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How UNMETERED Really Are "unmetered" Access Internet Connections?

Now surely if an "unmetered" access Internet connection is actually UNMETERED ACCESS then it would mean that there is no meter on it, and that time is of no relevance. Well, it's not quite true in an absolute sense. Now if you're of the mind set that says that things have to be absolutely correct, then here's something to think about:

A company manufactured a new line of "alcohol-free beer". So, a reporter asked the company representative: "Alcohol Free Beer. Does it contain any alcohol?" and the representative said "Yes...", (much to the amazement of people who expect a politician-style answer). And then he added "... But a breadloaf contains more".

This puts the whole "unmetered access" Internet access thing in perspective. True, the beer contained alcohol, so some would say it shouldn't be called "alcohol free", but in consideration of the fact that the amount was so small that ordinary breadloaves contained more alcohol, and teetotallers eat bread, it could reasonably be considered to be alcohol-free for any practical purposes, such as whether or not you could drink it and drive, whether you could give it to children, etc.

So, although in an absolute sense an unmetered access Internet connection might be thought to run for 168 hours per week, in practice some of them don't. To what extent they fall short of this, and whether it matters, and whether you think it's fair that they should be called "unmetered" is a matter of personal judgement. You should find out the figures and work out what it means for you.

To take an example, V21 used to have a package called "unmetered", and to be honest about it, it was metered! However, for £9.99/month you got up to 42 hours per week. To put that in perspective, if you employed a person full-time to be in command of an online Internet terminal, they'd not go over the limit.

Similar situations apply with various other "Unmetered Access Internet" suppliers.

So, why do they do this? And, wouldn't it be better if they just let people leave their computers on the phone all the time even while they sleep? The answer is that this would make everyone's bills higher, because it's not good value for money letting computers hang on the line unattended. The servers only have a limited number of modems, and it would jam up the system. So, as a compromise, there is a reasonable limit put on how much time a supposedly unmetered connection can be. Admittedly they should rename it though.

A similar situation can be seen in the running of an "As Much As You Can Eat" restaurant. Restauranteurs know that most people can't eat more than a certain amount, and that amount is less that the customers think. Therefore it's a good offer on both sides, as the restaurant can make it look as if they are offering an infinite amount of food for a finite price, and the customer is quite happy as they eat as much as they want and are satisfied and then don't fancy eating any more. However, such "As Much As You Can Eat" restaurants do not like it if the customers throw food to the pigeons, stuff food into sacks to take away, or waste food by being greedy and unable to eat as much as they have put on their plates. It is the ISPs' equivalent of wastage that they are trying to eliminate by having a strange "limit" on "unmetered" access. So, if your appetite for online time is more than several average people, it's best to shop around for unmetered access Internet that's more unmetered than most. See a few possibilities here: Unmetered Access Internet. Also see Broadband