Real-life MMD: Should gamers pay for faster broadband?

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Comments

  • Has anyone thought about shopping around for a cheaper deal from an alternative provider if you are not locked into a contract with the present one? There are always so many offers on, and all the providers are receptive to haggling, you may find that by switching provider you can up your broadband speed and pay the same or less than you do now if your package is already expensive! Best of luck!!
  • I'm a massive gamer and I say no don't pay, if your happy with what you've got why pay more?

    One fair warning, a house I used to share I funded the landline/BB myself as I wanted online connectivity. I would routinely disconnect others from the connection (no wireless, just yanked the LAN cable out the back of the hub!) as it was my connection.

    Make sure if you decide to pay less than them in the event of an upgrade, they don't suddenly decide you are less of a priority.
  • Yorkielass
    Yorkielass Posts: 2,235
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    This takes me back 12 years to when myself & 4 other students found our house to live in in second year and two of the guys (who were computer scientists) wanted broadband - the other girl and myself were scepticle that it was worth it (we hadn't had it at home for example, just dial up) and agreed something like the 2 guys paid £5 a month, the third guy £3 and myself and the other girl £2 (it was a long time ago but something like that).

    Of course it turns out broadband was a really handy thing to have and I used it a lot (although not for music/video downloading which is what the guys used it for).

    So I understand where the dilemma has come from and personally I'd bring this up with your housemates, maybe using the Sky analogy above.
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  • To begin with, as you mentioned it was a shared student house, my first thought would be: shouldn't they be studying instead of gaming (my OH is a gamer and I know how ridiculous the amount of time spent on it is!)

    Secondly, one of his gaming friends had this dispute with his own family. He ended up paying for his own broadband separate to everyone else so I'm sure them paying a little extra would be favourable compared to this option if it was put to them?

    However, the fact that you think it would be a significant increase in each sharer's bill indicates that you are probably on a package that could be much cheaper, so I would do some price comparisons and then try to haggle with your provider if you are locked in.

    Also, bear in mind, if you have TV with your package, the gamers may be using that less so the costs may in fact balance out.
  • As has been mentioned above, it may not be the gamers that are causing the issue. One possible issue might be that you have a wireless router which is connected by multiple devices - probably more than 5 if you have tablets, phones and games consoles. Each device will get a share of the maximum wireless speed, which potentially may be configured to 54mbps (that's megaBITS, which is roughly 7megabytes per second). Let's say there are 3x gamers with consoles connected wirelessly, 5 people with mobile phones and 2x other devices - maybe tablets? That's 10 concurrently connected devices. Even if we assume that the wireless signal is unimpeded and that the wireless router can serve 54mbps you may find that it's running closer to 30mbps. That translates to each device getting roughly 3megabits per second, or a throughput of about 375kilobytes per second. Also video streaming services like Netflix requires something like 5mbps for streaming HD content.

    The long and short is; don't assume the issue is with the broadband package. And if you're on an ADSL/Copper rather than Fibre connection, there's only so much you can push through the line. Bear in mind that ADSL often offers 'up-to' 24mbps etc, but if you're a fair distance from the exchange you'll experience more signal loss before it reaches your property and therefore may not even be getting the speeds you think you are. In such a circumstance upgrading to a higher-speed package may prove relatively pointless.

    If I were you, I'd suggest the first place to start is to perform some tests to check where the issue is. You may even find that relocating the wireless router to higher-ground where the signal isn't hidden behind electrical devices or under a table blocked in by boxes may help. If you have a microwave, a cordless phone or some Christmas lights still up, look to switch them off temporarily as they can run on the same frequencies as your wireless signal.

    One other suggestion - have the consoles hard-wired into the router. This can be achieved in different rooms by getting some Powerline Adapters (go to the Currys or Maplins website and search for 'powerline adapter' - I can't post a link as I'm too new a member and it gets blocked to stop spammers).

    Oh - and since I've strayed off topic - to answer the moral dilemma; Maybe just all have a chat about it. Most of these dilemas are more easily solved by a rational discussion. :)
  • Maybe the students should spend more time studying rather than gaming!!!
    After all, the choices you make earlier in life effect the choices you make later in life.
  • blackaqua
    blackaqua Posts: 192 Forumite
    edited 22 January 2014 at 10:05AM
    If you're happy that the internet currently meets your needs, then there is no dilemma. They will need to pay any increase in costs to suit their needs - which would have happened when I was a student flat sharing.

    If you feel that faster internet speeds are of benefit to you (though it sounds like you're using less than your current paid share), then you may wish to voluntarily contribute (not necessarily an equal split).

    If you're already on a fast connection using wifi, I'd be cautious that the wifi router is not maxed out - faster internet would not solve this bottleneck. Probably the cheapest fix is to get a wifi range extender (or second hand wifi router), plugged into the existing router (ie via a network cable), running on a different channel and SSID - you (or they) would then connect to this router, sharing the network load.

    As simple test - when you find that your internet speed is really slow, plug a network cable into your laptop (or borrow one) and the router to see if the speed improves. If it does, wifi is your bottleneck.

    Comments about "you should spend more time studying" are completely missing the point. As a student, especially in the early years you have quite a bit of spare time, even in later years if you're organised.

    If you do upgrade, be cautious about any new minimum contract, especially if the bill is in your name (or joint) - who knows what will happen next year. The same advice is likely to apply for any negotiations with your current supplier.
  • Surfer
    Surfer Posts: 361 Forumite
    If they are students, they should be studying and not playing games all the time! I would refuse to pay the extra if I was hardly using the Internet.
  • juliamarsh wrote: »
    Has anyone thought about shopping around for a cheaper deal from an alternative provider if you are not locked into a contract with the present one?

    I just wanted to echo this advice. I decided recently to switch broadband providers to get a cheaper deal...however, when I called my current provider to get my MAC code, they offered me even better deals, one of which was a faster fibre connection costing less than what I'm paying right now.
  • spikyone
    spikyone Posts: 454
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    Forumite
    Ashen wrote: »
    Actually, gamers won't typically be using most of the bandwidth, except for on those occasions they download things - internet gaming relies on fast response times, which is best served by making efficient use of bandwidth. In fact, use of the internet from the non-gamers probably disrupts the gamers' internet experience more than their use disrupts yours.

    It doesn't matter who is using the bandwidth - as you say, it's affecting the gamers more than the OP. If gaming is the only time the other housemates feel that the connection is too slow, then they should be the ones paying the additional cost of higher-speed internet. If there is an issue where everyone is experiencing slow downloads or poor quality streaming at other times, then everyone should pay for it.

    And to those saying "they should be studying, not gaming", I assume there are things you do to relax when you're not at work?
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