Several recent articles in various tech journals and magazines have lamented that no matter what kind of service one gets, traffic expands to tax the capabilities of the service.

While stepping up to a better system always will seem better at first, there's a tendency for familiarity to make it seem "not as fast as originally," just because you become accustomed to it; but there is considerable hard test data to indicate that most do slow down as they add users, and as users learn new things to do.

The "web" as a whole is beginning to think seriously about whether the bandwidth required for "everybody" to download all the movies and TV shows they want is even possible, and some ISPs have begun "reducing bandwidth" for hoggish users, or in some cases disconnecting them entirely. (A "lunatic fringe" have called for limits on YouTube due to the bandwith consumed there.)

At our regular WVA Festival, for the past couple of years a local (Winfield KS) provider has set up a temporary wireless network in the campground so that people can "stay connected" while at the festival. Free the first year, I believe it was about $30 (US) for the week or so of the festival this year. A couple of people who tried it this year commented that it "wasn't wireless speed," and apparently many had trouble even getting a connection at times. (There were some problems with "coverage" for the wireless system, but connection problems were common even where good signals were found.)

The "Festival Radio" - temporary FM during the festival only - was soon broadcasting appeals for people to STOP DOWNLOADING MOVIES so that others could get on to check their email.

While this temporary setup probably was on a single server with limited bandwidth, almost any service hardware is likely to bog down if enough people try to use it to the "spec" limits of their individual connections.

Although it's almost certainly obsolete information by now (about a year old), and covers only US providers, one report that might still be helpful if the providers in your area aren't moving too fast is at Find the Fastest ISP, 08.02.06, By John Brandon at PC Magazine. Even if the data is obsolete for your area, the brief discussion of "why things aren't quite what the ads say" may be of interest - even for those outside US borders(?).

An even older article, ISPs, 7.11.02, By Bill Howard, PC Magazine, may still have some helpful info about what to look for, but may be of most interest to nostalgia buffs who want to remember "the good old days" of 5 years ago, before movie downloads ate all the bandwidth. (Does anyone know if the "AT&T/Yahoo broadband provides no dialup [or WiFi etc.] alternate that you can use while travelling" still applies?)

John