A happy Shout-out to Sirus7264 for helping me out with a NOX, which I've upgraded to a Herald. Concerning NN: Xist's explanation seems to make sense. But no one has explained this: Why has my internet been worse AFTER Net Neutrality? I pay for an expensive service, but it's unreliable, often down to a crawl, couple times a wk seems like. When I built my house in late 2012 and signed up for the fastest internet I could get, I had no issues. All my issues hv cropped up in the last couple yrs. I hv an expensive router, but what good is this when internet service is unreliable? My household hasn't grown - it's just me. And I'm never on more than one device at a time. Never had issues pre-Net Neutrality. What's going on? When I think back to the mid 2000's, I can't EVER remember having any problems. Previously, I've gotten the service I paid for. Not so anymore. I have no problem paying what I'm paying for super-fast service, but I want it to be reliable. Is it possibly because we all have to drive a Yugo now? I prefer to pay a little extra so I can drive a Maxima. I agree with those here who say many consumers are pulling the Cable Plug (satellite too) and finding alternatives. But WHY are people pulling the Plug? Because Big Cable (or Satellite) has not adapted & innovated. They still have this antiquated biz model where you have to choose a pkg which incl 50 or 60 channels you DO NOT want or watch. How about a pkg where I can select about a dozen channels, the ONLY ones I will ever watch, and then charge me a few dollars per channel? I don't buy music CDs anymore b/c I usually only want 1 or 2 tracks. THAT's innovation. CHOICE is the answer. Choice means competition. Guess what happens to JC Penney, K-Mart, Radio Shack and other companies who once dominated in their respective spheres, but who failed to innovate, failed to see what their customers wanted? THEY FAIL. Innovation is driven by competition. If the FCC really wants to help us, prevent these monopolies, prevent mega-mergers. Monopolies prevent competition. AT&T/Time Warner, Disney/FOX, Apple/Netflix... all trying to merge. Yet competition is what really creates innovation & drives consumer prices down. I change my electricity provider EVERY 12 mos. Too much competition not to, so I always take the best 12-mo deal. But I do remember a time when there was no choice in power providers. Deregulation solved this. I feel sorry for the people who don't have deregulation where they live. But you can change that, it starts with who you vote into your statehouse. People always talk about deregulation being bad, that all the options will merely confuse people. Well I don't mind spending 15-20 minutes once every 12 mos to review the various options all the retail providers are peddling, then I make my choice. For me, deregulation & choice has absolutely meant lower energy bills. People always want to bring up greed. But what is greed other than human nature? Milton Friedman perhaps explains it better than me:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bvK9MEcpts