Why do cell phones have a data limit but home internet doesn’t? I understand bandwidth limits, but how can home internet get away with giving users all the data they can use, but cell phone providers can’t?

  • SupraMario@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    7 days ago

    In a rural area the population density is a lot less than that of suburbs or the city. We’re talking about 40 people or less using a single tower, this also takes in account of the 3 carriers. If each carriers tower can handle 40 people, that’s potentially 120 users total in a few mile radius, which is normal for rural populations.

    • I_Miss_Daniel@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 days ago

      This tower has about a 20km radius on average due to topography, covers a stretch of the New England Highway and also covers the nearby village of Black Mountain. A good few hundred phones will be in range I expect.

      The tower also has cells for Optus and Vodafone, but they are a significant minority of customers in this area.

      • SupraMario@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        7 days ago

        This sounds like an issue with the carriers not actually putting in more towers to properly handle the load though. Aka greed.