I download a lot of large files. There are 7 or 8 TV shows that I download weekly, and I'll grab a movie or two per week. Most of the TV shows are in the 350-600 MB range, and the movies are generally in the 1.2 gig range. I'll download a log of MP3's, as well, that range from 8mb to 30mb each, but they add up quickly when you're downloading dozens or hundreds of them. I rarely use P2P file sharing, but I download a lot from Usenet, some ftp, and a few Web sites that do video steaming. That kind of bandwidth hogging is precisely what Verizon will put a clamp on.
DATA PLANS AND FEATURES
Prohibited Uses. While most common uses for Internet are permitted by your Data Plan, there are certain uses that cause extreme network capacity issues and interference with the network. These are not uses intended by our Data Access plans and are therefore prohibited. Examples of prohibited uses include the following: (i) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, continuous Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing; ...
If usage exceeds 5 GB per line during any billing period, we reserve the right to reduce throughput speeds of any application that would otherwise exceed such speed to a maximum of approximately 200 Kbps. These speeds are subject to change, in our reasonable discretion, in order to address network issues.
If you stream semi-high quality video data at 500k, like from a Slingbox or from, say, mlb.com, you'll hit the 250MB mark in about an hour, 4 hours per gig. With Verizon, assuming that you never do anything else, like e-mail, Web surfing, etc., you'll have about 20 hours of available bandwidth per month to watch streaming video.
At $59.95 a month, thaaaaat's 3 bucks an hour to watch TV.
I know several who have Verizon's broadband access card and use it for streaming data and/or large file downloads, and they all have the same complaint, that about half way through the month, if not sooner, their net speed gets capped to 200k or less, and stays there until the end of the billing cycle.
Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop
