From dial-up to 5G: logging on to the internet

[gandalfian]

In the UK unlimited data Sims (1000GB fup) for £20 a month are starting to be used for home broadband. 30-100mbs speeds are typical on 4g. The landline network is just starting to hollow out. It's unsettling.

[gorgoiler]

What do you mean when you say you find it unsettling?

[ubittibu]

I have already read about it in other 5g presentations, and I still don’t get why should 5g bring more “virtual presence”. Wouldn’t a fiber optic connection be always faster since it has one less medium to pass? Also, reliability, if I’d need a surgical operation, or to make an important business conference, I would prefer it to be made on a fixed line connection, than over the air. Why do they always insist on this thing about 5g?

[tempestn]

> According to a recent consumer report (pdf) commissioned by networking hardware company Ericsson, the average smartphone owner in the US currently uses around 8GB of data each month.

Whaaaat? I figured that must include Wifi so I looked at the PDF, and no—apparently that's the actual mobile data usage. It's a self-reported survey, but still. Up here in Canada I have a 10GB plan which is more than anyone else I know, and is way, way more than I generally use. The only time I've ever come close is when I've been on vacation and done a bunch of tethering.

I'm not surprised that some people use 8GB per month, but I find it very hard to believe that's anywhere close to a national average, unless usage in the US is dramatically different than in Canada. (I know our cell plans are more expensive so it's probably somewhat different, but that much?)

[adventured]

Everybody I know in the US - mostly non tech people - uses a lot of mobile data now, largely consisting of stray video streaming. 8gb of monthly usage seems very low compared to what I'm seeing normal people use now.

At a Thanksgiving thing on Sunday a family member was streaming an NFL game on his phone. He has an unlimited data plan with AT&T, but regardless you can imagine the data usage for that HD stream over an hour. That's typical usage now in my observation.

[davidmurdoch]

I'm in the US. I usually use 1GB per month, and my wife uses even less.

I typically don't consume social media on the go, I don't stream music in my car, and definitely don't watch movies or YouTube while out and about. I pretty much connect to WiFi wherever I go, and my broadband comment had access points all over which my phone automatically connects to.

I didn't participate in the survey myself, and there's a good chance the participants aren't the average (the survey asked how much more data they think they'd use over 5g).

I pay about $20 per month for my plan.

[apaprocki]

At least for me personally, usage varies wildly depending on what’s happening in the real world. On my family plan, my wife and I each use ~8-10 per month, but external factors cause much higher usage. For example, the car is on the account and acts as a WiFi hotspot for all non-cellular devices. We took a 13hr road trip in August and plan usage that month was 42gb.

[jsjohnst]

My data usage is ~30-35gb a month and I don’t stream video or audio usually on my phone.

[milankragujevic]

Is LTE in US really just 25Mbps?

[repsak]

Although the theoretical limit is higher I think 25 mbps ± a few is what you can expect in most of the world.

Here are some speed tests by country https://www.opensignal.com/reports/2018/02/state-of-lte

[jedberg]

Yes, by default. But in some cities they have "enhanced" LTE, whatever that is, that can go up to 70ish Mbps.

[bottled_poe]

I think they mean MB/s