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

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Money Moral Dilemma: Should gamers pay for faster broadband?
I live in a student house with five others, three of whom spend a lot of time gaming. We already have an expensive broadband package, but the internet still runs slowly, so the gamers have suggested we get an even more costly package. I'd welcome faster internet, but I resent having to pay more because they're using up most of the bandwidth. I'd like to suggest they pay the difference, but I worry we'll all end up arguing. Should I keep quiet and pay up or is there an alternative?
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I live in a student house with five others, three of whom spend a lot of time gaming. We already have an expensive broadband package, but the internet still runs slowly, so the gamers have suggested we get an even more costly package. I'd welcome faster internet, but I resent having to pay more because they're using up most of the bandwidth. I'd like to suggest they pay the difference, but I worry we'll all end up arguing. Should I keep quiet and pay up or is there an alternative?
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Note: Please remember that these are real-life Money Moral Dilemmas and while we want you to have your say, please remember to be nice when you respond.
If you have a real-life money MORAL dilemma, email [EMAIL="MMD@moneysavingexpert.com"][email protected][/EMAIL]
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I'd tell them that you're paying £5pm to the internet. You're not willing to pay more. If they want to up the connection, that's fine with you, but they'll need to split the extra cost between the 3 gamers. You won't be paying more than £5pm...assuming you weren't the one who set the bill up and aren't the one named on the account
If the gamers are suffering lag then they are using too much of the bandwith and therefore are the ones causing the problem so should be the ones to chip in more, I think the appropriate phrasing here would be "Proportional representation" if they're not happy but you are let them pay for the increase.
Real world comparism 5 people in the house have sky all 5 watch the regular channels and the 3 guys want the sports package but the 2 girls won't ever watch them so why should they pay for something that they won't use.
The gamers should split the difference between them if they want a quicker connection, and if you or others become gamers, change the way you split the difference.
In essence, just because their usage pattern is different from yours doesn't actually mean theirs is more 'demanding'. In terms of a solution, if you have an ADSL package, you are particularly limited in upload capacity, and fibre would address this.
There may be people that are using the internet heavily all the time, and affecting the speed, but that is likely to have nothing to do with internet gaming itself, and if you don't have much technical knowledge, it'd be hard to figure out who.
But apart from that, how much is the difference per person? A couple of quid a month? For the sake of house share harmony, just pay it!
Its one of those where a bit more information would be helpful as in what it works out as each person and what the new package would cost
and how do the other non-gamers feel about forking out more money?
and how long have you and they got left at the shared house (as would an internet company give you a different package if you will all be gone in June this year?)
My assumption would be it would only be the gamers who would be willing to pay the extra and then thats three for the extra and three against. I bet if you are the other two non-gamers said no then it wouldn't be mentioned again, but then that leaves the issue of slow internet
In a shared house there is always the one who turns the heating up, the one who spends half an hour in the shower, the one who uses the washing machine twice as often as everyone else with half loads, the one who uses all the toilet roll... It balances out. Household harmony is well worth a few extra quid a month.
The thing kill bandwidth are download's ie mp3/movie(legal or illegal)/large files then there video streaming such as you tube iPlayer et all.
But if 3 hungry !!!!!!s want to spend more then they can pay more. I will pay the same amount I always did as I am not eating more.
My broadband speed is pathetic, powered by clockwork and donkeys, but unless I'm running lots of other stuff at the same time, gaming is fine.
That said, there are three of them using it simultaneously, and potentially you too, albeit for different uses...
You say that you would also enjoy the benefits of the speed increase, which makes me inclined to suggest you just stump up your share, especially as a quarter of the increased cost is cheap compared to a dispute.
on the other hand, I don't know how tight money is for you, and frankly you ought to be able to raise the topic of them paying as they're the majority users - that's just an adult discussion which you should be able to have without having a fight.
Summary, it looks like you DO care about the money, so by all means do ask them to pay, just:
-be careful and sensitive about how you go about this
-don't be taken aback when they agree and then expect you to pay a disproportionately high amount for water and electricity as you use the washing machine more or something like that! :P
You live in a shared house, and that means shared costs, some of which you'll benefit more than others, and some of which you'll benefit less than others.
I'm sure your house mates, if they wanted to, could find items that you use more than others. Do you really want to open that can of worms? Is it really worth the risk of causing a rift? Surely not. So don't sweat the small stuff, go with the flow, and look forward to the day when you have your own place.