What DO you use your broadband for?

HelterSkelter

Give me some ideas!! I don't think I am really making good use of my broadband connection, don't use it too often and when I do use it I don't know what to download. I never even come near my 16GB limit, most was 4GB in my first month and haven't even reached 1GB since then!

Basically I am a bit of an oasis freak so I download a lot of their videos and live gigs. I also downloaded a couple of movies but the quality was crap. I use DC++, could not get bit torrent to work, couldn't understand it.

So comeon lads, give me some suggestions, what do you all download (apart from all the p0rn!!)?

ChipZilla

Films, music, games (PC and XBOX), streaming radio (my favourite use of broadband). And the pr0n of course.

Dunno what confused you about torrents. You install the client, click on a torrent and off it goes. If you use a rputer you might need to open a couple of ports, but that's the extent of it. Definitely less configuration that DC.

oscarBravo

Originally posted by HelterSkelter
I don't think I am really making good use of my broadband connection, don't use it too often and when I do use it I don't know what to download.

Use it for what you need. Trying to find ways to - in effect - waste bandwidth is just silly.

Tazzle

It's monkey season.

ChipZilla

Originally posted by Tazzle
It's monkey season.

Really? Want to elaborate? And don't bother with the "you're naughty cos you download stuff that's not yours" argument. Heard it before and it didn't convince me of anything then....

ChipZilla

Originally posted by oscarBravo
Use it for what you need. Trying to find ways to - in effect - waste bandwidth is just silly.

That is such bullsh*t. So if the guy has just got broadband, and doesn't know how to listen to streaming radio for example (or doesn't know what streaming radio is), he'd be wasting bandwidth by even attempting to do something new??

tman

Originally posted by oscarBravo
Use it for what you need. Trying to find ways to - in effect - waste bandwidth is just silly.

well having a 16gb cap and only using 4gb is a bit sillier tbh
install azereus and check out the selection on superwizzle

oscarBravo

Originally posted by ChipZilla
That is such bullsh*t.

Charming.

So if the guy has just got broadband, and doesn't know how to listen to streaming radio for example (or doesn't know what streaming radio is), he'd be wasting bandwidth by even attempting to do something new??

He'd be wasting bandwidth if he was listening to streaming radio simply as a way to consume bandwidth. By all means encourage someone to explore the uses for broadband, but downloading stuff just to use up a cap amounts to abuse.

Originally posted by tman
well having a 16gb cap and only using 4gb is a bit sillier tbh

Using up 12GB of download capacity that others could have been using is selfish tbh.

I have a 2Mbit connection I'm sharing with ten other people. If we all took the attitude that "seeing as we have 2Mbit, we might as well max it out" none of us would get much out of the network.

Stephen

I quite like streaming radio, Club 977 on winamp 5 for cheesy 80s goodness

I attempt to play online games but that's been impossible with the crap pings from UTV over the last few weeks.

I downloaded like a whore the first month I had BB but not so much any more. It came in quite handy for downloading maps and mods and **** for Unreal Tournament 2004 - frag ops mod = 350MB, 2 community map packs weighing in at over 100MB each, official patches and so on.

tman

Originally posted by oscarBravo
I have a 2Mbit connection I'm sharing with ten other people. If we all took the attitude that "seeing as we have 2Mbit, we might as well max it out" none of us would get much out of the network.

there comes a time when you have to stop thinking of others.
he might as well get his money's worth ffs, or downgrade to a lower capped product.

you're right to think like that if you're sharing a connection... having a line to yourself is a completely different kettle of lobsters however.

and Stephen; duly noted. that'll be one of the first stations i check out:p

elexes

im using my connection for gaming mostly . i also browse a lot of websites reading pure crap .

i doubt i pass 2 gb on average pm . i like having 50 kbs dl speed but i would prefear somthing faster if i had the chance to upgrade i would . esp my upload speed

oscarBravo

Originally posted by tman
there comes a time when you have to stop thinking of others.

There does? How will I know when that time has come?

he might as well get his money's worth ffs, or downgrade to a lower capped product.

Assuming the lower capped product has the same speed, that makes a lot more sense than downloading crap you don't need just because you can.

you're right to think like that if you're sharing a connection... having a line to yourself is a completely different kettle of lobsters however.

Unless you have a leased line (and I've yet to hear of a leased line with a 16GB cap) you're sharing a connection - that's what contention means. But hey, maybe you'll get lucky and get to share a DSLAM with 47 others with the same attitude. It could happen - there are providers out there who lump heavy downloaders together into the same shared bandwidth pool, so they don't affect the considerate users.

Stephen

^
|
|

Netsource

HelterSkelter

Originally posted by oscarBravo
Use it for what you need. Trying to find ways to - in effect - waste bandwidth is just silly.

I'm looking for ideas of what to do with broadband, not an excuse to use up bandwidth. Get off your high horse!!

BTW, if I am paying for 16GB a month I am entitled to use all of it for whatever I want, even if I was constantly downloading the same file just to use it up. Jeez, you'd swear those electrons flowing down the phone line were gold the way some people go on.

Velcrow

Unreal 2004

oh yeah and that other thing email, interweb.....bah

tomk

You could get in to Linux. Broadband and Linux go together like Guinness and......

more Guinness (sorry, my analogy dried up on me).

There's no better way to keep your isos up to date, make sure you've the latest versions of all your favourite apps, and the beauty of it is you're not just downloading, you're installing, tweaking, compiling, learning. And when you've done all that - well, you can also just download for the sake of it, before starting over on another distro, or whatever.

oscarBravo

Originally posted by HelterSkelter
I'm looking for ideas of what to do with broadband, not an excuse to use up bandwidth. Get off your high horse!!

...which sentiment doesn't exactly gel with:

BTW, if I am paying for 16GB a month I am entitled to use all of it for whatever I want, even if I was constantly downloading the same file just to use it up.

If you want suggestions on how to constructively use broadband, maybe that's what you should ask for.

HelterSkelter

oscarBravo:

I was making the point that if I did choose to try to use up all the 16GB (which I dont) it would be my choice and I would be perfectly within my rights to do so. I have paid the extra money for a larger download cap and I don't see why I should not use it. If I want to upload a 1GB file to an ftp and download it 15 times (extreme I know!) then I can do it.

Exactly what is your problem with this, please explain to me.

Paddy20

HelterSkelter,

You know, that is a very good question. Now that Broadband is available to me. I am wondering how I will make best use of it ?..

I know it's something like ten times faster, but surely that is not the only advantage over my UTVip XL.

There must be a 'Guide to using and enjoying Broadband' somewhere

oscarBravo

Originally posted by HelterSkelter
I was making the point that if I did choose to try to use up all the 16GB (which I dont) it would be my choice and I would be perfectly within my rights to do so.

Fair enough - but why would you want to?

I have paid the extra money for a larger download cap and I don't see why I should not use it.

I don't see why you shouldn't use it either - if you need it.

BTW, I assume you're getting more speed as well as the bigger cap for your extra money, right?

If I want to upload a 1GB file to an ftp and download it 15 times (extreme I know!) then I can do it.

Of course you can - but why would you?

Exactly what is your problem with this, please explain to me.

If you decide that you want to try Linux and download ISOs to beat the band - no problem. If you absolutely must have the latest Oasis bootleg video - whatever, just watch out for the cops. If you find it entertaining to listen to six simultaneous audio streams - whatever floats your boat.

When you start downloading stuff just for the sake of using up resources, that's when it gets silly. I mean, attitudes like

there comes a time when you have to stop thinking of others

(and I know it wasn't you who said it) neatly sum up what's wrong with Ireland today.

I couldn't give a damn what you download - but it would be nice if just a few of us took a break from our "I'm entitled to" society and used only those resources they have a need for. Maybe the world would be just a tiny bit better for it.

I got broadband a few weeks ago. What do I do with it? All the stuff I used to do, and all the stuff I felt I couldn't do. I keep my Linux boxes up to date. I download software as and when I feel a need for it. I download stuff to play with. I listen to audio streams and watch video clips. I use the 'net as the basic utility it's supposed to be.

I don't have a cap, and I don't keep track of how much I download - but I'm fairly certain it's nowhere near a couple of GB per month.

HelterSkelter

Ok oscarBravo, that's that cleared up, I more or less agree with you and I do use it in the same way as you (except for the Linux downloads). I just thought you were coming from the "you're lucky to have broadband and you should use it sparingly" camp.

I was just thinking that maybe I just don't need the kind of package I am on. It would suit me much better if a package with a low cap of about 2GB was introduced and you pay a fair price for going over that. So my suggestion is (drum roll...)

512Kbps, 2GB download limit, 24:1 contention for €6 a month
If you go over the initial 2GB limit you are charged €3 per GB downloaded. It seems redicilously low but works out about the same as having the IOLBB Plus package and using the full 16GB. That way the people who download very little but just like using broadband for the benefits of not waiting all day for a webpage to load, etc are paying a fairer price.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions so far lads. Keep em coming.

Mutant_Fruit

www.sharingthegroove.org

If you're a music fan, go there for 100% legal (yes LEGAL) downloads of your favourite bands. If you register you get to see the DVD torrents section and some other sections (yes LEGAL).

ChipZilla

Originally posted by HelterSkelter
Jeez, you'd swear those electrons flowing down the phone line were gold the way some people go on.

Nice to see someone's on my wavelength. :cool: