# How do international ISPs differ from North America's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334 "2004-05-27T13:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/1 "2004-05-27T13:56:44Z")
Prices, avaliability, what you get(bandwidth, amount of time, etc.) This was prompted by someone from Australia that they have 700MB/mo bandwidth limit(I don’t know if that sort of limitation occurs in Canada, but it seems unusual to me). I was wondering how other countries ISP differ from North Amerca’s. ---
**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/2 "2004-05-27T14:12:57Z")
> [@Aslan of Narnia](#): > > Prices, avaliability, what you get(bandwidth, amount of time, etc.) > > This was prompted by someone from Australia that they have 700MB/mo bandwidth limit(I don’t know if that sort of limitation occurs in Canada, but it seems unusual to me). I was wondering how other countries ISP differ from North Amerca’s. Irish situation: I pay €60 per month for my 512/128 ADSL line (broadband, in other words). That’s got a soft cap at 8Gb downloaded per month (uncapped uploads). If I go above that I have to pay extra. There’s a 4Gb capped version available for €40. For uncapped you’re looking at €100+ a month. Availability wise, if you live in a city, you’re probably ok for ADSL, forget it outside of urban locations. I’m not aware of prices for dial-up, but I believe most of them would be cheaper than ADSL but because local calls aren’t free here you’ll end up having a large phone bill instead of a large ISP bill. Cable access is rare. I believe some parts of Dublin have it, but Waterford certainly doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/3 "2004-05-27T14:13:19Z")
UK: Unlimited dialup is about £15/month (=$25 ish). Cheaper options exist, either limiting you by bnadwidth, by total hours per month, or by time of day. Non-contract dialup costs are local phone costs - somewhere around 1-4 pence/minute. Unlimited 512Kb ADSL about £30/month. Limited versions can had for about half that, limiting you to a few GB download a month. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/4 "2004-05-27T14:27:13Z")
> [@counsel wolf](#): > > Availability wise, if you live in a city, you’re probably ok for ADSL, forget it outside of urban locations. I live in the City of Dublin, just outside City Centre, and I can’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Zcrysis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zcrysis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zcrysis)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/5 "2004-05-27T15:33:36Z")
Hong Kong Broadband penetration is high here, about 80% and there is a lot of competition. Broadband is available all over the city through either cable, fiber or DSL. Typical cost is about HKD 200 ~= USD 25. No ISP has upload or download caps. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/6 "2004-05-27T15:54:20Z")
Netherlands. I have ADSL with down-/upload speeds of 2240/416 KBit/s and a so-called “Fair Use Policy”. This means that there is no download limit, as long as you don’t download absolutely insane amounts. I personally have downloaded close to 10GB in one month without problems. The cost: 50 Euros a month. The newest fad here is so-called “free ADSL”. Basically you have dial-up ADSL. You get an ADSL modem for free, and you pay per minute that you are connected (no monthly fixed rate). Prices: 0.25 Euro to “dial-in”. 0,0205 Euro per minute on weekends and at night. 0.0256 at non-peak hours. 0.0431 Euro per minute at peak hours. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/7 "2004-05-28T03:00:16Z")
£10.00 per month unlimited dial-up here. They seem enormously keen to sell broadband, and there are some good deals at present, but Celyns simply _have_ to stick to the cheapo version. ☹ Other than unlimited dial-up, the norm would be 1penny per minute. There are companies who charge more, for instance, in daytime, but, well, I am not sure why anyone woule use them ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/8 "2004-05-28T03:13:21Z")
> [@Aslan of Narnia](#): > > This was prompted by someone from Australia that they have 700MB/mo bandwidth limit There are many differing deal available here. This “someone” is just talking about the particular deal _they_ have. Basically, the more you pay, the more you get, but the permutations are endless. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/9 "2004-05-28T10:01:29Z")
Most common in Sweden is 512/128 ADSL, for aprox. €35. There’s no official cap, but I believe the biggest ISP (Telia) will use some fine print, in case you’re downloading an obscene amount. I have Bostream VDSL, so I get 8MB/1MB for €45 with no cap and fixed IP. I’m still amazed at the amount they can squeeze into those old copper wires from the 50’s. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/10 "2004-05-28T10:26:35Z")
> [@Aslan of Narnia](#): > > This was prompted by someone from Australia that they have 700MB/mo bandwidth limit(I don’t know if that sort of limitation occurs in Canada, but it seems unusual to me). I was wondering how other countries ISP differ from North Amerca’s. There’s a good explanation [here](http://whirlpool.net.au/faq-ab.cfm#1.3) as to why there are limitations. > [@](#): > > Australian users have to absorb the cost of building cross-pacific pipelines like the Southern Cross Cable… which is in itself over 30 thousand kilometres of multi-core fibre optic cable. Even after the pipeline is built, Australian companies have to pay American networks for the ability to “plug in” to the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/11 "2004-05-28T10:48:47Z")
[New Zealand ISPs and their rates](http://www.netguide.co.nz/isp_directory/index.php?directory=modheavy) courtesy of Netguide. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/12 "2004-05-28T11:22:22Z")
[UK ADSL guide](http://www.adslguide.org.uk/). I pay £20/month for an uncapped 512/128 service. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/13 "2004-05-28T11:37:53Z")
China - home use ADSL unlimited service is about $15/month. Speed is a little slow. About a megabyte/minute. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-international-isps-differ-from-north-americas/247334/14 "2004-05-28T13:20:45Z")
It might be worthwhile to describe the typical offerings in the (Northeast) US for our rest-of-the-world friends. Dial up: There are a number of ISPs (AOL, Juno, NeZero, etc. etc.) offering dialup capabilities. They usually provide a few toll-free phone numbers. Plans vary from unlimited use (connection time) to pay-per-minute-with-five-free-minutes-per-month ($5/mon). Speeds range anywhere from 14400 to 52k depending on phone lines and ISP’s equipment (I could never get better than 24,400). Caps on email storage. $15-$45/month unlimited use. satellite : Usually free installation but the published fees are about $150, +200-400 for satellite equipment - dish etc… email storage caps. $50-$100/mon depending on length of plan, unlimited connection. With satellite you can only download attachments, not upload. 1 Mbps speed theoretically possible, but probably averages about 400k. cable: Various plans as with dialup. Usually free installation but the published fees are about $40, with modem. email storage caps. $35-$60/ mon, unlimited connection. 3-30Mbps speed theoretically possible, 1.5 - 6MB published range, but probably averages about 700k. ADSL: Various plans as with dialup. Usually free installation but the published fees are about $40, with modem. email storage caps. $30-$60/mon, unlimited connection. ASDL provides toll-free number, but is only available within so many feet of the phone exchange. 144k-1.5 Mbps speed theoretically possible, but probably averages about 470k,