Comment on Anon lives on a budget

• WoodScientist@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  You can get home Internet for $40-$50/month.

  That’s more like $100/month once the temporary pricing ends and the bullshit fees are applied.

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  • papertowels@mander.xyz ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    So the $40/month at mint isn’t a promotional rate, and the $50/month price at Xfinity says it’s good for 5 years.

    I mean you can pick alternatives that do describe exactly what you’re talking about, but I feel the examples I provided are valid, sustainable prices for Internet.

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• ricecake@sh.itjust.works ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Limited-time offer available to new MINTernet customers who purchase the 3- or 12-month MINTernet plan with any Mint Premium voice plan. MINTernet plan requires upfront payment of $75 for 3-month or $300 for 12-month plans (each equiv. to $25/mo) & AutoRenewal enrollment. Mint Premium voice plan requires upfront payment of $45 for 3-month, $90 for 6-month or $180 for 12-month plan (each equiv. to $15/mo). Combined equivalent is $40/mo. After introductory rate, standard rates apply. Taxes & fees extra. Fixed wireless gateway provided on loan; return of equipment required upon cancellation or subject to fee. Service delivered via cellular network; speeds vary & may be reduced during congestion after 1TB/mo for MINTernet. MINTernet service limited to registered address at time of enrollment & cannot be relocated. Premium “Unlimited” data may be slowed during congestion after 50GB/mo; video streams at 480p. Includes 20GB/mo. mobile hotspot. Not combinable with certain other offers. Terms subject to change; additional terms & conditions apply. See terms for details.

  It’s not actually as cheap as they say, and what you’re getting isn’t really worth the price.

  Regardless, when the thing being said is “wages are crap, things are expensive, people are trapped and can’t afford a future” it sorta misses the point to say that they could get substantially worse service for roughly half the price.

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  • papertowels@mander.xyz ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I appreciate you quoting all of the fine print, what is the actual gotcha you’re taking away from it?

    Regardless, when the thing being said is “wages are crap, things are expensive, people are trapped and can’t afford a future”

    I understand that’s the point of the overall post, but I’m answering a question asking if internet and cell service is really that expensive in the US.

    It’s doing a disservice to pretend like it is when there are much more affordable alternatives. Not only is the typical market price cheaper than what is mentioned in the post, but if you’re on many government aid programs, you qualify for subsidized phone and internet. Pairing the two seemingly adds up to $25/month.

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    • ricecake@sh.itjust.works ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      My “gotcha” was the bit I said right after the fine print: not as cheap as advertised in the long run and not a good value.

      The existence of a lower price for some people in some circumstances in some parts of the country doesn’t do much to address actual measurable statistics on us internet costs: Monthly Internet Cost: www.forbes.com/…/internet-cost-per-month/

      My Internet is about $80 a month, and my phone is roughly $30 per line per month, $120 total because of regulatory fees and such. Looking at what mint typically delivers for internet they wouldn’t work for my requirements, purely for work and not considering I like my streaming to be good quality.

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      • papertowels@mander.xyz ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        My “gotcha” was the bit I said right after the fine print: not as cheap as advertised in the long run

        It’s…it’s a promotion. I didn’t even mention it in my post, where I said internet can typically be had for $40-$50.

        After the promotion, the Internet still stays the same price, it’s the free voice line that you don’t get.

        I don’t think it’s much of a gotcha worth flourishing the terms and conditions over, but…sure, you’ve pointed out that additional discounts that were never factored into my initial comment expire.

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• Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Why would you pay $30 for unlimited data and then pay another $50 a month on top of that for a second unlimited data? Unless you are running a bunch of servers for people outside of your LAN, what is the point?

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  • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    The $30 is for mobile service, the $50 is for home Internet service.

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    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      4G can be home internet too, stick a regular SIM card into a 4G router. Probably 5G now but my setup is a few years old.

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  • Alaknar@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Don’t know about US, but where I live, the “unlimited mobile Internet” is always “fast connection up to X GBs used, then you slow down to a crawl where loading a text-only website takes three minutes, but you’re still technically not limited and can access the Internet” kind of deal.

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    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Not sure exactly what they go with but it’s never been a problem even downloading several big games from steam. I suppose if you want TBs a month you may want to look into the fine print.

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      • Madzielle@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        My cheap phone plan came with 10gb of data until they throttled the speed to a crawling pace. 10gb isn’t a lot to run for home Internet.

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  • papertowels@mander.xyz ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I’m laying out what I think are reasonable options that folks would want. Unlimited cell phone data for $30 paired with a steady, low latency cable line for $50 seems to be a combination that most folks could use.

    It’s definitely not optimized for saving money. You could save a lot of money if you wanted to focus on that. Helium mobile has a free 3gb/month plan, no credit card needed. For home Internet you’d be at the mercy of your local ISPs, but I’m sure there are more affordable plans that could be picked.

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