Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds • Hacker News Board

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#81

Post by Cthulhu_ » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:18 AM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #69

qyz721 wrote: post #37

Using a SIM card on a recent trip to Mexico, where net neutrality was never a thing, was really interesting. Cell service plans come with separate tariffs for regular data and "social" data, which works only in the walled garden of Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Insta, etc., and the "social" data is much cheaper. Even though the positive reinforcement was not as draconian as stuff like this, where they're obviously tr…

Local CDN im guessing. We had the same thing in South Africa. For a while you could get 90% discounted local only data.

That's one explanation, but there's also Facebook itself that is setting up their own internet services, offering free internet but only within the Facebook app.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#82

Post by Cthulhu_ » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:19 AM UTC

HatchedLake721 wrote: post #74

cortesoft wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think zero rating is considered a violation of net neutrality by most people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-rating

I agree and I’m one of them, but it’s not against the law in US or EU.

It's highly debated in the EU, some providers have tried it but they spark a lot of debate about it.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#83

Post by spockz » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:25 AM UTC

zuisan wrote: post #77

pjc50 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do I apply to get my Twitter clone zero-rated?

You have to talk to the ISP.

There has some commotion here in The Netherlands because one provider tried to do this for Spotify and basically put up all kind of rules/conditions for others to join which basically meant only big organisations could successfully apply.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#84

Post by Tepix » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:33 AM UTC

newsbinator wrote: post #58

Not that it's Skype's fault they're getting throttled, but I wish I had an alternative to Skype. I haven't found a service that lets me dial worldwide (particularly USA/Canada) at anywhere near the rates Skype offers.

DIDlogic is usually much cheaper than Skype. Takes a bit of SIP knowledge to setup.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#85

Post by kingosticks » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:35 AM UTC

Tor3 wrote: post #68

chmars wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really still need to dial? Haven’t all the persons you call a computer (smartphone!) with free VoIP capabilities?

When I'm in Japan and want to talk with my insurance company, bank, or airline over on the other side of the world, there's just one way: A phone number. Which is the (main) reason I'm still using Skype. There are other, and sometimes better, alternatives for video/chat/group chats/photos etc. But still nothing that competes with Skype's phone support, although Skype in general has degenerated a lot since the early d…

Is viber still around? I used to use that.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#86

Post by solarkraft » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:41 AM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #82

HatchedLake721 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree and I’m one of them, but it’s not against the law in US or EU.

It's highly debated in the EU, some providers have tried it but they spark a lot of debate about it.

Yet they're allowed to do so in Germany. It gets on my nerves, but there have even been court decisions to uphold it.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#87

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:43 AM UTC

qyz721 wrote: post #37

Using a SIM card on a recent trip to Mexico, where net neutrality was never a thing, was really interesting. Cell service plans come with separate tariffs for regular data and "social" data, which works only in the walled garden of Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Insta, etc., and the "social" data is much cheaper. Even though the positive reinforcement was not as draconian as stuff like this, where they're obviously tr…

[deleted]

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#88

Post by jackson1way » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:50 AM UTC

Tor3 wrote: post #68

chmars wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really still need to dial? Haven’t all the persons you call a computer (smartphone!) with free VoIP capabilities?

When I'm in Japan and want to talk with my insurance company, bank, or airline over on the other side of the world, there's just one way: A phone number. Which is the (main) reason I'm still using Skype. There are other, and sometimes better, alternatives for video/chat/group chats/photos etc. But still nothing that competes with Skype's phone support, although Skype in general has degenerated a lot since the early d…

I use Google Voice For the same reason!

It‘s even better: it has a free US phone number. So my insurance could call me on that number while I‘m in Japan.

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#89

Post by MaxBarraclough » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:59 AM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #69

qyz721 wrote: post #37

Using a SIM card on a recent trip to Mexico, where net neutrality was never a thing, was really interesting. Cell service plans come with separate tariffs for regular data and "social" data, which works only in the walled garden of Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Insta, etc., and the "social" data is much cheaper. Even though the positive reinforcement was not as draconian as stuff like this, where they're obviously tr…

Local CDN im guessing. We had the same thing in South Africa. For a while you could get 90% discounted local only data.

> For a while you could get 90% discounted local only data.

Interesting idea. It's usually the last-mile that's the hard part - I presume that's the reason it's no longer done?

Did 'local content' include, say, Netflix?

Re: Sprint Is Throttling Skype, Study Finds

#90

Post by ishikawa » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 9:59 AM UTC

qyz721 wrote: post #37

Using a SIM card on a recent trip to Mexico, where net neutrality was never a thing, was really interesting. Cell service plans come with separate tariffs for regular data and "social" data, which works only in the walled garden of Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Insta, etc., and the "social" data is much cheaper. Even though the positive reinforcement was not as draconian as stuff like this, where they're obviously tr…

Here in Brazil most carriers also offer social media data for free. On Whatsapp the exception is for voice calls. It would be great (for me, not them LOL) if they included Google Photos.