These ad companies pay for transfer too.
Install AdNauseam if you have unmetered connection and let it download as much data from them as it can.
PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
191–200 of 417 posts
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hope you're joking. The obvious easy fix is to give them unlimited data. If the intent is to give them internet, they should give them internet that functions for the modern web.
They’re already given unlimited data? It just gets throttled the 2G speeds. They can also just go to the local library or Starbucks for the WiFi if they need more.
Please go try and do anything on the internet at 2G speeds in todays world.
You can barely even use FB messenger (you need to get messenger-lite).
I only know this cuz tmobile would give you free 2g all over europe. it was JUST BARELY helpful. mostly just sms and email.
google maps was unusable etc. This only got worse over the years.
They now give you free 3G and it's bearable. 2G is insanely slow in the 2020+ world.
2G ~= 5 KB/s. That means 40 seconds just to download a properly optimized react bundle.
5MB site? 16+ minutes.
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
They’re already given unlimited data? It just gets throttled the 2G speeds. They can also just go to the local library or Starbucks for the WiFi if they need more.
2G speeds isn't really full access to "the internet" for some parts of the internet. My experience with 2G speeds is: 1. Open job application site 2. Upload resume pdf 3. Upload required picture of ID 4. Server's nginx config has a hard-coded timeout after 1 minute. Connection error 5. Try to upload again 6. Connection error A huge number of pieces of the web have hardcoded timeouts and limits designed to stop slowlo…
You'll need to go to the library then, if you can't manage to watch your data use and use your free phone only for important usage.
I've paid for 2GB/mo for years now. I think I ran out once.
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hope you're joking. The obvious easy fix is to give them unlimited data. If the intent is to give them internet, they should give them internet that functions for the modern web.
Unlimited data! You make it sound so easy.
I hope you’re still joking.
Data caps are to an extent “fake”, in that telcos’ costs aren’t measured in how many bytes their customers download/upload. Telcos’ costs come from renting bandwidth from tier 1 and tier 2 ISPs. This bandwidth is constant.
And for popular websites, they will cache lots of content on their own network or peer directly with data centers so they don’t have to pay for the bandwidth there. The routers will continue routing and the switches will continue switching whether you download 5GBs or 5TBs.
One more way to understand how much of a scam mobile data caps are, is that the same ISP will sell you unlimited fiber plans even though essentially your traffic goes through the same backbone.
Data caps may help lessen congestion on their cell towers, but they don’t need to be as low as they are today.
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
> (In spite of what HN believes, there are plenty of places in America with 3G or even zero cell service.) 0 of course, but wasn't 3G all shut down in the US in 2022 to open up the airspace?
0 of course, but wasn't 3G all shut down in the US in 2022 to open up the airspace? One of those HN myths that comes from only being willing to Google (or ChatGPT) information, rather than encountering it in the real world. 3G still exists in rural and remote areas that no major carrier wants to serve, at least as of April, 2025 — the last time I did a round of real-world web testing. Next round is in September. Mayb…
That's weird, because it's directly contradicting that the carriers themselves say they have decommissioned it.
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/plan-ahead-phase-out-3g...
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Three days into the month these phones are just ewaste. If someone needs a phone like this for email and job searching and has no other option, 2G speeds will work. It’s not e-waste for the intended purpose. It would be great if they got higher days caps, though, because let’s be realistic in acknowledging that they’re not only going to use it for Google Maps, email, and job search apps.
In my experience, a slow connection can be less usable for some apps than none at all. If there’s no connection or you’re in airplane mode, some apps will let you access locally stored/cached data, but as soon as there’s a bad connection, they’ll wipe that data by trying to unsuccessfully refresh it from the server.
Not sure if you are aware that with throttled 2G slow you can't even open a package tracking website these days, because the connection times out before you have downloaded all their asset dependencies. And those kind of websites do not support resumes of downloads (or partial content requests).
So you're stuck in a loop of not being able to use the web because the websites keep downloading stuff you don't need.
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hope you're joking. The obvious easy fix is to give them unlimited data. If the intent is to give them internet, they should give them internet that functions for the modern web.
They’re already given unlimited data? It just gets throttled the 2G speeds. They can also just go to the local library or Starbucks for the WiFi if they need more.
People on government assistance are just casually going to Starbucks for free wifi? They probably don’t even have a reliable way to get around. Let them eat cake?
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#198Thank God for uMatrix. Seriously, I don't know how I lived without that thing. Load times on everything are at least 30% faster.
Hello time traveler! Um, there's a pandemic coming with 2020. Buy the dip, stocks are going to skyrocket for at least 5 years.
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
2G speeds isn't really full access to "the internet" for some parts of the internet. My experience with 2G speeds is: 1. Open job application site 2. Upload resume pdf 3. Upload required picture of ID 4. Server's nginx config has a hard-coded timeout after 1 minute. Connection error 5. Try to upload again 6. Connection error A huge number of pieces of the web have hardcoded timeouts and limits designed to stop slowlo…
You'll need to go to the library then, if you can't manage to watch your data use and use your free phone only for important usage. I've paid for 2GB/mo for years now. I think I ran out once.
This thread is about how a static text article loaded 500 megs in the background. How would someone prepare for that exactly? This is effectively malware as far as your bandwidth is concerned.
Re: PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37mb article that just keeps downloading
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've worked with a lot of people at the bottom end of society in the USA. They are given government provided phones they can use so they have access to Google Maps, email, job search apps etc. These phones come with 3GB of regular data per month. After that they drop down to 2G speed, but not in a way that will allow anything to actually load. Three days into the month these phones are just ewaste.
> Three days into the month these phones are just ewaste. If someone needs a phone like this for email and job searching and has no other option, 2G speeds will work. It’s not e-waste for the intended purpose. It would be great if they got higher days caps, though, because let’s be realistic in acknowledging that they’re not only going to use it for Google Maps, email, and job search apps.
If 2G speeds were what they were when it was heavily used? Sure. Nowadays? Not in my experience. I got downgraded to Google Fi’s 2G in a well-traveled part of Virginia using a flagship Samsung and I couldn’t even load directions on Google Maps where I’d already downloaded most of the map for offline use. 2G ain’t like it used to be when it was still given a second thought by providers.