I use a lot of bandwidth...and Clearwire sucks.

I don't download torrents, yet I was somewhat surprised at just how much data I consumed.  So what do I use my bandwidth for?

• Since I work from home, I tend to upload / download a few large files.
• Also because as a result of working from home, I need to do a lot of research which means trial and error downloading graphics / CAD files and so on.
• Of course, I read a LOT of news from the internet anyway.
• Because I'm at home all the time, I stream lots of music from my Google Music account and online radio stations, primarily SOMA-FM, classical music and 80s, because sometimes even one's own music collection can be severely lacking.
• But I think the whopper of all my bandwidth usage, must be the current love affair I have with Hulu.
• I don't watch too many TV show episodes from my 42" plasma screen, except for sports.  Instead, I stream them from Hulu, because I get to choose when I want to watch them, as opposed to having to adjust my schedule to meet the show's schedule.
• I also have been scouring Hulu for the tons of anime content, and getting my fill of entire seasons of shows that I'd never heard of, to supplement my Netflix viewing.
• And of course, there are other videos I stream from the internet, particularly with Youtube's Disco function, and all the videocasting people are doing these days.

So how much bandwidth do I use, per month?  Anywhere between 35 and 40 gigabytes.

In terms of current data caps of the big ISPs, that's not even close to their limits.

• Comcast – 250 GB
• AT&T DSL – 150GB
• AT&T Uverse – 250GB
• Charter Lite & Express – 100GB
• Charter Plus & Max – 250GB

Still, I was surprised at how much data I used up, considering Clearwire's WiMax is pretty darn slow by comparison to fixed line DSL, cable and FTTH, and having a slow connection (most of the time about 1.5Mbps) means I usually pick the lower video bandwidth.  I think that if I had fixed line broadband, my usage would go up at least 50% though, because I would stream a lot more sports (most fixed broadband companies offer ESPN3 streaming).  I'd probably switch my Netflix to streaming and just go with the occasional Redbox rental, as well.

Which by the way, Clearwire really pissed me off this past month, as all of us legacy original subscribers from its early days, have seen our rates go up 29% in the current billing period because Clearwire's losing money.  Don't blame us for your mistakes!

So anyway, as a result of this big increase in subscription fees (and seeing as their speeds remain dismally slower than advertised) I'm likely to switch sometime in the next few months.

---

P.S. By the way, I've been using my smartphone to stream video from Youtube and other places lately -- especially for short videocasts -- because my T-Mobile HPSA+ is ALWAYS faster than Clearwire's WiMax, and the ping times are like night and day...I don''t know of any other broadband that has slower ping times than Clearwire.