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Question about Wireless Internet and MMORPGs
JK-Kanosi
Member Posts: 1,357
Can someone in the know, verify how much a MMORPG downloads to your computer per month? I'm wondering, because my wireless provider allows 5gigs of downloading per month maximum. With a MMORPG constantly downloading info to your computer and your computer constantly uploading info to the MMORPG's server, I'd imagine that it is impossible to stay under the limit. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
Comments
Most MMOs don't show that kind of data, and I'm not aware of any kind of tracking tools for that sort of thing, however when I played WoW typically the game would be downloading about 1 kbps. At that rate, 5 GB would last you about 2 months, and that's assuming you played 24/7 non-stop.
With that said, I would recommend you find another provider ASAP since that kind of restriction is absolutely draconian.
I'm no expert, but if I were capped at 5 Gig it'd drive me batty. Even the free-to-play games I'm adding and subtracting would have me stopped cold. Blizz's last patch was a big one. It would be totally uncool to have 3/4 of the patch downloaded and wait another month until you can get the rest. My advice is to get another wireless ISP. Sell your car to get it if you have to, if you have good games you don't need to go anywhere
.
http://www.allaboutgod.com/
When you say "wireless", I assume you mean through a cell provider like Verizon, right? Some of them also explicitly prohibit gaming (or used to). On top of that, the connection speeds aren't that great and the connections themselves are only as good as the signal. As expensive as some of these programs are, I'd avoid them, personally.
If you're considering them because you can game from a laptop while traveling on business, why not just use wi-fi? Heck, I've gamed from several airports while waiting for flights and gaming from my hotel room has never been a problem.
I use Verizon Wireless broadband, which too has a 5 gig cap. I think all of them, do, so getting one that doesn't is not really an option anymore.
Bear in mind, if you go over it (and you will), they simply throttle you back to 200 kb/s for the next couple months. Which is too slow to use stuff like Youtube, but still okay for web browsing and even downloading small-ish things if you are patient. Better than dial-up anyway.
Anyway, to answer your question, I think it depends on the game. But it seems to be about 3-5 megabytes per hour of use.
So just gaming alone won't do it...
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
I agree, standard WiFi is going to be far more reliable, and likely much faster, than a cell phone connection, and won't have crazy limits placed on it. The only concern with an open WiFi network is security, which is not too difficult to handle.
Actually the speeds for Wireless are comparable to low end broadband. Depending were you live you could potentially draw a 2mbps connection. Which isnt perfect but more than enough for MMO`s.
As for your bandwith usage, pretty simple, google bandwith meter and you should be able to find a free software program that will monitor your usage as well as your connection speeds.
In my professional opinion (as i work for a canadian national cell carrier) 5 gigs should be more than enough.
Yeah, it really is quite fast, when it's uncapped.
I don't see how anyone could think 5 gigs is enough. 50 gigs, certainly. But simply maxing out your connecting (like for say streaming video) and you will exceed 5 gigs in less than a week. And if you actually download stuff, you can easily do it in a day.
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
I was mostly reffering to playing games, Obviously if you start downloading movies and such, your 5 gigs is gona melt under the sun.
That is a no brainer....
I pay 40 bucks a month for unlimted data through Centennial Wirless. No limites that i know of. I would go back to dial up if they started limiting unlimited internet access. All games work fine with cellular internet here.
Please allow me to be a leet-speaking fanboi of Comcast for a moment. I've had their cable internet for about 5 years now and it rox my sox. Unlimited downloading / uploading, I can speak to a live person online with any troubleshooting difficulties right away (or call), there's hardly ever any drops unlike DSL, and the speeds are always fast. Comcast ftw, others are teh sux.
http://www.allaboutgod.com/
In my area Comcast is barely average, sure while its working right everything is great, but it takes them usually no less than a week to get out to fix any problems you have , even longer for transfers etc . I used comcast for years and it was great for the most part , but it was no better than the local cable net , i prefer verizon fios now as they blow comcast away , like shooting a grasshopper with a 50. cal.
That's a good point about regional differences, I hadn't taken into account that perhaps service in other areas was not as good. In fairness, I'm in suburbia of a couple of cities in the Northeast US so perhaps their presence and abilities are better here. Maybe good to check with neighbors then to see what works for them.
In my case, Verizon sent Larry, Curly and Moe out to install FIOS (which I was to get) and created a number of errors. There was a big uncovered hole in my yard. When I notified them, they put this flimsy piece of plastic over it (to catch a tiger perhaps?). As the property owner, I would be held responsible if a child fell into it, broke a limb, etc. They've cut my cable line accidently twice, so I had to call Comcast to come out and fix it on both occasions. Then three of my neighbors had a cracks across their cement carports because they didn't dig deep enough. Finally, the house two doors down caught fire externally from poor wiring. After notifying them of the errors, they said, "Well, we hire contractors so..." To that I say, "I don't care, they work for you. Can you not decide or control who does?" I cancelled FIOS before they could flip on the 'on' switch. I do not wish to get burned in more ways than one. I still have their wireless cellphone service and they've been top-notch with that.
http://www.allaboutgod.com/