Just because I can.
But it also proves 2G is still at least somewhat usable.
I would just switch my phone to 2G only and then continue the download in Termux using wget because that’s most reliable way to download files.
I let it run overnight, then stop it when I needed my phone during the day, then let it run again at night when not needed anymore.
However, 2G is quite inefficient, so this actually drains the battery a lot.
I wonder if the carrier just sees a weird spike in 2G data usage.
Anyway, calculation time. Wikipedia Kiwix ZIM file is approximately 110GB. 109,886,078,976B to be precise. With average speed of say 21KB/s, it would take around 2 months to download the whole English Wikipedia with low res pictures over 2G EDGE.
But also EDGE is quite better than original GSM Data (CSD), which offered breathtaking 9600bps.
The first sentence.
And there’s also the thing that I just like seeing old tech still being used. For the last week of 3G before its shutdown, I switched my phone to 3G only, all the way until my phone got disconnected. It felt sad to see it go.
Plus I like to influence statistics, so I do certain things differently, just to influence them. I understand that I am a small sample, but still one that counts.
I still use a CRT TV on a regular basis. Ive also always wanted to try doing a true mid 90s DOS gaming build 😂 obsolete tech has always fascinated me.
I get it. And I also very much like hearing about these kinda stories. It’s so wholesome and nostalgic/bittersweet
But wouldn’t you arguably achieve the same goal through simple calculations? It’s not like there isn’t substantial records of the technology at it’s height, since it was the standard at one point. I’d imagine it would have been a much more efficient use of electricity to plug an equation for the estimate with a calculator.
Not the slight influence on statistics. I am contemplating actually downloading the Wikipedia over 2G too.
I wish the statistics were published, I’d like to see how much of a dent it makes, at least in total monthly data transfer. And of course, also connection time by technology and frequency band. Actually, no, I want to see all the statistics they have.
Sadly, the only ISP that publishes at least something is the Slovak Academic Network (SANET): https://samon.bts.sk/mapa/
But this is just a fixed connection ISP used at places like schools.
Plus it’s cool how the bytes got to me.