumer more in the end.

[TomAiello]

Basically, it means that you will be able to pay more to get faster service, instead of having everyone get the same speed service.

Right now, a huge amount of bandwidth is taken up by people streaming videos, and that will become more expensive.

All in all, I think it's probably a good thing.

[SG89]

There are a lot of moving parts. It will allow for higher rates at top tier speeds. I also believe it is going to allow content control, much like the cable companies. In short it gives the major players control to do whatever they want with the internet. Like everything in life as time goes on, it's going to cost you more money to use the internet.

this.

[MacLaren]

There are a lot of moving parts. It will allow for higher rates at top tier speeds. I also believe it is going to allow content control, much like the cable companies. In short it gives the major players control to do whatever they want with the internet. Like everything in life as time goes on, it's going to cost you more money to use the internet.

this.

Yup. Yup. Yup.

[Evil D]

You guys haven't seen an increase in cost in the past 3 years? I sure have, but the available speeds have also gone up. Back in 2015 the best I could get was 25mbps, now I have access to 300mbps (advertised). I do think this bubble will burst eventually just like long distance calling is practically a thing of the past. They'll make as much money off it as they can until people get sick of paying so much and prices will come down. Cable TV has gotten cheaper than it was back in the satellite days too.

[ChrisinHove]

I thought it was also about now enabling big corporations to buy their way in listings at the expense of any competitors.

Maybe discerning users will have to use a number of browsers rather than lazily opting for just google.

[Evil D]

I thought it was also about now enabling big corporations to buy their way in listings at the expense of any competitors.

Maybe discerning users will have to use a number of browsers rather than lazily opting for just google.

I'd imagine Google might have a problem with that, and being the giant that they are they'll have their way. If customers can't use Google then they likely can't use YouTube, which will be enough for people to not use that service. Unless you're somewhere that only has one internet option, there will be competition.

[OldHoosier62]

Lot of "chicken little" internet apocalypse stuff being thrown around. It's bs for the most part as the big internet guys aren't going to cut their own throats to try squeezing a few more coins out for connectivity and they can't afford the backlash from content wars being waged with their paying customers caught in the middle.

In the end, we won't see a lot of changes or and large pricing increases. Bad for overall business.

[shunsui]

https://youtu.be/b_OmC3dk-O8

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I am all for free market enterprise but it is not fair for any telecom company to vary internet speeds? Someone told me that back in the days before cable internet service, back when it was dial up only, some dial up internet companies would knock people off their connection if they were on the net for many hours or days at a time, to free up bandwidth for higher paying internet users. Is that true? Have any of you ever heard of that?

[kbuzbee]

back when it was dial up only, some dial up internet companies would knock people off their connection if they were on the net for many hours or days at a time, to free up bandwidth for higher paying internet users. Is that true? Have any of you ever heard of that?

That’s not how life was back in the days of dial up. No one lived on the Internet. There was no e-commerce. You dialed in, you did your thing and you logged out. Think like if you’re traveling and you want to check your home voicemail today. You dial in, listen to your messages and you hang up. That’s a lot like how dial up Internet was back then. For most people, at least.

Ken

[Evil D]

back when it was dial up only, some dial up internet companies would knock people off their connection if they were on the net for many hours or days at a time, to free up bandwidth for higher paying internet users. Is that true? Have any of you ever heard of that?

That’s not how life was back in the days of dial up. No one lived on the Internet. There was no e-commerce. You dialed in, you did your thing and you logged out. Think like if you’re traveling and you want to check your home voicemail today. You dial in, listen to your messages and you hang up. That’s a lot like how dial up Internet was back then. For most people, at least.

Ken

At least until AOL became a thing. It really got out of hand from that point on.

[kbuzbee]

At least until AOL became a thing. It really got out of hand from that point on.

Agreed, AOL convinced a lot of people to try the “internet” Still, I don’t think many people stayed connected like they do today. Looking at dialup through the lens of broadband paints a false picture, IMO.

Ken

[SpyderEdgeForever]

David and kbuzbee, how would we find out if telecom companies will slow down bandwidth speeds to people who are private individuals, or is there really no objective way to detect this or find out?

[kbuzbee]

There are utilities like Speed Test that will give you real time throughput (if that’s what you mean?) You can compare that to your contract rate and ongoing results.

Ken

[The Deacon]

At least until AOL became a thing. It really got out of hand from that point on.

Agreed, AOL convinced a lot of people to try the “internet” Still, I don’t think many people stayed connected like they do today. Looking at dialup through the lens of broadband paints a false picture, IMO.

Ken

Ken, my internet experience started in 1998, which would have been the later days of dial-up, when 56K modems were becoming the norm. You're right, most users back then got on, did what they had to do, and got off. But gamers, like my GF's son, would have played 24/7 if ISP's didn't make them come up for air every N hours.

[kbuzbee]

Ken, my internet experience started in 1998, which would have been the later days of dial-up, when 56K modems were becoming the norm. You're right, most users back then got on, did what they had to do, and got off. But gamers, like my GF's son, would have played 24/7 if ISP's didn't make them come up for air every N hours.

Interesting, yeah, Paul, that was long after my dialup days. I think (memory!) I had a 400 baud->1200->2400 baud modems. By that point my employer was on broadband and, honestly, I’d had all the internet I could stand by the end of the day. That was all pre-windows, of course, so the “internet” was Usenet groups, telnet and ftp sites. wooooo... So much FUN. haha

But, yeah, I could see gamers being an issue for bandwidth. Historically gamers and porn have driven bandwidth increases, sadly.

Ken