We're rapidly racing from the bottom toward the top for high speed internet access in our neighborhood. This time last year the only options were dialup which wouldn't connect over about 12K due to noisy phone lines, satellite, or a 3G card from a cell company. Last fall we got DSL and rocketed to 6x1, really more like 3-5/800k depending on the time of day. A month or so ago I got word that we were getting cable this summer and saw the first sign 2 weeks ago when the crew came through measuring poles and wire heights in my yard. We are probably about 4-5 months away from being able to sign up based on the schedule upper management shared with me. (Things are really looking up here on all fronts--last month "our" Kroger got the first Starbucks in our county and I saw a house nearby this evening with a SOLD sign! )

The provider offers numerous packages ranging from 6x1 for $35/mo to 110x5 $180/mo. All have caps, ranging from 200GB to 1000GB The latter is a little over budget, though for two years that's actually about what we paid for 3G service! For $89 you can get 40x4 service with a 400GB cap which I kind of see as the max budget (because that's the most my employer will pay under the home office budget.)

This has me thinking--where does HSI speed really reach the point of diminish returns (speaking today only--not predicting the future?) Even with our current DSL I really don't notice issues with VOIP on services like GotoMeeting or Skype, or really any issues with Amazon Prime streaming, though we are probably not streaming at full HD.