using internet in libraries in small towns..

I have metered Internet... 5 gb per month.

when I complained to Garmin GPS people about file compression for updated maps...

they said .. go to Public library.. or fast food place.
I spoke to computer lab at library.. they said no problem as long as I do it in the morning...
as map file is 5 to 6 Gigabytes . a months use in 2 hours.

I know right.. My step brother in Phoenix's real father lives in San Felipe. He runs a bar near in town. He (stepbrother) was saying about the internet, Sat TV and other services for little money compared to US..

THe internet speed was surprisingly fast he was saying as well. Hell if you can get fast internet at low price in Mexico then the US is a ripoff because of cable monopolies. plain and simple.

Time to break up the cable companies and open them up to outside competition.

I haven't lived in the U.S. for over 30 years and find this thread interesting. I live in what is considered a very poor, antiquated country. That said, we traveled four months in the U.S. and Canada last year. Internet was a disaster. Good luck finding a place where you can sit down and send documents and heavy files. One such place is Kinko's FedEx. They charge .49 a minute. That's almost $30 an hour and I have used them on several occasions only to say their wifi isn't any faster than that of an rv park. Many libraries we found had a secured signal and had us sign up for a card which was very time consuming, and in some cases charged a fee. We found only one town on our trip that had open wifi everywhere and that was in Canada and if memory serves me correctly it was Merritt, BC.

The rv park signals were pathetic. I don't care what cost is, how many users are online it stank. After all, we are in the age of YouTube, live-streaming and sending files, online banking and "innovative" technology such as Skype and Facebook face talk. Somebody is not doing something. We found our trip, in terms of internet, frustrating to say the least and when you are being charged almost the same price as a discount hotel it is not acceptable.

In Mexico, this poor, poor little country where people still ride burros and use smoke signals, we actually have internet cafes that charge a less than a dollar an hour, you can sit in front of any public educational institution and connect free to the internet, governemt offices, and our home internet provider including landline, free long distance to the U.S. and basic Dish cable charges us a measly $38 a month.

The U.S. has a long, long way to go to get people connected without gouging the consumer to use a service that is available for little or no cost in most of the world.

I heard clark howard talking about unlimited data on T-Mobile and Sprint, both of which are lame outside a large city from what i have read on other sites.

Who know where data will be in 5 yrs.. I was reading a story on huffington post that was talking about how little it cost to provide high speed internet in the home and how much they, Time Warner, Comcast ets are charting..

THe US has highest cost for internet with slowest speed in the WORLD.. that is a dam shame and one reason Burnie Sanders is doing so well in the polls.

In 5-6 years, it's hard to say what will be available.

However, for right now- there are still unlimited internet plans available out there. Some expensive monthly, some expensive initially and then cheaper monthly, and then a few truly inexpensive unlimited plans are floating out there.

But, cellular wifi is 90% or more of my internet usage. Most campground wifi is marginal, at best. Usually I find that my mobile internet is faster and more stable (not to mention more secure).

Our local library was never tax funded until a couple of years ago. Strictly volunteer and donations. Even now our tax base is so small (about 30 taxpayers) we rely on donations and volunteers to keep it running. Everyone is welcome, donations appreciated.

I use my small-town public library card to get lots of e-books, and the downloads are quite small. I have access to millions of books from anywhere in the US that has internet access, with wifi and my local library sigh-on. Before data service was generally available, I used public library facilities in many states and locations. In evenings, I have been known to sit in a parking lot outside a closed library, or on benches on their campus to borrow their wifi. If the library is closed, usually you have really good speed all to yourself.

We were in Eastport Maine last year and the local library was the only place for miles with free internet. Very nice little place with very nice people. Can't even get phone in that part of Maine as it is all Canadian service.

After thinking about my comment -- Was myself a bit huffed about anyone stating only locals can use libraries ... and I still believe all libraries should be open to all citizens - and even visitors.

However, I agree libraries should not tolerate large data use for business purposes - but also that no one should be a stranger in any library, and all should be able to use any library, local or not for personal use.

I use the Verizon MiFi for internet access with a 15GB paid limit. Each weekly MS update is 100-300MB and we have 2 laptops. Doesn't sound like you will have a problem.

Under consideration is upgrading to W10 because of the 3GB size. As I currently understand it I'll have to do this twice in order to have a bootable clean install version. And then x2 for 2 laptops. I haven't decided to ungrade yet for a variety of reasons. Plus it's time to download my Garmin map data and that is 5 GB.

I'm considering installing an external WiFi antenna and amplifier for using those "free" WiFi sites to help with my Verizon data caps.