Monthly internet usage?

[Roybob]

Greetings,I have no technical issues with EQ2 at present, so don't know that this belongs here. But... the answer is technical in nature, so this seems the best forum.I just stumbled across this article...<h1><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ilciDat1u4Hehg7G3lpOGQ_aaWCwD918P12G1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AT&T looking at charging heavy Internet users extra</a></h1>...which, as should be obvious, states that AT&T (my provider) will charge its heaviest users more per month. I've seen cable companies do or talk of doing this so expect it to hit DSL too. In no discussion I've seen have MMOs been mentioned. My question is simple, Will someone who plays EQ2 long hours each day have to worry about these extra fees?In my case, I try and get in several (2-3) hours most morning, and 3-5 hours each evening. I don't do any major movie or audio downloading and can cut back the little I do (mostly YouTube visits and the like) if need be. But EQ2 will be hard to ration, should it come to that.I'm looking more for someone in authority to give an concrete answer, but any knowledgeable comments are appreciated.Thanks for the ear!-Roybob

[Aurumn]

From what I understand the crackdown is more focusing on folks that download huge files regularly (ie. P2P filesharing users). Unless you're downloading gigabytes of movies on a regular basis it will most likely not apply to you. I don't know how folks that like to use D2D type tools to purchase content would work it though. There will likely be a cap on volume downloaded per month just like there used to be a cap for hours online back in the day.

[Roybob]

Aye, they "say" the extra fees apply more to folk who DL a lot of full-length movies, audio and such, but we shall see. One thing I hadn't thought of before is what happens when you throw Ventrillo into the mix?  Doesn't that eat bandwidth? (I sometimes wonder if these extra DSL fees are to keep folk from switching to internet-phone service from competing providers.) I myself don't yet use voice chat in-game, but was thinking to give it a shot once SOE launches its own version (with voice shifting!). But I certainly won't use it if it adds to my internet bill.-Roybob

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>This is one of the major things I'm worried about in the coming years.  The good news is that if your ISP does this, its only a matter of time before a competitor comes and takes their customers away.  Gotta love the free market for that.</p>

[Aurumn]

<cite>Roybob wrote:</cite><blockquote>Aye, they "say" the extra fees apply more to folk who DL a lot of full-length movies, audio and such, but we shall see. One thing I hadn't thought of before is what happens when you throw Ventrillo into the mix?  <b>Doesn't that eat bandwidth?</b> (I sometimes wonder if these extra DSL fees are to keep folk from switching to internet-phone service from competing providers.) I myself don't yet use voice chat in-game, but was thinking to give it a shot once SOE launches its own version (with voice shifting!). But I certainly won't use it if it adds to my internet bill.-Roybob</blockquote>I'd imagine not much more than digital phone service. In my case I get digital phone and cable internet from the same company so I'd be rather annoyed if they nickel & dimed vent usage when I'm already paying for unlimited phone service. Unless of course they figure out that Vent is essentially a borderless partyline (ie. no international calling fees).

[Roybob]

<span style="font-size: large;font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/technology/15cable.html?hp" target="_blank">This article makes it sound even scarier.</a></span>For the first time I notice online gaming mentioned:<i>"Casual Internet users who merely send e-mail messages, check movie times and read the news are not likely to exceed the caps. But people who watch television shows on Hulu.com, rent movies on iTunes </i><u><b>or play the multiplayer game Halo on Xbox</b></u><i> may start to exceed the limits — and millions of people are already doing those things."</i>EQ2 is my passion and chief time killer. But should I begin to pay extra net charges to play I'll likely have to terminate. I'm on a very limited budget. The internet/EQ2 combo is hard for me to justify financially except that at current pricing it is still one of the cheaper forms of entertainment available, considering all the other stuff you don't do (or spend money on) while exploring Norrath.I'd go so far as to say that if and when this hits, I might drop back to a local inexpensive dial-up connection. What's the point of high-speed access if extra charges force you to stop doing the things require a fast connection? Dial-up is good enough for checking email, current weather conditions, occasional orders from Amazon.com and NewEgg and the like.And of course my initial question is not yet answered. On average, how much data is transmitted per user by EQ2 per month for various types of connection (if that makes a difference)?-Roybob

[Errolflynn]

Many ISP's have done similar things in the UK for years. Normally the limit for the low user tariff is about 1 or 2 GB a month. What they really care about is the people running web site and doing massive p2p file sharing.I think you will find if it's anything like the UK it won't be much of problem.

[Karlen]

<span class="postbody">>>>And of course my initial question is not yet answered. On average, how much data is transmitted per user by EQ2 per month for various types of connection (if that makes a difference)?<<<An hourly data estimate might be helpful if someone could provide that.   The question is especially important for those that might want to consider using cellular internet where the cost can be as much as $5-10 per megabyte.   The data rate for EQ2 doesn't seem very high, so perhaps it doesn't add up to too much.</span><span class="postbody">>>>This is one of the major things I'm worried about in the coming years.  The good news is that if your ISP does this, its only a matter of time before a competitor comes and takes their customers away.  Gotta love the free market for that.<<<The problem at the moment, at least in Canada, is that while there are quite a number of ISPs, there are generally only two physical wires that lead into people's houses -- the "monopoly" phone company's line and the cable company line.   Other ISPs will generally lease those lines on a wholesale basis through the phone company equipment -- and if the phone company decides to start restricting data flow (as Bell Canada has started doing), everyone using the phone company lines (anyone providing DSL service) is impacted.  Those that use leased cable lines will be sharing the bandwidth with other cable users regardless of their ISP.</span>

[Roybob]

As to alternatives, that depends on where you live. In my little town out in the sticks, we have only high-speed provider (I'm sure there must be satellite services available, but those aren't great for gaming). Our town doesn't have decent cable (which I can't afford in any case) because no company can justify the expensive of running quality wiring out to us for the limited number of customers who would likely sign up. We didn't have DSL until just a few years ago. So no competition is likely to be seen any time soon. Folk in larger towns and cities will of course have more options available......................................... .................ADDED INFO: Just spent time calling several AT&T internet support numbers, asking them to look at my account and determine whether, at my current usage, I'll be subject to these added fees. Everyone I spoke with was clueless or pretended to be.  One fellow said I was not deemed  an "abuser" so should have nothing to worry about. I asked him how abuse was determined. According to him it is based on amount of time spent on the net, not data transfer (which he said isn't monitored). I tried explaining that I was likely talking of something completely different, but no go.Mostly my inquires were met by trying to sell me extra services. (One rep actually said she'd lower my monthly net fee by $5, but at that point I suddenly (conveniently?) got disconnected.-Roybob

[Detor]

<cite>TSR-DanielH wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>This is one of the major things I'm worried about in the coming years.  The good news is that if your ISP does this, its only a matter of time before a competitor comes and takes their customers away.  Gotta love the free market for that.</p></blockquote>Except that Comcast, AT&T, and Time Warner all started talking at the same time about how they intend to cap and charge.  That rules out DSL and cable internet competition - Sprint just went from unlimited to 5GB a month joining the ranks of Verizon so that rules out mobile broadband usage.  Where else can you go once the companies that have talked about it all adopt it?We aren't talking high caps either like some people might be thinking. Time Warner gives you 5GB a month for $30.  Highest plan is $55 for 40GB and $1 for every GB over that.  In EQ terms EQ2 is now around 18GB or so with all expansions.  If you were to redownload it without a DVD it would eat half your 40GB cap.   You watch one HD show over your Xbox 360? Boom, 10%-25% of your monthly cap gone for ONE show.  You watch a show over itunes even a few times a week?  Uh oh, you'll never make it through the month.