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Broadband Cards, Bandwidth Limitations, Back-Up Programs... and Video Blogging

Yeah, I know. Scintillating stuff!

But I'm wondering...

I live out in the country and the only high speed internet I can get is through a broadband card (well, I could have satellite, but satellite sucks). For $60/month, Verizon gives me 5GB of bandwidth to use to my heart's content. They SWEAR that's more than a normal human being could ever possibly use. Surfing

Uh, not quite. My first month I blew through 24GB of bandwidth, which I later discovered was due to my Carbonite back-ups always running. Y'know how much going almost 20k over your bandwidth allowance will cost you? $900. But since I'm such a good customer, Verizon graciously reduced that to $190. Still... ouch.

So, now, I'm, shall we say, a little more cautious with my precious bandwidth. Not only do I disable my Carbonite until I'm somewhere I can connect wirelessly, but I never, ever, ever play videos. Truth be told, I wasn't a big fan of videos before, but now that I might be financially punished for watching them, I don't even consider it. If a video comes in an email... I delete it. In a blog? NEXT.

Am I the only person on the planet who depends on a broadband card for internet service? Or, as more and more computers come with broadband cards installed, will this be more of an issue for video-blogging which has been touted as the next great thing?

Just a Sunday morning ramble...

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Posted by Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul on 11/08/2009 06:52 AM

Comments (13)

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13 Comments on Broadband Cards, Bandwidth Limitations, Back-Up Programs... and Video Blogging

NOV

Ouch $900. Is that how you connect to the internet is through the Internet card? You dont have a line at home?

Nope - no cable or dsl available where I live. Can you believe it??

Wow, I knew Dothan was in the sticks but I didn't know it was in the stone age =)

Someone else recently wrote a post (sorry don't remember who) about the dangers of relying on video blogging. The gist was that you can scan a written post and decide whether you want to read it in depth but it takes a time commitment to watch a video to the end. I hadn't ever thought about it in those terms but I realized that I usually just skip video posts. And that's exactly why.

Julia - I don't live in Dothan - I actually live out in the country in a really cool development that has 4-10 acre lots... which is great except that there's no internet... but yes, I think you nailed it - that's why I don't like videos - I don't have the patience to watch to see if it's worth watching! Besides, even if I didn't have a bandwidth issue, videos take too long to load.

Well, I'm in the city, with a cable modem, and I don't much care for videoblogging either. I find sitting still to watch several minutes of talking head video mostly just irritates me. I'd much rather skim through several written posts.

PS Maybe Julia was referring to one of my recent posts. :-)

When we first moved here the big surprise was no dsl or cable internet. Then we went to satelite and yes it does stink. IN fact I have the dish in my garage. Then I found out one of my neighbors had DLS so I asked what gives. I called the phone cmpany and after a letter to the President of Windstream some one came out and gave us "DSL LITE". So there you have it. Complain like heck to your phone company and maybe .....

Also internet cards are like 100 for wireless. Look on line and you should find them a lot cheaper

Jennifer, I feel your pain. I remember my first month's bill on Verizon too. It was sort of like this, YEEEEEEEEOOOOWWWW! It's definitely great to have though. I'm much more cognizant of how I use it now. Thanks!

Hey Jennifer...You may want to check out Sprint. I believe they have a better plan than Verizon. You may also want to reconsider satellite. If you can receive a good line of sight signal, it'll perform much better than the cellular networks.

NOV

OUCH! that is crazy. I am shocked the broadband card works in the sticks...

My sister has satalite in the sticks, it works when her kids are not home, but they use up the bandwith when they are home and the company pulls them back to a slower speed when they hit their max# Still sounds better than $900!

There is always dial up!

Rob - yeah, that happened when I had satellite before - I constantly got "throttled down" which was almost a joke because it was so slow to start with. I also tried dial-up for awhile, but uh, no.

John - I probably will look at Sprint when this contract expires. Actually I may not live in the country anymore by that point... and I can have my CABLE back!

Charlie - what's an "internet card?"

Cheryl - me and you both. I'm a quick reader, but I guess you can't be a "quick listener" huh?

NOV

I really hate video stuff as a rule - except I have been known to watch an old show on Hulu.com every now and then. I find that in real life, I've got too much auditory stimulation: the kids playing their games, watching TV, the piped music in stores, sounds of traffic, phones ringing at the office, people noises...when it's just me and my laptop at night I want it just like that - quiet.

The ActiveRain blogs that automatically play music when you load the page were the first to be removed from my subscriptions. The local news channel has video and text - I ALWAYS turn off the video and want to just read the news.

I can. not. imagine. that bill. I had thought about getting a card so that I could go online w/ my computer "in the field" with customers, but I think I'll pass. No need to be that high tech. Not at that price!

Karen - I hate autoplay sites, too. Realty Times drives me nuts - whenever I log on, I immediately search for the SHUT UP button. I'm not one of those people who needs the TV or radio on as background noise.

Verizon swears that most people don't go through the limit - but I'd guess that most people don't use the card as their primary source of internet. As a supplement, I'm sure you'd be fine.

NOV

Back in the old days, when the internet was in it's infancy, I had trouble connecting for a few days. I had a 300bd modem and the call was long distance.

Then I got the bill. Pages and pages of calls that were a quarter each.

It was over $1000, a quarter at a time. The phone company graciously dropped it to $252. That wasn't the only charge-- I still had 4 subscriptions to pay per month-- $9.95 before the per minute fees.

The year was, oh, 1989.

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