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Comment by userbinator | Hacker News Reader

compared to congested LTE/4G mobile networks

...which will get even more congested as people continue to migrate to using a network designed for mobility for devices which don't even move.

Imagine thousands of devices, most of which never move, sharing one WiFi access point.

I don't think regulation is the answer, but maybe a "mobile networks are for mobility" awareness campaign might help fix this stupidity.

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It's not that much about WiFi access point, it's about the provider infrastructure congestion (cell towers), and how they prioritize 4G/5G. They appear to prioritize 5G more, and they are happy to sell 5G to people who've just bought a poor speed 4G from them.

In some locations fiber connections are not available, the LTE/4G/5G is the only home internet connection that mobile companies offer. You don't know what speeds you get before you buy the specific provider service. Not many people will experiment with various providers or alternative technologies.

so it's about one cellular access point, hence the analogy

An awareness campaign won't help. The problem is that people get some shitty router/AP provided for free by their ISP which they set up at the far end of the house on the same channel as fifty other shitty ISP-provided routers in range and then complain about their TikTok videos stalling. Once they switch to 4G all their problems go away, so they stay with 4G because that "works" and WiFi "doesn't work".

US providers used to have cellular data caps on their mainstream plans to hold down usage and therefore their spending on capacity upgrades. At $10/GB people learn fast to limit their usage, far faster than any ad campaign. Providers now have more capacity and fixed wireless is their way of monetizing idle capacity. They don't allow fixed wireless sign ups in congested areas.

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