Sunday, July 23, 2006

Unrestricted or what?

Beware of Internet Service Providers who claim to give "unlimited" access to the internet at all times. I have a computer connected via "broadband" to the net using a well-known provider. They advertise "unlimited" access. Read the small print. They say in very small type that access is unlimited but if you are a heavy user during the peak hours of 6 pm to 11 pm they reserve the right to shift you to bandwidth shared by other heavy users thus giving you access equivalent to dial-up or less.
Now - I have two sons. When they are back at home from university they want reasonable access to the internet. This includes downloading material which is relevant to their studies - very often large files. To facilitate this I have provided them with a network connection to my ISP. So - I get Fair Usage Policy warnings 1, 2 and 3. Which means the provider downgrades my measly 2mb connection to next to nothing during peak hours. They even had the gall to infer an invitation to me to change my ISP by telling me how to get my MAC number from their relevant department.
They advertise that they give an 8mb service to new customers but long-standing customers like me must wait for the increased speed.
I still pay the full amount for my connection but I am not getting the "unlimited" access I paid for.
The moral of this story is simple: Firstly do read the small print before you sign up for a contract. The word "unlimited" is apparently "limited" so you can get a "limited unlimited" connection.

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