TransACT ISP comparison (long)

[Matthew Hawkins]

Alfred (alfred at mazuma.net.au) wrote:
> From my experience, simply surfing to slashdot daily, checking email 
> and doing some ssh work you chew through about 1Gb a month. If you start 
> downloading ISO images that quickly goes up.

Frankly I'm surprised to see plans in the 100Mb - 800Mb range these
days.  I can understand <=100Mb for email poppers, but generally people
are pulling 1Gb as you say.  There's just so much multimedia stuff in
particular that's interesting (movie trailers, music, etc) plus there's
actually starting to be interesting content again.
Plus resources like Google make it extremely tempting a lot of the time
to not have to leave the cave, slip past Dominoes and find a library in
the harsh countenance of the daystar.

> I would start with a larger plan (2 Gb say?) and scale it back once you 
> know your usage under high bandwidth conditions :)

First see if any of the ISP's will be flexible with the plan, even if
for just the first month.  ie, let you sign up for what you consider to
be appropriate usage, but switch to a cheaper-for-you plan should your
usage differ.  Some ISP's in the area actually do the S bit of ISP and
are happy to let you find their plan that works best for you.

-- 
Matt
"So, logically, if she weighs the same as a duck, she's made of wood, and therefore a witch!"
(Monty Python and the Holy Grail)