Bandwidth Usage

[boomboom123]

Hi everyone,

Im currently in process of choosing a new Internet Service Provider, and I'm wondering: How much bandwidth do people use every month?
I would say I watch lots of Youtube videos and I'm Facebook a lot, so what package should I go with (Gb limit)

If anyone thinks this description fits their lifestyle, how much bandwidth on average do you use every month?

Feedback is appreciated fellow Canucks!

[Darth Penguin]

Any reason why you are changing from espitcon?

You rated them highly a few weeks ago.....

[boomboom123]

I still have Epsiton Communications at my home address; and i would still highly recommend them
However Im renting a basement apartment for school that cannot be serviced by them (its a very old area) so im wondering which bandwidth package i should choose from considering ive never had to worry about it before

[boomboom123]

and to be honest I really dont want to go back to tech savvy... my experience with them was less then joyful

[bhlombardy]

Why arent you siding with a provider without bandwidth limits? I know where I'm at (New Brunswick) that the Bell offering has no bandwidth limit and the pricing is comparable to the capped providers.

[mulock]

Bell/Aliant doesn't have any bandwidth limits in Nova Scotia.

[thesemicolonel]

Neither does Eastlink in Nova Scotia if you go with the 20 mbps. (Said the Eastlink employee.) Bell are a little shadier about it. They say there's no limit, but there fine print on the website that says they can cut you off if you exceed "exceptable usage."

[boomboom123]

As far as I saw, Bell does not have any unlimited packages they can offer.
I know tech savvy CLAIMS to have unlimited service...but if you read the fine print, their "unlimited" packages are only between 2am-8am

@thesemicolonel
Did you figure that out the hard way? haha

[FallenPixels]

Teksavvy still havd an unlimited package, or packages with set bandwidth where you also get unlimited at night (those dont count towards your cap)

I have the unlimited package, its worth it for the extra few $$ for us as we do use a lot of bandwidth between netflix, working from home, watching swagbucks videos etc

[bhlombardy]

Neither does Eastlink in Nova Scotia if you go with the 20 mbps. (Said the Eastlink employee.) Bell are a little shadier about it. They say there's no limit, but there fine print on the website that says they can cut you off if you exceed "exceptable usage."

That's not shady... that's an acceptable term of service. First off, the term is "acceptable usage" (check your spelling) -- and it's there to prevent residential customers from running high-volume data services. Also, we're not talking 90 or 100gb per month here... we're talking about the types volumes one might expect on a commercial level, closer to terabytes per month, abusing what is otherwise "acceptable" for even heavy residential use. Either way, they don't cap you at the same limits that Rogers or Eastlink do, and they aren't in the practise of just shutting you off for no reason nor without warning.

I highly doubt that boomboom here is going to be running his limits in that regard.

As far as I saw, Bell does not have any unlimited packages they can offer.

...and as I look now for the Ontario markets (which I've guessed is where you are)... you're correct. They have monthly data limits as well.

[boomboom123]

@fallenpixels
I completely agree. Having unlimited packages are worth the extra few bucks a month and not have to worry about it. which is why I was happy with Epsiton (the service I use at home) which is only 29.95 for unlimited at 6mbps.

@bhlombardy
The acceptable use clause is exactly as you said it is. It isnt for people who use 1 or 2 hundred GB per month. Its the people that go way above and beyond what is "expected" from a heavy user. Id imagine you'd have to use terabytes a month as well in order to get knocked off the service in lew of the acceptable usage clause

I just found out that Cogeco has service in my area. Im gonna do some reasearch into their customer satisfaction before I order (if i even do). does anyone have any previous experiences with Cogeco (good or bad)

[KrazE]

I had Cogeco for cable tv, but they did not offer the cable internet at the time (they would not come down TWO more houses on the street to reach me).
As for the cable TV, it sucked, the quality was bad, and their customer service was total trash. I had been paying for digital cable, and calling them regularly about the lack of quality. They sent some workers out who stated that there was a problem in the line underground running between the house & the post, and they would return in a few weeks to begin digging; they even wrote this information down for me.
They never came out, so I started calling again.

Long story short, the issue was never fixed before I moved, and after all the calling I did over the two year period which including dumping the digital quality that I never got to the regular, they denied I had ever called them in years (??!!!) and wanted to simply ensure that I would pay my final bill and hung up on me.

So, from first hand experience regarding their customer service - they suck big kahonies.

[thesemicolonel]

@ bhlombardy
Thanks for clarifying about the acceptable usage policy. That explanation was a lot easier to understand than the wording on the site or the explanation that I got from Bell when I tried to ask about said policy. (Thanks for pointing out the typo, too. That'll teach me to post on the internet when I don't have time to read things over. Would you believe I used to be a copyeditor? ) I will point out again that Eastlink does have an unlimited usage option at a decent speed (the 20 mbps internet), and that is the one that comes automatically with bundles. But if Aliant's consideration of overusage truly is closer to a terrabyte, that certainly does beat the 250 GB limit on Eastlink's Internet 40 services.

[FallenPixels]

Acceptable use may be much lower, I know it is for Cogeco because I once got a warning at 200GB that I was using more than acceptable

[boomboom123]

@KrazE
Thank you so much for your feedback. Ill take that into consideration if I go with Cogeco. As for now I still have 2 more weeks before I have to move in, so Im hoping that I can find a solution before then. Thanks everybody!